I’ve always half assumed the autobahn is littered with crankshaft and connecting rod chunks, various pools of oil and coolant, and the various now worthless vehicles they came from. Oh, and many tire marks that lead right into barriers.
Well it’s nice not to have a speed limit, but every time I see one, it’s such a sigh of relief.
Story time:
Not so long ago, I was on that 4 or 5 lane autobahn before arriving to Munich. I was already dark, overtaking some car, leaving the most left line empty. Then these laser high beams basically illuminating the nearby Alps. I was thinking geez I’m doing 160, relax dude, you have a free lane here. I moved to the right, 2 lanes to my left are now free. Car flies by me, doing probably like 50-70 more than I, AND, AND this guy gets overtaken by another one with about the same speed difference relative to the guy doing 210-230.
Which is probably why they were freaking out trying to get you to move. Don’t get me wrong it’s been fun when I drove the autobahns as a tourist trying my best to respect the unwritten (and written) rules, and pushing my car like I can’t do elsewhere, but god damn was it bad for my blood pressure!
Autobahn: Like the high sea, but for cars
The US drivers could not handle the German traffic rules, punishments and technical checks for their vehicles. Over half of the vehicles in the USA would fail the Dekra and TÜV inspections.
Absolutely! So many incredibly bad drivers and so many garbage cars. Never seen so many broken down cars along a highway. And all the shredded tires. Makes me glad to have something like the TÜV, even though it can be annoying at times.
Yep, poor people need cars to survive in the US. Barely any public transport outside of the very biggest cities. Only richer people can replace their rusty cars every 10 years.
Well, the idea is to maintain the car and not just chug it out after 10 years. If you do this, then you shouldn’t fail a bi-annual test that determines whether your car is safe for the road or not.
So it’s a good time to say it once more, a lot of this is based on myths, not knowledge.
Having no speed limit is a really bad thing for both the environnement AND for public safety.
https://www.datawrapper.de/blog/the-case-for-speed-limits and so many more examples.
But what about my freedom?
You’re preaching to the choir.
Just make sure you respect the Rechtsfahrgebot
Yeah. The left lane is not intended for people going below 250 kph. Source: The Mercedes/BMW/Porsche that has been tailgating me and honking at me for going 200 kph only.
Germans any other time: obey the rule no matter how bad
If there is no rule to obey there is no problem. But the majority of Germans (60 percent was the last number I heard) is actually for the introduction of a speed limit.
But this topic is kind of like discussions about gun laws in the US. So hardly any party picks it up. Especially not the current government parties.
regarding the legality of breaking the sound barrier:
if i remember correctly there’s is an indirect general speedlimit, because any vehicle moving below a certain height is not allowed to go beyond 400 something kph. now this is intended for planes and helicopters and such, but afaik also applies to cars. therefore breaking the sound barrier, sadly, would be illegal. besides, i think breaking the sound barrier is limited to certain zones anyways.
i’m not trying to nitpick on the joke, but rather give supplementary information that may be interesting.
Plus there’s noise limits.
If you break the sound barrier then there is no noise.
well, the noise is not where you are
Officer it wasn’t my guys “remote that turns all speakers up to max volume and plays baby shark” that was directly making the noise
I moved to Germany 2 years ago, and was afraid of highways being like Mad Max, but I was positively surprised.
Most drivers are very attentive and skilled, keeping the rules, driving safe. I like it much better, than Eastern EU, where people are also going 150+, and are being assholes in the meantime. The upper limit of 130 just puts stress on me, because I obey the laws, but the giant SUV in my ass flashing their highbeams does not. In Germany this barely happens to me, most drivers are polite and safe, even in expensive sports cars.
I really came to ennoy the liberating feeling of driving at my own (and the traffic’s) pace on the autobahn. Yesterday I was traveling between Dusseldorf and Berlin, long open stretches of 3-lane roads, with only a few cars around. I was going around 200, yet I saw a car far behind me coming up fast, some polite flashes of lights from the distance, I pull to the right, and let a Porsche pass me quicly.
I might sound like a carbrain, but I’m not. Everybody should try German highways once, so they can form their own opinion, and not judge based on internet memes. I feel 10x safer on the autobahn, than on some shitty Eastern EU highway with a bunch of apes around me, who don’t care about the rules.
On the Autobahn, always stay in the right lane if you are not passing. If the Polizei catch you lingering in the passing lane, they might ticket you.
I like it much better, than Eastern EU, where people are also going 150+, and are being assholes in the meantime
You should try Italy. Total culture shock the first time I drove there. Especially, entering via Switzerland where they are completely anal about traffic rules.
because I obey the laws
flashes of lights from the distance, I pull to the right
Doesn’t sound like you were obeying the Rechtsfahrgebot.
Of course, you are right, but …
if youbare deiving fast and don’t want to constantly switch lanes imo it is ok to drive in the left lane while constantly checking if there is someone behind you for whom you need switch to the right lane (yeah, yeah, still illegal).
No it’s not okay, sorry. Switching lanes is what you do when overtaking, there is no way around it regardless of speed. And on the Autobahn, your attention is supposed to be directed ahead. Waiting to switch lanes once traffic approaches from behind is not a reliable strategy. Please keep right.
You can consistantly overtake in the left lane which is more or less what he’s doing anyway.
it also creates a buffer zone… personally, i don’t like going by trucks that close at that speed
If you’re continuously overtaking it’s okay. But far too many drivers stay left regardless how much space there is in the right lane, and that’s a problem.
I’m not sure what you mean by buffer zone.
Exactly. I often stay in the left lane when going very fast, to leave one empty lane between me and others going much slower. I will not go 200 km/h next to a truck or a car with a trailer going 90, as that is just not safe. If there is a car in the lane next to me, I slow down before I come close. If there are multiple cars, I slow down even more, as somebody might decide to overtake and come into my lane. And if I see somebody faster behind me, I pull over and let them pass.
The only time I really speed up, is if there is a lot of space all around, on a straight road with good visibility and road conditions, which is quite rare. So most of the time the autobahn just feels like a regular highway, with a bit more flexibility.
Maybe they were just passing a truck?
Or is it the arschlochpflicht that forces germans to write this type of comments?
There are no “polite flashes”. If you have to bully others cars out of the left lane, you’re driving faster than traffic allows.
At least where I live, the law allows for using flashes to indicate that you want to overtake.
they are deiving in the wrong lane
If I’m going really fast I may give people who are just sitting on the left lane a single flash when I’m still quite far away so they are aware I’m closing in.
Going fast is only possible on a quite empty road anyways.
Yes. And the Taycan behind me was very far, but coming very fast, so it was good to get a “notification” in time. I don’t mind as long as they are not breathing down my neck and flashing their lights constantly.
I don’t do it myself, I usually just wait a bit and they notice (but I’m also not going 300).
Yeah. But if they pull over after somebody “politely” flashes at them, they aren’t obeying the traffic rules in the first place as those require them to drive in the right lane if they can at all times.
More often than not, people move to the right once they are done overtaking someone else. It’s just that these maneuvers take longer than the assholes who flash their high beams or who tailgate can handle. And those are the situations where the traffic situation simple doesn’t allow for their speeding.
Polite or not, in German driving school you are taught to use either the horn or flash your high beams to signal intent to overtake. So flashing the high beams from a distance could be seen as polite since you will not ride their ass before they have time to move to the right to let faster traffic pass.
The fuck kinda driving school did you go to? Both flashing your high beams and using the horn is simply not allowed and counts as “Nötigung”. If someone is in the left lane while not actively overtaking, should move to the right, no discussion there. But when I encounter aggressive assholes, the kind who uses high beams, it’s always when there’s too much traffic to race across Germany.
To signal intent to overtake flashing the light (outside of settlements) is legal and described in the StVo. It’s not illegal. Doing so while driving very close to the front car while they have no chance to make space can be „Nötigung“, yes. The situation described by OP falls under the legal use of high beams in my opinion.
OK, yes. The issue is only that I’ve never seen it used in an OK situation. Probably because I drive in the most suitable right lane, unless overtaking. I only ever see it being used while overtaking, which should be visible for the person speeding. And that is not a situation where it’s fine to signal your intent for overtaking. When there’s an Elefantenrennen that forces others into the left lane, you can signal all you want. There are simply too many cars to drive fast. I don’t know how often I’ve been bullied out of the left lane, fearing for my safety, only to merge right back right behind the asshole who’s now stuck behind the car that was right in front of me. I’ll never understand that mindset.
Contrary to OP I hate driving on German highways because of the amount of aggressive assholes. I always found driving in the Netherlands much more relaxing.
I always found driving in the Netherlands much more relaxing.
Ah yes, NL = Nur Links … I understand why you feel more at home there :D
Driving at those speeds uses exponentially more fuel. RIP planet earth :(
I‘m all in favor of a general 130 km/h limit on German autobahn. In addition to being better for the environment, it would make our already relatively save autobahn even saver. But I have a feeling that the speed limit in Germany is similar to the gun discussion in the US. It’s a very emotional topic for many people.
Comparing the statistics to other countries, I don’t think it would affect the safety, that is I think more related to driving skill, attitude, and car safety features.
Regarding environment and emotionality, you are certainly right. For general speed limit to get accepted, DB would need to be much better, so maybe the goverment should start saving the planet there.
I think both would be great. Make public transit better AND introduce a general speed limit. We don’t need to choose only one option.
General limit yes, but make it 150 for now. It’s easier to get people on board with a higher limit and lowering the limit will also encounter less resistance down the road (haha).
200 kph is 9,500 mph, for us Americans.
I don’t understand. How much bananas per quarter dishwasher squared is that?
Sorry, I only know freedom units :|
What the hell is that figure, it’s 125mph
Either way it makes a whoosh sound as it goes by
It’s hyperbole. He’s saying you’re driving so fast it might as well be the speed of sound.
That’s way higher than the speed of sound. It’s like 767 mph
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Yeah, getting caught at anything over 100mph can lead to a court appearance in most places on the US. It’s gonna be a fine and driving suspension at least.
Bit of both actually, the way that Germans drive is kind of an example for the rest of Europe. I’m sure that high fines have a lot to do with it but many of the best driving habits in my country came from Germany.
The fines are low compared to where I live. One of the precious pictures of my wife is her getting cought speeding in Germany and realizing it at the same time.
Can’t stop laughing everytime I look at the picture they sent us with the speeding ticket.
It was surely worth the 15 euro fine.
Speeding fines are cheap. Road tax in a sense.
But if you get into an accident, the fines multiply very fast.
If an accident is caused by the winter tire violation, the guilty must pay a 120 Euro fine in addition to other applicable allegations of the accident.
Killing an animal with your car, you’ll be fined the cost of the animals life.
If you damage a tree by crashing into it, you also have to pay for the replacement of the tree.
You can be fined for tailgating above 80km/h.
It’s also illegal to run out of gas on the Autobahn.
It’s illegal to leave your car unlocked.
List goes on and on, but I’ve actually never seen many enforced (aside from paying for the tree, it was nearly 2.5k per tree)
So if you hit wildlife you have to pay or does it only count for domesticated animals that aren’t allowed on roads in most places? That sounds insane. In most countries if you hit a dog with your car the dog owner is liable for damages to your car in most cases, same with cattle unless it’s part of a convoy.
It mostly falls under Federal Nature Conservation Act (Bundesnaturschutzgesetz). I believe it’s very localized of the penalties for killing an animal on the road.
Regardless, you’ll need to call the police if you kill a domesticated animal or any larger animals. I believe rodents are too small to be reported.
Exactly. I drive quite a bit between countries, and even Austria is worse than Germany. And any more east to that is just Mad Max.
germans: famous for their hating the rules
Well, the rules in place are kept. The point is that there is no general tempo limit
If only
Jokes aside you are only allowed to drive as fast as is safe for those around you
There is no one around me. They are all behind me.
Yes I am a BMW driver. How could you tell?
Because it’s a 1-lane road, you’re going 20 under the limit and refuse to use any turnouts.
Well it’s midnight with no street lights, it’s super foggy, and the roads are icy as fuck.
But your headlights are still bright enough to melt everyone else’s retinas
Gotta pierce that fog, baby!
Is it working better for the rest of the world?
Germany has fewer than average road fatalities than most of the world. Less than average in Europe too.
It’s not really statistically noticable in that regard. Not the best, but far from the worst.
I’m sorry but this is cherry picking.
Probably still better than those biways and highways that go through towns here in the US.
Fuck you the speed limit just went from 75 MPH down to 35 MPH, the local up his own ass cop is already behind you. Eat shit.
Could be better still. Also fewer pollution.
Asking the real questions.
