When I lived in Germany I by mistake didn't check into a tram once and was discovered by a ticket inspector. Long story short since I didn't have ID on me I ended up getting escorted by two police officers back to my house to show them my passport.

So yes, you don't have to carry ID on you in Germany, but only in the most pedantic sense. You'll just get a free police escort back to where you keep your ID in case you need to identify yourself. That hardly qualifies as not needing to carry ID when going about your business in the sense that Americans would be familiar with.

But could they have forced you to identify yourself if you hadn't broken some rule? I get it was a mistake (which I've made in the past as well), but still, the US police will probably want to identify you as well if they have reason to fine you.

I'm not sure, but in several European countries the police is able to ask you for your ID when you're going about your business, there's no limitation that it must only be in relation to an offence.

Thus any interaction with them could result in you needing to put a stop to anything else you're doing as you're escorted back to your house to fetch your ID, unless you're carrying it in the first place.

But the example I provided wasn't such an example, since there was a fine involved. However just having compelled ID changes even that situation. If Germany didn't have that I'd probably been able to just pay the fine on the spot without need to establish my identity.

I don't believe there's anything equivalent to that in the US. Furthermore since there's no national ID system they don't even know if you have a driver's license, social security number or passport, so their options for compelling you to produce ID are limited.

In most US states, the police can't force you to provide a physical identification card period. At most, they may be able to compel you to verbally identify yourself, e.g. by providing your name and address.

The idea of being legally required to provide government-issued identification to a law enforcement official under any circumstances is simply verboten in the US.

>The idea of being legally required to provide government-issued identification to a law enforcement official under any circumstances is simply verboten in the US.

As long as you're not within 100 miles of the border inside the "limited civil rights zone". [1]

Personal experience is that border patrol officers feel no need for "probable cause" before pulling you over and searching your vehicle.

[1] https://www.aclu.org/other/constitution-100-mile-border-zone

In such situations you have to identify yourself somehow, that's what obligation of identification means.

I was with a friend in the same situation (he forgot his ticket and had no ID). I just had to witness that he was indeed the person he said he was and it was fine.

There are many situation where in the US the police will immediately arrest you while the German police will just write down your identification and let you go for now. I will rather take the German approach.

Ironically, if you drink alcohol in the United States, you're essentially forced to carry your ID at all times because bars and restaurants check ID aggressively (even for people who are visibly much older than the legal drinking age).

So even though, as an American, I'm not required to carry my driver's license around at all times, I almost always do, and many of the few times I've left it at home I ended up regretting doing so.

Based on my visits to Europe I'd imagine Germans would find this whole situation ridiculous.

I should clarify that I was talking about Belgium which was the country the parent comment used as the example. I am aware that the laws are not the same across EU.