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Each time I cross the border from Czech Republic into Germany I note how the two highways are extremely similar - the asphalt looks the same, roadside barriers are present on both sides, the road width is matching, etc. However in Czech Republic we're only allowed to drive 130 km/h while in Germany you can drive as fast as your car is able to.

How is this difference explained? Is there a key technology that makes German roads far safer than every other highway in the world? Perhaps German drivers are better than everyone else when it comes to high speed? Or is it simply a matter of regulation and deregulation that has absolutely no connection to the physical realities of the road system?

I'm asking this because I always push my car to the limit on the Autobahn, so it is crucial to understand what makes such high speed driving possible.

JonathanReez
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  • Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. – JonathanReez Jul 24 '17 at 12:12
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    Compared to the US for example, "Rechtsfahrgebot" has a lot to do with it. Question is protected, so I cannot make that an answer though. – nvoigt Jul 24 '17 at 14:04
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    IIRC you can still get pulled over on the Autobahn for driving at "unsafe speeds" (e.g. 200km/h in a heavy rain) -- there's just no fixed speed limit. I don't live in nor have traveled in Germany though, so I'd advise researching this more :) – Doktor J Jul 24 '17 at 15:20
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    @nvoigt Drivers are obligated to drive on the right-hand side of multi-lane highways in the U.S., too. The exact details of the requirement vary a bit from state to state, but almost every state has some sort of law making it illegal to block traffic by driving continuously in the left lane. How well that's actually enforced and followed, however, is another matter. We unfortunately seem to have a contingent of people who (incorrectly) believe they have a right to drive in the left lane as long as they want if they're driving at the speed limit. – reirab Jul 24 '17 at 18:49
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    @reirab - I've never seen or heard of this being enforced regardless of the law of the state. much to my disappointment. – KevinDTimm Jul 24 '17 at 20:11
  • @KevinDTimm Mine, too. :( I do know one highway patrolman who enforces it, but public education and enforcement on this really needs to be stepped up. Tennessee has been trying over the past year, but it still has a long way to go. – reirab Jul 24 '17 at 20:29
  • @reirab - it's law in TX, but no enforcement. It's not even law in MN - and MN drivers are the worst :( – KevinDTimm Jul 24 '17 at 20:31
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    Isn't this an engineering or politics question more than a travel one? Or maybe a world-building question, if you squint hard enough. – NotThatGuy Jul 24 '17 at 23:35
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    @NotThatGuy If I squint really hard it looks like a Mathematics question... –  Jul 25 '17 at 02:26
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    You seems to have the assumption that driving speed limits are here for safety reason. This is only partially true: historically, speed limit where introduced to reduce fuel consumption. – Antzi Jul 25 '17 at 04:43
  • US states are racing each other to see who can raise the speed limit the highest. Montana tried the Autobahn thing: "speed limit is don't be stupid". Other western states bump it 5mph every few years, up to 80 or 85 now. @Antzi and when they were introduced to save fuel, cars were dreadfully unsafe. I look at a '69 Impala and I'm like "you went 75mph in THAT?" – Harper - Reinstate Monica Jul 25 '17 at 05:17
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    None of the answers refer to https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richtlinien_f%C3%BCr_die_Anlage_von_Autobahnen and compare them to comparable documents from other countries. Yet, isn't this exactly what OP is interested in? One does not have to be a civil engineer to know that curve radii, inclination, surface material, etc. all feed into the safety at different speed limits. – HRSE Jul 25 '17 at 08:27
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    I have been driving on a free autobahn with dynamic speed limit set to 80 because of spiders (spider webs blocking the fog sensor). The lack of things to do made me settle down, become sleepy, nearly leaving my lane and crashing into another car. Their honking woke me up. If speed limit is off and I drive 160, this never happens, because I always have to be totally concentrated. – Alexander Jul 25 '17 at 12:05
  • Less than 50% of the Autobahnnetz has no speed limit. – RedSonja Jul 25 '17 at 13:56
  • If I'm not mistaken you have to keep a safety distance to the car in front of you that is considered safe for your current cruising speed. So if you drive faster you should keep a larger distance which is only possible if the traffic is not too dense otherwise you would have to slow down or potentially face a fine. Now this rule could probably apply in the Czech Republic as well together without explicit speed limits, but for some reason they chose not to. Maybe they simply don't want to drive faster even under circumstances where they could without much additional risk? – NoDataDumpNoContribution Jul 25 '17 at 20:13
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    "... it is crucial to understand what makes such high speed driving possible." If that is the question then the answer is technology (powerful engines). If you ask for a complete risk assesment, driving in Germany is potentially harmful. You can die. You can die even if you drive slowly but because someone else drove really fast (and didn't see you). Actually, people do die. Every single day. It's dangerous. The same way for example carrying guns in the US is dangerous. Thank God, the absence of speed limits is not part of the German constitution. – NoDataDumpNoContribution Jul 25 '17 at 20:17
  • @reirab I have been driving on an interstate in and around Seattle, Washington and nobody seemed to know that. It had multiple lanes, passing on either side was normal and it even had on and offramps from the left lane. As a German, this blew my mind. In my mind, the left lane is for people flying low with their landing gear down so to speak. No way is it a place to slow down to exit. I felt scared even keeping to the traffic limit of half my normal driving speed for weeks because it seemed so chaotic compared to an Autobahn. – nvoigt Jul 26 '17 at 08:28
  • @nvoigt Yes, there's an exception in the rules for if you're preparing to turn left. Left lane exits are pretty rare on Interstates, though. They exist mostly only in large cities and even then they try to avoid them when possible. It's possible what you saw, though, was exits for the HOV lanes (which are almost always to the left.) Note that it's usually illegal to drive a car with only one occupant in the HOV lanes. For purposes of the "stay-right" laws, the lane to the right of the HOV lane(s) is the 'left lane.' But you're right that many people ignore the stay-right laws. – reirab Jul 26 '17 at 19:16
  • @nvoigt Passing on the right is not necessarily illegal in the U.S., though. I think it is in some places/situations, but it's not as universal as the stay-right laws. If there's some jerk driving too slow in the left or middle lanes, it's not uncommon for people to pass them on the right. – reirab Jul 26 '17 at 19:17
  • @reirab Passing on the right is an offense comparable to running a red light in Germany. And HOV lanes and lanes sorted by speed don't mix well. I really liked the idea of HOV lanes on that I-forgotthenumber in WS, but it simply would not work with German traffic regulations. – nvoigt Jul 27 '17 at 13:02
  • There are some useful answers to a similar question over at history.SE: https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/5620/no-speed-limit-on-german-highways-why – HenricF Aug 04 '17 at 11:02

8 Answers8

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TL;DR: It’s religious cultural.

A considerable portion of Germans consider the absence of a general speed limit a fundamental freedom and will strongly argue against any suggestions to abolish it. If a politician or political party were to suggest a general autobahn speed limit, they would lose a considerable number of votes – which is why it does not happen. I have experienced that even with very reasonable people (including university professors and legal professionals), it can be impossible to have a reasonable discussion about this topic. Note that this also applies to much higher limits than 130 km/h. As an example, see the discussion on this answer.

This has often been compared to US weapon laws and bullfighting in Spain. If you speak German, this article in a prominent German online newspaper seconds my assessment. The answers to this question also contain a few documents sharing this assessment.

Of course it should be noted that the quality of German highways allows for the laws to be like this without a considerable number of accidents or deaths, and speed limits on highways do exist when the quality of the road or other circumstances would make no speed limit even less advisable.

psmears
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Wrzlprmft
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  • Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. – JoErNanO Jul 24 '17 at 14:38
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    IMHO it is important to note that the linked "article" is a commentary. – Zulan Jul 24 '17 at 17:23
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    Note that this also applies to much higher limits than 130 km/h Even 1225km/h? What about 1079252850 km/h? –  Jul 25 '17 at 02:28
  • @Zulan: What other type of article would contain such an assessment, unless it’s reporting a sociological study or similar? – Wrzlprmft Jul 25 '17 at 05:34
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    @Michael Yes, most Germans would oppose a speed limit of 500 on Autobahns. The reason why they oppose it was because they know that once the law is there, a change of the number is not that hard any more. The politicians did it with the law against drunk driving, changing the number from 1.6 to .8 to .5 and they are already trying to go down to .3. Germans have a word for that, "Salamitaktik". If you cut off thinnest slices, one at a time, the salami never noticeably loses length, but in the end, it is still completely eaten. – Alexander Jul 25 '17 at 11:46
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    @Alexander I guess it's what English people call a "slippery slope". I.e., yes, sometimes that may be a problem, but it tends to steer the debate away from what is actually at hand towards something completely hypothetical. – Nobody Jul 25 '17 at 14:32
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German autobahns are not exceptionally safe

In fact, German Autobahns have mid-level safety compared to other countries, well behind countries such as the UK. The Czech Republic has particularly unsafe roads by EU standards so you are perhaps better off in Germany but your presumption that German roads are exceptionally safe is unsupported. Thus the unrestricted nature of some of Germany's autobahns is down to history and politics not technology and safety.

I'd also note that actual travel speeds on Germany's autobahns are not as extreme as you suggest.

Jack Aidley
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  • +1: Thanks to pointing that out, I was searching for a comparison between motorways which your answer provides. – Thorsten S. Jul 23 '17 at 17:57
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    The "safety" Wikipedia section you link to rates "safety" as # of deaths / veh.km. While this certainly is a good measure in general, it seems quite misleading to me in the context of the question. (Because the question seemed to aim at technological measures / quality of the construction.) – Martin Ba Jul 24 '17 at 07:21
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    @MartinBa: But the answer is that the question is misguided. There is no technological or safety reason that German Autobahns are safer (to me, compared to UK motorways they feel noticeably inferior) and, in fact, this is borne out in safety figures where they do not perform exceptionally well. – Jack Aidley Jul 24 '17 at 09:10
  • Now you are making me curious. Is there anything specific to the construction of the UK motorways or it is simply the feeling (I know that many parts of the Autobahn are already worn down and that we have many construction works)? – Thorsten S. Jul 24 '17 at 09:22
  • @JackAidley - Note that I upvoted your answer. It's just that, misguided or not, the "safety" the OP was referring to is not bottom line safety as described in the WP article. As another nitpick, I'll add that I don't quite see a major difference btw. the UK motorway quality (in terms of maintenance, etc.) and the german ones I usually drive on. (mostly southern Germany) – Martin Ba Jul 24 '17 at 11:08
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    It's unclear how the fatality rates on roads other than motorways in the Czech republic bear on construction standards of motorways in Germany. This answer references some useful data, but it is doing a poor job of drawing conclusions from it. – Jirka Hanika Jul 24 '17 at 11:15
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    @MartinBa - Deaths occurring is the right starting point for questioning whether there is something uniquely effective about German autobahns, or the driving circumstances in Germany, and/or whether speed limits are necessary. The cited rates are neither so low nor so high as to imply any conclusion; now that we know that, it makes sense to investigate specific factors. – ToolmakerSteve Jul 24 '17 at 12:24
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    @JackAidley - One could equally conclude from the statistics that German autobahns are not exceptionally dangerous; the lack of a fixed speed limit (on some stretches of Autobahn) is not causing a horrendous death rate. Whether that would hold true in other countries is an interesting question [though admittedly not the question being asked]. – ToolmakerSteve Jul 24 '17 at 12:34
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    The problem with the links to road safety here is that I'd expect the observed (quite different) speed limits in the respective countries to factor into the prevalence of accidents. Deriving from that data whether or why one country can or should allow higher speeds than another thus seems like it involves some circular reasoning. – O. R. Mapper Jul 24 '17 at 14:53
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    Yes, @O.R.Mapper is correct. To actually draw the conclusion that the roads themselves were not more safe/of better quality, you'd need to compare accident rates with the same speeds, traffic patterns, vehicles, and traffic density. – reirab Jul 24 '17 at 18:46
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    @O.R.Mapper notably, the average speed given for the autobahn is not much higher than the UK - here about 25% of cars on motorways go faster than 75 mph, and the average speed is 68mph. (It turns out that despite our safety we speed a lot - 46% on motorways, 52% in residential and 84% on slow residential roads) – Tim Jul 25 '17 at 08:55
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A few things might contribute to make it possible:

  • There are speed limits, a lot of them. There are speed limits around cities, before interchanges, in areas with a lot of traffic or many curves, etc. Increasingly, you will see road sections with dynamic speed limits being turned on or off depending on the conditions. So even in Germany there is an awareness that speeding can be dangerous, people do not speed to the same extent everywhere.
  • You're still responsible for your speed. There are no special safety features, no broader curves or anything like that. If anything, Germany has been underinvesting in its infrastructure and road surface tends to be worse than in neighbouring countries. But drivers are aware that some cars will be very very fast, which might alleviate the danger if you compare it to illegal speeding in other places.

But the key is that nobody knows what the effect on safety is and there are many reasons to think it does have a negative effect overall. All you can say is that it's not dramatically worse to the point that Germany would be much more dangerous than other European countries.

Historically, the number of deaths on the road (appropriately normalised) tended to be lower than in other countries, which specialists explained mostly through the higher traffic density (more cars on the road means more traffic jams and therefore less deadly accidents). Now, it's in the middle of the pack, not much more dangerous than other European countries and certainly safer than, say, North Africa, but not especially safe either.

The thing is that it's a game of numbers, cars don't break down when you pass 140 km/h in another country and in fact you can find many countries in the world with worse road infrastructure and lax rules (or strict rules that aren't enforced). So everything is “possible”, it will just make road slightly safer or slightly more dangerous.

And, ultimately, the issue is highly politicised and, AFAIK, no separate statistics are available on non-limited stretches of motorway (which would be necessary to make a head-to-head comparison or try to model the effect of speed limits).

Relaxed
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    “people do not speed everywhere” – Uh, I believe you are too optimistic here. People do speed absolutely everywhere (and sometimes they make the news because that has led to a serious accident). Still, good answer (+1). – chirlu Jul 23 '17 at 13:00
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    I have to second @chirlu’s assessment: The vast majority of German motorists drives about 30 % above the speed limit – Wrzlprmft Jul 23 '17 at 13:43
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    And a minority is driving much faster. The only way to have a speed limit actually obeyed is to install a speed camera and plant a number of signs making drivers aware of the camera. This will work for a few hundred meters before and a few meters behind the camera. – chirlu Jul 23 '17 at 14:02
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    @chirlu: I'm not a huge fan of them, but average speed cameras can address that particular issue, of drivers slowing only as they pass the camera. Of course I have no idea whether or not they'd be legal in Germany: their courts may or may not accept the Mean Value Theorem ;-) Or, more seriously, the data protection ramifications. – Steve Jessop Jul 23 '17 at 16:11
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    @Steve Jessop: It’s indeed data protection laws that have stopped some currently planned tests with average speed cameras (called “Section Control” in German :-)). But single-point speed cameras work really well for, e.g., dangerous curves. – chirlu Jul 23 '17 at 21:49
  • @cirlu: arguably, an averaging speed camera should be able to delete the "enter record" if it hasn't seen an "exit record" after a period of time equal to the legal limit for the stretch of road covered. So normally about 1-2 minutes per mile in the UK. In practice, of course, it's never that simple, but it makes no practical difference here since we have any number of cameras covering major roads anyway, with or without speed control. – Steve Jessop Jul 23 '17 at 22:53
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    @SteveJessop: The problem is creating an "enter record" of everyone in the first place, no matter for how little time it is saved. The legally problematic part is not saving data about people who show no concrete signs of doing anything wrong for a prolonged time, but gathering any data about them in the first place - and the mere fact of being on the road is not a sufficient reason to assume they may be breaking the law by speeding. But with that said, the density of stationary speed cameras, on the other hand, is quite high in DE. – O. R. Mapper Jul 24 '17 at 15:04
  • @O.R.Mapper: sure. In the UK, there are so many cameras on major roads anyway, that every vehicle on them is frequently being temporarily recorded along with its identifying information. I don't know whether or not this is the actual relevant legal argument in the UK, but certainly there's no data protection barrier here to temporarily recording images of vehicles with their license plates, either from official cameras placed deliberately to record the public highway, or from private stuff like carpark CCTV. It's a highly surveilled country. – Steve Jessop Jul 24 '17 at 15:36
  • @O.R.Mapper That's not a real problem. – Relaxed Jul 24 '17 at 20:50
  • @Relaxed: Would you care to elaborate why you think so (or what exactly you are referring to)? – O. R. Mapper Jul 25 '17 at 07:27
  • @SteveJessop: Without denying anything you say, note that there is a subtle difference between recording images that could be used to identify cars (because the images show the license plates) and actually performing that identification in order to store the identifying data itself. – O. R. Mapper Jul 25 '17 at 07:31
  • @O.R.Mapper An entry record expiring within a few minutes is not a serious problem. That's not a “prolonged time” under any reasonable definition and completely commensurate with the purpose. – Relaxed Jul 25 '17 at 12:21
  • @Relaxed: I think you misunderstood my comment. I did not consider a few minutes to be a prolonged time. I said it is irrelevant whether the enter record is stored for a very short time or for a prolonged time; the issue that privacy advocates could see would be creating the enter record at all. – O. R. Mapper Jul 25 '17 at 12:49
  • "Germany has been underinvesting in its infrastructure and road surface tends to be worse than in neighbouring countries" Say what now? German roads are known in these neighbouring countries for A) being in excellent condition and B) constantly undergoing repair or maintenance. I wouldn't doubt that the recent economic crisis has seen a decline in investments in this area but I'd have to ask for a source on a statement like this. – Lilienthal Jul 25 '17 at 14:31
  • @Lilienthal Says who? I have lived in two of those countries (and in Germany too) and I don't think so. Underinvestment problems are well-known, a staple of the German media, and something I witnessed first hand countless times. – Relaxed Jul 25 '17 at 15:31
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There are in fact some key features distinctive in Germany aside from having the cultural attitude:

  • No garbage cans on the street. Cars must regularly be checked every two years by either the TÜV or the Dekra. Cars which do not pass may not be driven on the road.

  • More demanding environment Germany has a very high car density and in contrast to the typical US checkerboard design the streets in cities are built like a maze, there are one-ways, crossings with five/sive intersections, small alleys, confusing arrangements and in some cities you have also a tram moving on the road together with the cars.

  • Fahrschule: Getting the driving license is relatively expensive (1500€) and quite demanding. The training is given by certified driving instructors inside special cars which allow the instructor to brake the car if he/she sees dangerous behavior.

    • You need to make a visual test which shows that you can see clearly and distinctively even at night
    • You need to make a first aid course (not if you already made one or if you are a paramedic)

    • The theoretical course are at least 14 hours a 90 min. The final test consists of choosing 30 questions, each correct answer give a point, 20 points means a pass. Trying to learn the questions by heart is senseless because there are currently 522 questions for the basic stuff, the extended stuff has 993 questions.

    • Every trainee must absolve Sonderfahrten (special trips) which are at least 1 night trip (3 hours), 1 overland trip (4 hours) and 1 autobahn (5 hours).

    • The practical test itself is one official tester together with your driving instructor. The car is now unmarked. As long as no instructions are given you are driving straight. The tester may not send you into a wrong direction, but that is all. If the straight road is forbidden (one-way in wrong direction) and you try to drive, fail. If you approach a railway without looking out, fail.

    • Driving trucks is even harder, there are more restrictions and more tests.

  • Verkehrsfunk: We have continous radio traffic every 30min or so which warns of traffic congestions, people or game on the autobahn, Geisterfahrer (wrong-way driver) and so on.

  • Flensburg point system and the MPU. Every recorded traffic violation not only causes problems every time (fine, loss of license or even trial), the violations gain you points and once a threshold is reached, you must go to the infamous MPU (idiot test). This means a doctor examines your health and a psychologist talks with you and tries to find out if you have insight in your behavior and if your behavior will remain stable in a positive way. Many, many people do not pass this test.

Thorsten S.
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In addition to the cultural aspects, there is a technical reason for autobahns being safer to drive on. The construction techniques used mean the surface is extremely consistent, with very few bumps, and a design that removes standing water. Additionally, the lanes are wider than those in many other countries with a wide shoulder - when I have driven in the Czech Republic I notice the difference at the edge of the road surface - it is not as consistent as on autobahns.

A couple of specifics:

The autobahn is 27 inches thick, or 686 millimeters thick. The life span is 40 years, compared to 20 years for the United States freeway system that is 11 inches thick.

and

The freeze-resistant concrete helps keep the road smooth. German crews routinely inspect the road network with high tech scanning equipment. When a defect is found, the entire road section is replaced.

(from allkmc.com)

I'd still put the emphasis on culture, but these technical advantages also help.

Rory Alsop
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    I remember driving (as a passenger) on concrete slabs on a German Autobahn that gave the impression of being so old that they had been constructed by Mr. Hitler himself. – gerrit Jul 24 '17 at 13:28
  • Don't know about the US or Czech Republic but German motorways do not feel especially well built or well maintained compared to France, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands… – Relaxed Jul 24 '17 at 20:56
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    @gerrit That is entirely possible. The last piece of old Reichsautobahn on the A11 east of Berlin, constructed in 1936, was not replaced until 2016 (eighty years later), although admittedly by that point it was in such poor condition that driving in excess of 100 km/h was not advisable. If I recall correctly, one could still encounter various other stretches of 1930's Reichsautobahn well into the 1980s. – njuffa Jul 25 '17 at 04:47
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Driving culture

I feel much more safe driving 170-180 on the German Autobahn than driving 120-130 on equivalent highways in other countries, especially in the East. The main reason is that the Germans keep their distance between the cars.

What I very often see in other countries, and much less often in Germany:

  • tailgating but not overtaking
  • joining a lane between two cars which were already too close to each other
  • closing up behind the car in the front, and suddenly overtaking it in the last second
  • overtaking in the right lane
  • switching multiple lanes with one single motion.
  • choosing a lane seemingly at random, regardless of speed or other drivers.
  • cutting left curves through the lane to their left

Although probably not the main or official reason for having no speed limit, it surely contributes to not having more accidents than average, despite higher average speeds than in other countries.

vsz
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    In which area are you usually driving? I observe a choice of these behaviors (except the last one) on every longer Autobahn ride. In particular point 2 is almost standard in dense traffic. No chance to keep the recommended safety distance, somebody will use this gap to switch lanes. – Matthias Jul 24 '17 at 07:25
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    "on every longer Autobahn ride" - have you tried other countries, especially starting from Hungary, and from there to the East and South? There you don't need a longer ride to see it, because everyone is doing it. – vsz Jul 24 '17 at 07:57
  • I don't question that. I just wanted to say that also in Germany this is much more common than "almost never ". And there are (too) many Germans who do not "keep their distance ", but approach the car in front too fast and too close, often giving threatening light signals. – Matthias Jul 24 '17 at 08:17
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    @Matthias : OK, I edited "almost never" out of the answer. – vsz Jul 24 '17 at 08:36
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    Everything VSZ says is correct. Sure, in Germany you see a few people doing these bad things - - - *tourists*. – Fattie Jul 24 '17 at 11:34
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    In my experience, compared to Austria where I drive most of the time, people drive far worse in Germany in general. A few minutes on the German Autobahn and I usually see many people driving slow on the left lane(s), tailgating, cutting in front of me...

    Of course it is even worse in other places, but to say Germany is especially good in this regard is a bit of a overstatement.

     – Josef Jul 24 '17 at 12:51
  • @Matthias: "often giving threatening light signals" - is it possible these observations differ a lot also depending on how/where you drive (without implying that you are doing anything wrong)? I frequently stay on the rightmost lane (because I accept going at, say, 110km/h for a little while even if I feel a certain urge to overtake and accelerate to 130km/h), especially when the next lane to the left has some considerable traffic, and (maybe as a result of that?) I have never knowingly come in touch with anyone flashing lights at me. The faster drivers won't even enter my rightmost lane. – O. R. Mapper Jul 24 '17 at 15:20
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    @Matthias Light signals aren't necessarily threatening. From my point of view it's more a "Sorry to bother you, just wanted to let you know I'm coming up, could you please let me pass once you're done overtaking that truck"-nudge. Sure some misuse it, but in general I'd consider it a friendly heads up. – Frank Hopkins Jul 24 '17 at 16:43
  • @O.R.Mapper Sure, this happens on the left lane. Unfortunately, there are some routes were the right lane is filled with trucks, so staying right is not an option there unless you are very patient. – Matthias Jul 24 '17 at 18:59
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    @Darkwing Maybe "aggressive" would have been the better word. But anyway, the use of light signals you describe is super-flu (and not in line with the StVO). The friendliest thing that someone who approaches from behind can do is simply slow down and keep a distance (in metres) of half the speed (in km/h), i.e. usually 50-70 m. The people that do the light signal thing, often combined with setting the left indicator, usually come much closer. – Matthias Jul 24 '17 at 19:07
  • @Matthias: Indeed. I usually am very patient. – O. R. Mapper Jul 24 '17 at 19:17
  • It gets worse: where I live, half of the drivers are facebooking/snapchatting/instagramming/texting/answering emails as they drive 10 mph / 16 kph below the speed limit. At least the aggressive drivers acknowledge the existence of the other cars on the road. – shoover Jul 24 '17 at 22:49
  • @Matthias: Sorry to correct you, but it is in line with the StVO. If combined with continously driving close behind you and repeatedly using signals or light, then you are right that it's forbidden and sanctionable ("Nötigung"). The use as a warning, is perfectly allowed. See for instance (both German): http://www.n-tv.de/ratgeber/Lichthupe-gleich-Noetigung-article14509251.html https://www.derwesten.de/auto/lichthupe-ist-erlaubt-was-autobahnfahrer-wissen-sollten-id9048590.html – Frank Hopkins Jul 25 '17 at 08:16
  • @Darkwing Well, this is a matter of interpretation. I don't think that § 5 (5) allows a "please let me pass" (your words) signal, although it is not always a "Nötigung", just an abuse of the signal. Following the words you may announce that you will overtake, not that you want to (it is still a warning signal according to §16) - which makes quite a difference in particular when it is foreseeable that the lane will not get free for another kilometre. Anyway, in most cases it is superflu and hence distracting, signaling the obvious. – Matthias Jul 25 '17 at 08:56
  • @Matthias Here I totally disagree with respect to it being superfluous or signaling the obvious. Often enough people stay longer on the left lane than they need or underestimate cars coming up from behind. In such cases it's totally valid. My focus is typically directed forward, but I'm happy to make room if someone comes up faster from behind. It's still my decision if I can make room. Do some people misuse it? Sure. But in my experience the amount of misuse is much lower than the amount of simple friendly communication. – Frank Hopkins Jul 25 '17 at 09:23
  • @Matthias And all interpretations I found do indicate signaling your intent to overtake is fine. Here is one that makes it even more clear http://www.focus.de/auto/ratgeber/recht/tid-20835/juristische-irrtuemer-mythos-2-die-lichthupe-zu-benutzen-ist-noetigung_aid_584232.html Sure, when the guy in front is overtaking himself right that moment and more traffic on the right is there then it makes no sense to try and overtake him. So he surely can decide to stay on the left lane and repeated signaling is "aggressive" in such cases. – Frank Hopkins Jul 25 '17 at 09:24
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One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is that the sections of the Autobahn with no speed limit have well-spaced interchanges (both on and off), compared to the roads in other countries. A common example I hear is that the Autobahn may have segments of 20 or 30 KM without any interchanges, while other European countries have 6 or 7 on that stretch of land. While I can't give a concrete example of this due to unfamiliarity with the Autobahn, an article at http://www.auguszt.de/english/VZ/autobahn.html gives an example of the distance between interchanges sometimes exceeding 30 km. Meanwhile, the 26 km of the E-19 from Antwerp to Zaventem Airport (arbitrary choice based on personal knowledge) has about 10 interchanges depending on what you count as an interchange. Fewer interchanges means less merging traffic, means fewer dangerous manoeuvres, means the speed can be higher for the same risk.

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  • That does not seem especially relevant. Belgium and especially Flanders is very dense. You can easily find areas in Germany like that. Meanwhile, France, where any exit ramp requires toll booths and expensive equipment, has relatively few of them. That would not make Germany safer in any way. – Relaxed Jul 25 '17 at 12:18
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    @Relaxed And the areas in Germany which are as dense as Belgium and have many interchanges have a speed limit. Which proves my point exactly. Taking an example from France, the A8 autoroute has roughly 50 junctions and gas stations for a 200 KM stretch, or about 1 every 4 KM. The A6 autoroute has roughly 50 intersections for 450 KM, or 1 every 9 KM. That's nowhere near the 20 or 30 KM that Germany has. – Nzall Jul 25 '17 at 13:55
  • The comparison is still irrelevant, why even mention it then? But, again, I can easily think of a few stretches of motorway in France with 20 or 30km between two exits, handpicking special motorways means nothing. Even in Belgium, the E411 does not have nearly as many as the E19! But if you need a counter-example in Germany, here is one I happen to drive regularly: BAB 30, 36 exit ramps or interchanges for 131 km, most of which with no permanent speed limits. – Relaxed Jul 25 '17 at 15:21
  • And, regarding France, have a look at the A71, you will find one 41-km stretch of motorway with no exit. Bottom line: You can easily find examples of anything and Germany simply has a mix of densely populated areas and less densely populated areas like every other countries around it. Yet it's the only one without a general speed limit. So how does the distance between entry/exit ramps on some motorways explain anything? – Relaxed Jul 25 '17 at 15:24
  • @Relaxed - It sounds like your argument boils down to: If my neighbor's car also has a seatbelt, then my seatbelt doesn't make me safer than my neighbor. So what? Seatbelts are still a safety feature... – industry7 Jul 25 '17 at 20:37
  • @industry7 If I am following your analogy, my argument is that my seatbelt does not make me saf*er* than my neighbour who also has one, whereas Nzall answer implies that only Germany has seatbelts (“compared to the roads in other countries”). For the question was about factors specific to Germany making high speeds possible. And the answer is that there is nothing specific, beside a tolerance for a slightly higher risk. In any case, certainly not the distance between entry/exit ramps or interchanges, you can't explain a difference with a constant! – Relaxed Jul 26 '17 at 09:09
  • @industry7 Besides, I even gave an example of a stretch of motorway without “seat belts” (i.e. an entry/exit every 3 or so km) and no speed limit so the whole discussion is completely irrelevant. – Relaxed Jul 26 '17 at 09:11
  • @Relaxed Sorry, my analogy was completely wrong. Let's forget the analogy and start over. I think what it actually comes down to is whether or not you are claiming that France uses this safety feature just as much as Germany. Because if France does not use it as much as Germany does, then it could still be completely true to say that this feature contributes to making German roads safer than French roads. And that definitely answers the original question. So if you're saying France uses this feature just as much, I'll believe you and drop it. – industry7 Jul 26 '17 at 21:26
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On a German Autobahn, you can drive as fast as you want provided that:

  • There is no specific speed limit posted; many accident-prone stretches have one.
  • You can do so safely considering the condition of the road, the weather, your vehicle, and other traffic; if there is somebody on the left lane of the Autobahn at a mere 150 kph it is your job to slow down.

Regarding safety, it certainly helps that German drivers are used to speeds in excess of 130 kph. If you haven't done it before, 200 kph is frightening. If you are on a three-lane-per-direction highway and the other guys in the leftmost lane are all doing 200 kph, you just go with the flow, and pass motorists who are doing 130 mph in the middle lane. Just watch out for those people who pull into your lane at a mere 150 kph ...

If you want to go 280 kph, there are a couple of stretches where it can be safely done, on a Sunday morning (few trucks) on a sunny summer day (dry and bright).

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o.m.
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    Having been a front seat passenger on German motorways on rainy days I can asure you that not all people restrict high speeds to empty roads and good weather. People on the rightmost lane were going around 100km/h, less when there were slower trucks, people in the left most lane did overtake us (about 120 km/h) in the middle lane with high speeds in weather with often heavy rain. Of course, it gets more 'fun' when one truck passes an other at 95km/h and the rest of the traffic gets pushed left because if it. – Willeke Jul 23 '17 at 12:49
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    I didn't find speeds well in excess of 200km/h all that frightening, however my colleague (and front seat passenger) apparently did. A good car with properly rated tires is quite stable. – Spehro Pefhany Jul 23 '17 at 12:58
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    @Willeke Sounds like the person you drove with wanted to show off. Just like in every country, there are people who take too much risk. – Luc Jul 24 '17 at 06:36
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    @Willeke There is a word and Wikipedia article for that: Elefantenrennen – gerrit Jul 24 '17 at 13:30
  • The friend who drove did not want to show off, he did often drive a bit slower than average for the road but always on the right most lane. I noticed that other drivers did not keep to safe (in my view) speeds. – Willeke Jul 24 '17 at 14:33
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    @gerrit, I thought that an Elefantenrennen is one truck at 102 kph overtaking another truck at 98 kph, or thereabouts. Two big vehicles, and they take an eternity to pass each other. – o.m. Jul 24 '17 at 16:05
  • @o.m. Indeed, I was referring to “Of course, it gets more 'fun' when one truck passes an other at 95km/h and the rest of the traffic gets pushed left because if it” – gerrit Jul 24 '17 at 16:08
  • I hadn't realised Elephant Racing existed in other languages - I thought it was a Britishism. thanks @gerrit – Rory Alsop Jul 25 '17 at 06:48
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    Third bullet point: Your car must be certified to drive that speed. All cars have a speed limit in their papers and it's quite commonly a lot less than 200km/h especially for small inexpensive cars. But the speed indicator often has room for quite a bit more speed. So many people aren't aware that on a free stretch of Autobahn you can still be fined for speeding if you go over your car's speed limit. – Sumyrda - remember Monica Jul 25 '17 at 09:36
  • You're not really answering the question and you're telling people who aren't used to driving at high speeds and could potentially find the process frightening to "just go with the flow"? -1 from me. – Lilienthal Jul 25 '17 at 14:36
  • @Lilienthal, I'm saying that the main safety factor are drivers who are experienced at more than 130 mph, plus the fact that "unlimited" isn't really unlimited. – o.m. Jul 25 '17 at 16:09