Highway to hell!
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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.
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.
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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.
wrote on last edited by [email protected]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
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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.
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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?
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Plus there's noise limits.
If you break the sound barrier then there is no noise.
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Right, they are "end of speed limit". So, if there's speed limit signs you'll find another speed limit or this "end of limits" sign afterwards. This doesn't mean "go qs fast as you want", it just means there's no additional limit on top of what the road type says.
So if it's a road where ongoing and incoming traffic is just divided by road markings, the limit is 100 (or below if there are speed limit signs), if the road has two halves with some barrier in the middle ("baulich getrennte Fahrbahnen") and at least two lanes per direction the recommended speed is 130 with no hard limits. (But the insurance might get back to you if you were driving tooo fast)
Btw interestingly while we may drive really fast we have a law against racing your car (including racing to the next stop light), if you do that you might lose your driving license and not get it back for a looong time. (And that's really expensive)
Last, if you do traffic violations which are more than a misdemeanor (for example tailgating) and they catch you, your license will be suspended for at least a month, but typically more.
Interestingly minor violations like being up to 20kph too fast outside of city limits is. among the cheapest all over Europe. But do something bad and you'll ride a bike for a few months.
Edit: thank you autocorrect for correcting so if to son of.... now everyone knows what a filthy mouth I am.
Right, so 2 lanes and a barrier means 130, unless I see an end of speed limit sign.
Tailgaiting will cost me my license?
DAMN! No wonder you drive so well in germany. I had no idea. Also driving fast from stop light to stop light is also a shock to me. But I guess it also depends on the car. Like if you have a car that can really move fast, then that has to be worse than an ID4? -
This is the sign, hard to miss:
Usually I only see them at the beginning of no limit sections. Google is more often wrong than the dashboard info in my car that is reading the signs.
And sorry if I misread you, but based your questions you seem quite anxious about the autobahn. Maybe this is just your general careful personality, or maybe you’re young and not an experienced driver already. Regardless, I urge you to be careful about very high speeds, it is really a very different world and can be dangerous. You need to pay an insane amount of attention and react very quickly and confidently to the intentions and actions other cars.
Again, sorry if I misread you based on your comments, but if you don’t feel confident enough yet, try getting some more driving experience at regular highway speeds, maybe even test yourself on a closed racing track, or do some driving training.
Oh no, no need to apologise for looking out for your fellow man (person, etc.)
I appreciate that.I do have experience driving motorway here at home, but those are mostly 2x2 lanes. I also have taken a couple of trips to Germany and driven the Autobahn and that worked well.
It's just this summer we're going way south, so we'll be driving many hours, so 150 could save us time at the end. Also the car I'm driving is much nicer. Though I dont like driving past 160, so its very unlikely I'll do that.
So I want to be able to identify where there's no speed limits so I can go 150 or whatever fits the conditions. Otherwise I'll adhere to the speed limits.
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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.
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This is what chatgpt says:
Insurance and Liability Considerations
While exceeding the recommended speed is not illegal, it can affect liability in the event of an accident:
Increased Liability: If you're involved in an accident while driving over 130 km/h, you may be held partially liable, even if the other party is primarily at fault. This is because higher speeds are associated with increased operational risk.
Insurance Implications: Your insurance coverage may still apply, but the insurer could reduce compensation if it's determined that your excessive speed contributed to the accident's severity.
Can you ask it for sources?
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Can you ask it for sources?
Here is the chatgpt conversation.
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4
Link 5
Wiki link 1
Wiki link 2
Single case linkThe rest are Reddit and Facebook links, so I won't post them.
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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.
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Autobahn: Like the high sea, but for cars
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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.
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 is the key aspect. Going over 130 kph the other parties insurance will claim partial responsibility on your side.
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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.
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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.
Got nothing to do with Rechtsfahrgebot. Just means you gotta drive on the right most lane unless there is a proper reason. If someone behind you is going 200 they gotta break
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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. -
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!
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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
also, car assistance software is generally only tested to 160 kph, everything above that the car maker can no longer assure no problems in the software, thus leading to more guilt by the speeder
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This post did not contain any content.wrote on last edited by [email protected]
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.
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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.
