On the other side, Germany has TÜV with a mandatory vehicle inspection every 2 years with some exceptions for new cars.
They check vital components for road safety and won’t allow the car to be on public roads when it’s not fixed within a month. And it’s not like your tires have no rest profile anymore, it’s like you have to change them when they’re at 1,6mm… recommended is to change at 4mms…
Some “Prüfer” are chill but sometimes you won’t pass because your winter tires you were drivimg for 5 years, are 0,3% bigger than the allowed ones in the registrationpapers… at least I heard.
Yeees. But some of the guidelines are confusing. So the basic rule is that you have to keep a “2-second distance”. This is the distance you vehicle would travel in two second without breaking. The Formular is 2x(v²/100). But at lower speeds its a completely different calculation. And when you are waaay faster you are supposed to leave half your speed in metres as a gap. Then there are separate rules for fog and long vehicles and multiple vehicles that drive in a row on one lane roads and all that.
There are also rules for the distance you should keep to the cars and especially bikes next to you and they are different depending on if you are in a “place” or outside of one :)
Wait no. So I’m Shure I got the Formular wrong, but there is one that is specifically for the distance covered per second. And of course time is a cariable because how else would you define speed.
I know, but sorry we’re miles apart from each other. I’ve seen “street legal” cars in UK which will get you in jail in Germany xD Tbh I don’t mind those restrictions but some are way over the top here
we have this every year in slovenia. you have to pass a technical inspection then register your car
my mom’s car failed bexause her handbrake was 11% less efficient than new (limit being 10%). she had to get it replaced and then the car passed perfectly with 0 issues stated
i’d rather do this shit than have some jerk driving around with a car thats about to fall apart and maybe not have a working brake
Speaking as an American here… could we NOT park cars in the left lane. I’ve seen enough habits of drivers in other countries where the left lane is exclusively for passing, it’s so simple and superior for traffic but Americans be dumb selfish shits behind the wheel.
You don’t understand, I have to turn left in 25 km and what if I can’t get back into my lane after I let you pass and I miss my turn. I’m not a confident driver so I am going to do what’s safest and best for me and everyone else can just accept it. I’m going fast enough at 5km over the posted speed limit and you can just slow down, life isn’t a race unless I need it to be.
I think the real trouble is that it’s hard to convict on that. It’s not like speeding, where you either are or you aren’t, it’s much harder to establish that you shouldn’t be in the outside lane. I mean, it seems pretty clear in most cases, but the lack of a clearly defined boundary makes it very difficult in law. This ends up making it feel like a waste of time to law enforcement, both police and courts, because they could be doing things that will be more likely to have the intended outcome.
It’s really annoying though, because advanced driver courses sometimes do define it: 10 seconds.
If you’re not overtaking within 10 seconds, you should move over. Personally, I find it easier to estimate a 7 second distance by eye - 10 seconds is quite conservative.
No, they let me go with a warning, but while the one was talking to me, the other cop was peering in all my windows, so I’m pretty sure it was all an excuse to inspect people cars…
Where i live it’s fucking madness. People change lanes randomly, sit in the far left going 10 under the limit, pass on the right or left at seeming random, and sometimes just drive in the middle lane doing 30 mph in a 70 mph zone with their fucking hazards on. Don’t even get me started on their merge technique, jealousy and resentment are what rule people’s decisions and nobody has ever even heard of zipper merging. It’s a shock there aren’t more accidents than there are.
I once watched someone sitting in the far left at the limit, come up against someone driving on the left going 10 under, decide to undertake, and then slow down to like 30 under to “punish” the person.
I’ve changed lanes to pass only to have people change in front of me to block me, then change back when i changed back.
But most of all, and it should be noted i drive a two seater sports car here, i’ve had people in their huge ass SUVs look over at me, MAKE EYE CONTACT with me, and then merge into whatever lane i was in at the time like they were trying to drive me off the road.
It’s a phrase some people use. Specifically prevalent in California. “Parking their Ass in the left lane” Means somebody driving in the left lane at 10mph below the speed limit.
A section of the A24 was limited to 130 kmph for 20 years to reduce accidents. Because the reduction the speed limit was lifted early this year. Now there are 8% more accidents with injury and 42% more injured. Politicians call now to make it possible to limit the section again.
For highway lowering the speed may be effective but lowering the speed limit from 50 to 30 won’t stop drivers from going 50 unless the road is designed for lower speeds. So long as lanes are wide and there are little obstructions for drivers to worry about hitting, such as bumpouts, boulevards, etc., they will go as fast as they feel comfortable unless there is a cop behind them.
Edit: 50kmh to 30kmh I don’t know what that is in freedom miles
In Germany the speed limit in Cities is 50km/h and in residential zones 30km/h, strong controlled with a lot of radar traps. If you exceed this they screw up your life, in case of hitting a pedestrian even possible with jail time. It cannot be confused by the lack of speed limit on some highway sections, that traffic regulations are very strict and controlled in Germany and any violation can be very expensive.
Well, respect radar control, it depends also in which city or village you are of the local administration, in some are existing only few and in others on every corner. Often also mobile radarstations in “civil” parking police cars.
It’s not actually. It’s quite an old network so it was built before cars could go as fast as they can go now. There are surprisingly sharp corners and very short off ramps. If it were built from scratch today it would be even safer. Speed limits are bs outside of particularly tricky areas.
Ah yep my bad, I was speaking generally. The image in the article is only a short section of highway but it does look like one of the 2 lane sections that are usually quite old. If they were more modern and built for higher speeds they’d have an even shallower curve and would probably be 3 lanes with a hard shoulder. If you drive on the Autobahn you’ll have a few moments where you notice the difference in road layout from those which more modern highways implement - the on and off ramps in particular can be a bit scary.
That is the problem, people with high end cars have enough money to pay an expensive fuel. Apart with an industry which mostly expensive high end E-cars, the high fuel prices only affect the people wich don’t have money for such cars.
Speed limits absolutely do work if there are cameras and consequences. Unfortunately everyone seems to have decided that suspending licences and siezing cars is a human rights violation.
Speed limits do work, but the road should be designed with the speed limit in mind. Just slapping a new sign up and reducing the speed limit is going to lead to non-compliance - even if the speed limit is enforced by police.
The UK recently released figures on speed limit compliance. For 20mph roads (30-35kph) they primarily measured roads that didn’t have traffic calming measures recommended for 20mph roads (ie the roads don’t “feel” like 20mph roads), and they found 85% of drivers exceeded the speed limit.
Having no general speed limit needs to be a thing of the past. The speed difference between people who wanna drive economically and safely and those who want to put the pedal to the floor is just too big. It may have worked in the 50’s to the 80’s where fast cars were the exception, but nowadays virtuall every family sedan is capable of reaching 180 km/h or more. If you’re going a leisurely 100-120 and someone is doing a low level flight at at least double your speed, things get dangerous. Traffic density simply doesn’t allow that idiocy anymore.
Even if there is no speed limit, there is a guideline speed of 130 kmh and the right-hand driving rule. If the rules are adhered to, you only overtake in one of the left lanes (whereby you must first check whether the lane is free) and then back again. It is not a big problem if you are overtaken with a speed difference of 200 kmh. Of course, the speed must be selected according to the traffic situation, which means that you are only on the road at high speeds when the highway is clear.
With 180-200km/h delta you couldn’t possibly judge the traffic situation, let alone react in time. I think you meant 100km/h difference, right?
But even with a delta of “only” 100km/h the distance between cars shrinks by about 30m per seconds. Even with optimal visibility and full attention on the road this gives you a couple seconds at best to correctly assess the situation. Then you can only punch the brakes and hope you remain in controll over your vehicle.
Imho there is no justification to allow PKW move that fast. At those speeds you not only your life but that of others as well.
And i haven’t even touched on the environmental impact and fuel efficiency of high speeds.
I’ve learned that with a distance of 2 seconds you have always the right distance to the other car, independent with which speed. That is easier as to calculate the meters, enogh to look when the car in front passes some mark (post, tree, some sign…), count 21 …22. When you then pass this mark, you have a distance that allows you to stop safely.
It makes a difference if there is an unlimited section, I start to overtake someone with my weak base engine VW Golf and accelerate to 130 to complete my pass. And then a BMW/Audi/Mercedes approaches at 200+, flashing his high beams barely two car lengths behind me. I’m by no means an insecure driver, it just drives me mad. Some people think that just because an unlimited section of the Autobahn has started, everybody needs to move out of their way immediately or take part in a top speed chase with them. The sense of entitlement is strong out there.
At which speed would I be allowed to use the left lane to overtake someone on the Autobahn, then? Somewhere north of 180? I’m assuming you have vast experience on the German highway system, so please do let me know.
When there is nobody driving that fast behind you in the left lane. I assume you look into your mirrors before switching lanes…? If so, whats the issue with people going faster occasionally on the left lane?
The Autobahn has become very tiring to drive on. Most people somehow decided that its easiest to drive in the middle lane at slow(ish) speeds, while the right lane stays empty for long stretches. Since you are not allowed to overtake on the right lane, both the left lane and the middle lane are clogged most of the time, averaging about 100-120 Km/h. If the public transportation was a bit more reliable and cheaper I would sell my car.
The problem is that even in low traffic, there is a truck on the right lane every few meters. Often, after you switch to the right lane, someone decides to drive right next to you, forcing you to brake.
It’s just more comfortable to stay in the middle lane.
Now IMHO the real problem is when trucks are overtaking with 101km/h…
It’s just more comfortable to stay in the middle lane.
It’s stil a dick move if the rightmost lane is free. Then you’re effectively overtaking a phantom car at the exact same velocity (as nobody is allowed to pass right).
I agree but need to have “free” defined. If there’s another truck 100/200m ahead then it’s a pain in the ass because like the other said, others behind you won’t do the same and will do a slight acceleration when you go in the right lane (because free space in front = accelerate hurr durr), preventing you from changing lanes again when you get to the next truck and so you have to brake and hope you get a gap again soon to overtake the truck.
If it’s literally empty as far as the eye can see then yeah, move over!
What makes your right to go fast on the left lane more important than their right to go a reasonable ~120km/h in the middle lane?
Nothing, but that wasn’t the created scenario. If the right lane isn’t free, do stick in the middle lane of course (squishing two vehicles together isn’t gonna make them go faster, usually). The scenario created was talking of an empty right lane, which should only exist on the left side, as we should drive on the right side of the road.
It’s like when a lane closes and people that merge in near the end get blocked for “trying to get ahead”. But the road is closed there, not a kilometre before. They closed it there to maximise multiple lanes as long as possible to limit the bottleneck caused by the lane closure—use it so everyone can get through quicker. It must be painful to see for the people that set it up. Whatever the situation, traffic go faster when maximising available space and lanes.
Truck driver have timelines. It is totally okay, if they need to occupy the middle lane. Sometimes even the left lane. It is more rare then middle lane sitters.
But what is not okay is that the cultural habit of “don’t clog” has forgotten. People are ignorant shits these days when entering cars.
If you decide to travel via 100 kph and do not want to flow with the traffic, then just stick to the right lane and flow with the trucks?! This way you have the most fuel savings as well.
It is totally okay, if they need to occupy the middle lane.
Truck drivers are running a commercial operation, I shouldn’t have to be inconvenienced so they can more easily make money - especially not when that inconvenience is caused by them not following the rules of the road.
Sometimes even the left lane.
This may be illegal, depending on jurisdiction and circumstances.
Truck drivers are running a commercial operation, I shouldn’t have to be inconvenienced so they can more easily make money - especially not when that inconvenience is caused by them not following the rules of the road.
It is about the person sitting inside the ferry. Once you work together with drivers you will change your attitude torwards them immediately. They working conditions are very difficult. Especially when they are crossing jurisdications/states.
When I am driving I have no problems eith truck drivers. They even help going onto the highway or mention radars.
The people sitting in the middle are the problem. Most of them doesn’t even accelerate passing another middle-lane-sitter.
Im driving for two decades. I did multiple years of disposition. I’m telling you: Middle sitters are the problem and responsible for most crashes on the autobahn.
It is about the person sitting inside the ferry. Once you work together with drivers you will change your attitude torwards them immediately. They working conditions are very difficult. Especially when they are crossing jurisdications/states.
This is the classic “feel sorry for the waiter working on sub-minimum wage, he’s supposed to be subsidised by tips!” bullshit argument. Yes, truck drivers are a victim of the businesses they work for and aren’t paid well enough. That doesn’t mean that they, as representatives of the business they work for, should get away with doing things that are wrong and inconvenience everyone else. Particularly when it is the business that sets the conditions that push drivers to behave as they do.
The truck driver might not be making much of a profit, for the long hours they work. But the truck is there to make a profit. The majority of everyone else on the road is not driving for work. People driving for work should not inhibit everyone else, who are inherently paying a loss to drive somewhere.
In fact, drivers in general shouldn’t inhibit others. Driving in the outside lane when you’re not overtaking is a shitty move, regardless.
Pay attention, plan well ahead to pull out when you need, accelerate as needed so you don’t hold up anyone when you pull out.
If you’re not willing or able to accelerate, then you shouldn’t pull out. By all means indicate your intention (and do so well in advance), but don’t move over until the lane is clear.
When I am driving I have no problems eith truck drivers. They even help going onto the highway or mention radars.
The people sitting in the middle are the problem.
Yeah, but we’re talking about truck drivers who sit in the middle lane.
It sounds like you’re from somewhere where this isn’t much of a problem. The professional drivers are professional. That’s awesome, but know that it doesn’t hold true everywhere, either across the US or in Europe or elsewhere. It’s not even a national thing, driving habits vary by region.
But yeah, people sitting in the middle is a problem. The bigger problem is that it’s so poorly defined - I was taught “if you’re not overtaking within 10 seconds, you should pull over”. 10 seconds is very conservative, I work to 7 seconds.
10 seconds. If you’re not overtaking anything within 10 seconds, you should pull into the inside lane.
This is what I was taught in advanced driver training. However, in practice I use 7 seconds, because I find 10 seconds a little too far to easily estimate by eye. I end up thinking “is that 10 seconds? I’m not sure, maybe” then by the time I figure out it was more than 10 seconds it is now less than 7.
As trucks are governed to a Vmax of 90 kph, and some even to 85 kph, I would suggest you get your speedometer checked, because it sounds like the advancement, required by law, is too high. It shouldn’t show more than 7% more than your actual speed. Truck speedos are more rigorously controlled and show an average of 2 kph too much at 80 kph, so trucks overtaking at 101 kph is not normally possible - of course, speedo manipulation does occur, but it isn’t so rampant that they all overtake at 101 kph.
The point is they are overtaking just slightly faster.
Trucks also spent long stretches in the same order, sometimes they change things up.
The speeds of trucks are measured on-board by a tachograph, so any big deviation can give them a fine, even if they weren’t caught on the spot.
And that 20 second delay really isn’t gonna impact the trip as a whole. Just rolling with it will make your trip less stressful, and therefore more enjoyable. If you’re late, rushing through traffic isn’t gonna make a significant impact, except on your risk of accidents.
Driving on occassion on the A8 near Stuttgart and can’t confirm it.
Usually trucks are clogging the most right line and overtaking each on the 2nd lane.
Most PKWs drive on the 2nd/3rd lane while the racers and overtakers use the 3rd/4th lane.
Also who cares about overtaking from the right. If you drive 120kph and my lane all drive 130 kph I will naturally overtake you. No need to switch lanes if the lane is free. Just don’t overtake at +30 kph but more at 10 kph in relation to base Autobahn speed.
Yeah trucks across Europe are generally pretty good, primarily because in many countries it’s illegal for them to be in the 3rd lane (except sometimes in heavy slow moving traffic).
Overtaking from the right, or undertaking, is often illegal also, though. So while I agree that it should be ok, strictly speaking it isn’t.
What is legal is to overtake on the outside, move into their lane, then the inside lane, then slow down so they overtake you. Rinse and repeat, count how many donuts you can draw around them before they move over.
The law does account for this: If all lanes are well populated and you find your lane is actually moving faster than the lane to your left, you may pass - not overtake - on the right, as long as you are not more than 20 kph faster than the left lane.
The difference is in passing and overtaking: Passing is merely going faster than the other lane, but staying in your lane afterwards. Overtaking, or to give it its correct name of undertaking, is passing and then changing into the same lane as the passed vehicle.
I dont experience that in the part of Germany where I live but either way, have you seen how they drive in other countries? Thats wild compared to Germany…
Most people somehow decided that its easiest to drive in the middle lane at slow(ish) speeds, while the right lane stays empty for long stretches.
Really? In my experience driving on German roads (primarily down near Munich), lane discipline is exceptionally good. The only times I saw significantly lower driving standards was in rush hour.
Meanwhile, the UK is notorious for people sitting in the middle lane. That used to be the rule, the inside lane was the slow lane, middle for cruising and outside for overtaking, however that was changed in the 60s/70s. It’s recently been made formally illegal, rather than just contrary to the highway code, but even trained police drivers are still guilty of doing it.
In the Netherlands they’re very big on pulling back in. So much so they frequently cut your nose off by pulling in so early.
It’s fun seeing how driving styles vary between different regions and countries.
Yeah, that might be the case. I recently drove to Berchtesgaden and it was better in the south. I live near the Danish border. Haha, people here are a bit laid back.
I’ve been fined on German highways for going too fast. Memes like these are myths. It is based on fact that there is no default upper limit on highway. But there are speed-limit signs on German highways.
An Autobahn has per default no speed limit for cars, except when there is one indicated by a speed limit sign. But there are many parts on any Autobahn without speed limit signs, so in reality you can very often drive as fast as you want.
There are many opportunities to drive with 200km/h or more if you want, but often the traffic prevents going with this speed for longer than a few seconds or minutes.
Plus, anyone who has traveled in South Asia or South America knows that Germany is much, much more safe to drive in than most of the rest of the world.
I think it’s based on the (fahrt fahrt fahrt auf den) Autobahn. Now, I’m not german so I could be wrong, but here’s what wikipedia says regarding speed limits on the autobahn:
Much of the system has no speed limit for some classes of vehicles.[1] However, limits are posted and enforced in areas that are urbanised, substandard, accident-prone, or under construction. On speed-unrestricted stretches, an advisory speed limit (Richtgeschwindigkeit) of 130 kilometres per hour (81 mph) applies.[2] While driving faster is not illegal in the absence of a speed limit, it can cause an increased liability in the case of a collision (which mandatory auto insurance has to cover); courts have ruled that an “ideal driver” who is exempt from absolute liability for “inevitable” tort under the law would not exceed Richtgeschwindigkeit.
So, it certainly seems there is a basis for the jokes, even if they aren’t 100% historically accurate.
I’ve driven around the Western side of Germany a few times and there really weren’t many sections that were unrestricted, and those that were unrestricted were not that long, and often very busy. Anecdotally, I did ask about it the first time I went and the advice I got was that while it is technically unrestricted you should be going at a similar speed to the traffic around you. If there are people in the middle lane and you blast past them at double their speed, that could be seen as unsafe by police and get you in trouble.
You can totally go 250km/h on the A5 from Frankfurt to Darmstadt, if traffic allows it. That wont always be possible, but typically if it isnt during work traffic, 160-200km/h is doable comfortably, even on other parts of the Autobahn
The longest unrestricted part that ive driven should be the A71, where you can go longer passages without restrictions, save for the tunnels.
From Texas. I’m actually kinda surprised to hear how slow people are driving there. Our perspective is largely that the Autobahn is generally people driving closer to 160km/h.
We have roads here that are limited to 136km/h. So it’s kinda surprising to find out that most Autobahn drivers aren’t breaking that speed.
You just drive at how fast feels safe to you. On an empty Autobahn (or on workdays where traffic is usually faster because people driving at that time are more experienced) they do go 150-200 km/h. (90mph - 125mph) But not in the middle lane on a Sunday afternoon…
I personally feel comfortable up until about 150km/h
Was gonna say, before the Dutch did that stunt with time dependent speed limits the ‘unlimited’ sign just meant 130kph. At the border would be a sign explaining this and that’s that.
The FDP target group are above average people that enjoy fast expensive cars and that’s exactly what there politics are about. They are pretty much the only party pushing Porsches e-fuels in whole europe and keeping all incentives for the car lobby up and running.
Origin
On February 12th, 2023, Redditor thereveldune4 posted an image to /r/blursedimages that showed a bear and a wolf staring at each other, using a Kubrick Stare POV of both. The top photo was captured by Peter A. Dettling. The post received more than 36,800 upvotes in five months (shown below).
Spread The post gained iterations after viral reposts surfaced on Instagram months later. For instance, on June 15th, 2023, Instagram user @huge.poop uploaded the photo, receiving more than 45,000 likes in one month. Then, the image grew popular as an object labeling template. For example, on July 13th, 2023, TikTok user @suj7683 uploaded a photo slideshow of the image comparing requirements of Formula 1 in 2007 and 2023. The post received more than 1 million views in one week (shown below, left). On July 15th, 2023, TikTok[4] user @formula_1_freak uploaded a similar slideshow, comparing Formula 1 and Isle of Man TT. The post received more than 1.8 million views in five days (shown below, right).
Eh, I DEFINITELY don’t care about this enough to make a Reddit account, wait two weeks so I can send a private message, wait an indeterminate amount of time for the guy who posted it to find my message and MAYBE reply (assuming his account isn’t banned, which is unlikely since this is Reddit), or post hundreds of spam comments to get enough karma to meet whatever that sub calls their karma requirements. If no one has the source I guess I’ll just never know.
The original image of a bear and wolf facing off against each other comes from an image originally taken and published by Canadian wildlife photographer Peter Dettling. Dettling even managed to capture the bear and wolf looking around as if to check if anyone had seen them lock eyes. Same source…
My driving instructor told me about a Czech guy who drove to Germany to have fun with his expensive car. He reached well over 300km/h and the local government pressed charges. They claimed that although there is no direct speed limit, drivers are supposed to drive at reasonable speed given all circumstances. But because the man made sure to drive at 4 in the morning on the middle of nowhere all charges where dropped.
330km/h is the sound barrier. Sooo you can legally break the sound barrier on the Autobahn.
This is false. Sound barrier is an aerodynamic effect that affects vehicles at speeds close to the speed of sound in air, which is slightly above 1200 km/h (at sea level, normal temperature and humidity).
In a similar situation, someone drove about 400km/hour (I think) I believe for a video.
Charges were pressed, but because he posted people at bridges and regular intervals to assess and communicate the situation, the judge decided he took reasonable precautions and the charges were dismissed.
The Speedlimit on German Highways is only the one that is marked on traffic signs, if there are no signs, the limit is only what the car, traffic or common sense allows. It is also prohibited to go slower than 60 km/h on highways, if there is any reason for this, as it is also prohibited to go with vehicles that do not reach a minimum of 60 km/h. This, in view of the high speeds of others, is also logical.
On the other hand, in general German drivers are quite disciplined and the police are very attentive to violators, high fines and a point system (with 15 points you can ride a bicycle), where there is a speed limit it is sure that it is controlled by radar and at rush hour there are even helicopters controlling traffic, also with patrol cars with civilian or police cars, all of them high-end (BMW, AUDI, Porsche).
Those with 300 or more are mostly rich foreigners “Highway Tourists” who want to experience it with their supercars (Japanese, English, and others) because it is the only place where it is allowed.
Although in Germany there is no express speed limit on the highways, the lines where you can go 300 or more are quite limited and it is only feasible on certain days, since heavy traffic during the week prevents it anyway. On most highways there is a speed limit and it is usually 120 or 130, and these indications come in a red circle and often with radar control. But if not… piped.kavin.rocks/watch?v=7BWE2ftcF4Q
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