Highway to hell!
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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.
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Yeah, you are allowed to drive as fast as you like on some Autobahns, but if you have an accident and your speed is deemed to be faster than safe, the insurance companies are like "nah bro, you brought this on yourself"
Also, if you are faster than 130 kph and have an accident, you’re always deemed to be partially at fault, no matter what happened
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Amsterdam is not close to any border. On the other hand, the Netherlands is very small, so in that sense you’re always close to a border
Since you want to be pedantic. Arrnhem is less than 1.5 hours to the border. This is pretty easy to look up before looking foolish.
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Are the no limit zones shown on google maps?
Also how well/visible are the signs?
I fear thinking some section is no limits only to get a massive ticket.
Of course I would drive after the conditions
Google was fine as well as road signs. The traffic around you is also a good indicator. You'll catch up real quick when things slow down.
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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.
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.
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Since you want to be pedantic. Arrnhem is less than 1.5 hours to the border. This is pretty easy to look up before looking foolish.
You said Amsterdam, though. I know Arnhem, so I don’t have to look it up. Arnhem is less than 30 minutes from the border. Amsterdam is about 1.5 hours from the border, but doesn’t give any information about which part of the border, since it’s about as far to the west as you can be.
That being said, I meant it lightly, it wasn’t important for what you were saying.
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There are no "polite flashes". If you have to bully other cars out of the left lane, you're driving faster than traffic allows.
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.
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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.
Maybe they were just passing a truck?
Or is it the arschlochpflicht that forces germans to write this type of comments?
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There are no "polite flashes". If you have to bully other cars out of the left lane, you're driving faster than traffic allows.
they are deiving in the wrong lane
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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.
wrote on last edited by [email protected]Of course, you are right, but ...
if you are driving 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).
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Are the no limit zones shown on google maps?
Also how well/visible are the signs?
I fear thinking some section is no limits only to get a massive ticket.
Of course I would drive after the conditions
wrote on last edited by [email protected]Signs are quite visible. Around here (Munich) most of the Autobahn speed limits are electronic signs anyways, which can be turned off or on set to a limit between 60 and 120 due to traffic or weather conditions. *
"Normal" speed limits signs are being repeated every 30 seconds or so, google. maps also shows the limit while navigating and a lot of newer cars detect the signs as well and show the current limit on the speedometer.
Current cars must play a warning sound (by law) each time you exceed the limit. (You may turn the warning off for the current trip)
- btw there's one electronic sign per lane on a "bridge - like" construction and here in Bavaria they include mounting points for speed trap cameras.
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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.
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).
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Just make sure you respect the Rechtsfahrgebot
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It's more like if you drive too fast you're not insured.
First time I ever heard this. You lose insurance? What?
wrote on last edited by [email protected]If something happens with you faster than 130km/h on the autobahn you're not automatically covered by insurance. You won't lose insurance, you're just only fully insured when you stay under 130. Above you make unnecessary risks and the insurance company won't cover that, if speeding is the cause of the accident.
I asked chatgpt and it is a bit different than what I thought. It came with this answer:
You are not automatically uninsured if you drive faster than 130 km/h. However:
If you're involved in an accident while exceeding 130 km/h, you may be held partially liable (Mitverschulden) — even if the accident was mostly the other party’s fault.
This can reduce your insurance payout.
Your insurer might reduce compensation if speeding is found to have contributed to the severity of the accident, even indirectly.
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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.
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Are the no limit zones shown on google maps?
Also how well/visible are the signs?
I fear thinking some section is no limits only to get a massive ticket.
Of course I would drive after the conditions
99% of the time it’s obvious, especially with modern cars that read the signs plus apps like google maps (though sometimes at least one of those is wrong). You can also look around and see how fast everybody is going, eg. when you enter the highway in an unknown area, and not sure about the speed limit for that section. If I’m uncertain, I just drive normally until I see a sign that comfirms the speed limit.
I am regularly going around 200 km/h, and the only ticket I got was going 99 at an 80 sign next to a closer and renovated lane. It was around midnight, I was already slowing down, but didn’t want to slam on the brakes harder.
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This post did not contain any content.wrote on last edited by [email protected]
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.
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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.
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Of course, you are right, but ...
if you are driving 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).
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.
