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.
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!
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 enjoy the liberating feeling of driving at my own (and the traffic’s) pace on the autobahn. Yesterday I was travelling 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 quickly.
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.
200 kph is 9,500 mph, for us Americans.
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.
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.
(Optional)
I don’t understand. How much bananas per quarter dishwasher squared is that?
Sorry, I only know freedom units :|
Driving at those speeds uses exponentially more fuel. RIP planet earth :(
German here. It is true that yes, there are some parts of the German highway where there is no official speed limit. But often times, be it through traffic or speed limits, you can’t drive that fast.
I was there three months near the border close to Amsterdam and I found outside the city and outside of everyone heading home you pretty much average 125mph+ in any reasonable performance car. I was in an older 911 so I must have averaged 150 with it being a sports car. I would do a mild or two, slow down 125 to minimize the delta while passing, and then could quickly speed up again.
It might not be all the time but we never legally make it past 70mph despite wide open roads outside the city. Makes me sad.
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)
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.
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.
Could be better still. Also fewer pollution.
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.
Asking the real questions.
It’s more like if you drive too fast you’re not insured. Oh, by the way, road works, 80km/h. Aaaand you’re free again! Have f- oh no, roadworks again, 80 pls. Ok done. Now you can really hit the gas! Joke, roadworks again haha, 80! Finally done, now we promise we don’t have roadworks anymore, enjoy! Aaaand welcome to the Netherlands, 100 please.
Ironically, Germany is the only country where I’ve gotten speeding tickets on the highway when driving through Europe east to west or vice versa. I’m still not entirely sure whether it was because of road works, the fact that I had a (small) trailer, or something else.
At least their fines aren’t as ludicrously high as other EU countries. It’s only high when you speed next to roadworks I think.
Which is wrong. Fines have to be linked to income and they must hurt or they are just a tax.
With a trailer you’re limited to 80kph (or 100kph im some cases)
And police is setting also setting up “distance traps” on the Autobahn, you can get a ticket (or even lose your license) for tailgating.
here it’s more like follow the speed limit except for when a bicycle is ahead of you. you bike behind a car and they will obey the school zone limit. you bike over the limit ahead of them and they will speed to pass you and kill a child for bonus points.
Oh man I feel that one. I ride my bike fast. Like usually around 28 km/h. But some drivers get downright agressive, and really need to get past me especially when the need to turn into a habitation area in 100 meters.
If only
germans: famous for their hating the rules
Well, the rules in place are kept. The point is that there is no general tempo limit
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.
