regarding the legality of breaking the sound barrier:
if i remember correctly there’s is an indirect general speedlimit, because any vehicle moving below a certain height is not allowed to go beyond 400 something kph. now this is intended for planes and helicopters and such, but afaik also applies to cars. therefore breaking the sound barrier, sadly, would be illegal. besides, i think breaking the sound barrier is limited to certain zones anyways.
i’m not trying to nitpick on the joke, but rather give supplementary information that may be interesting.
Plus there’s noise limits.
If you break the sound barrier then there is no noise.
well, the noise is not where you are
German here. It is true that yes, there are some parts of the German highway where there is no official speed limit. But often times, be it through traffic or speed limits, you can’t drive that fast.
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
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.
Cool and what do the “no limit” signs say specifically? They just look like this?
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.
What does the signs say? “No Limit” in german?
Also how often are they spaced?
And can you trust google maps complete? (and what does it say there?)
Sorry lots of questions, I really have no plan of driving like a mad man, but if the conditions, dry, high visiblity, good car spacing, good road, then I see no reason not to drive faster.
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.
I was there three months near the border close to Amsterdam and I found outside the city and outside of everyone heading home you pretty much average 125mph+ in any reasonable performance car. I was in an older 911 so I must have averaged 150 with it being a sports car. I would do a mild or two, slow down 125 to minimize the delta while passing, and then could quickly speed up again.
It might not be all the time but we never legally make it past 70mph despite wide open roads outside the city. Makes me sad.
Jokes aside you are only allowed to drive as fast as is safe for those around you
There is no one around me. They are all behind me.
Yes I am a BMW driver. How could you tell?
Because it’s a 1-lane road, you’re going 20 under the limit and refuse to use any turnouts.
Well it’s midnight with no street lights, it’s super foggy, and the roads are icy as fuck.
But your headlights are still bright enough to melt everyone else’s retinas
Gotta pierce that fog, baby!
I moved to Germany 2 years ago, and was afraid of highways being like Mad Max, but I was positively surprised.
Most drivers are very attentive and skilled, keeping the rules, driving safe. I like it much better, than Eastern EU, where people are also going 150+, and are being assholes in the meantime. The upper limit of 130 just puts stress on me, because I obey the laws, but the giant SUV in my ass flashing their highbeams does not. In Germany this barely happens to me, most drivers are polite and safe, even in expensive sports cars.
I really came to enjoy the liberating feeling of driving at my own (and the traffic’s) pace on the autobahn. Yesterday I was travelling between Dusseldorf and Berlin, long open stretches of 3-lane roads, with only a few cars around. I was going around 200, yet I saw a car far behind me coming up fast, some polite flashes of lights from the distance, I pull to the right, and let a Porsche pass me quickly.
I might sound like a carbrain, but I’m not. Everybody should try German highways once, so they can form their own opinion, and not judge based on internet memes. I feel 10x safer on the autobahn, than on some shitty Eastern EU highway with a bunch of apes around me, who don’t care about the rules.
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.
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).
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.
deleted by creator
200 kph is 9,500 mph, for us Americans.
What the hell is that figure, it’s 125mph
Either way it makes a whoosh sound as it goes by
It’s hyperbole. He’s saying you’re driving so fast it might as well be the speed of sound.
It’s more like if you drive too fast you’re not insured. Oh, by the way, road works, 80km/h. Aaaand you’re free again! Have f- oh no, roadworks again, 80 pls. Ok done. Now you can really hit the gas! Joke, roadworks again haha, 80! Finally done, now we promise we don’t have roadworks anymore, enjoy! Aaaand welcome to the Netherlands, 100 please.
Oh, by the way, road works, 80km/h. Aaaand you’re free again! Have f- oh no, roadworks again, 80 pls. Ok done. Now you can really hit the gas! Joke, roadworks again haha, 80! Finally done, now we promise we don’t have roadworks anymore, enjoy! Aaaand welcome to the Netherlands, 100 please.
If that isn’t the most accurate description of driving through Germany, I don’t know what is :D
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.
For trailers, there is a general speed limit of 80km/h, unless the trailer is suitably equipped and officially approved for 100km/h and is towed by a suitable vehicle. (Here, the specifics get complicated, because Germany) Trailers capable of driving at 100km/h must be marked at the rear with a sticker.
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.
if you drive too fast you’re not insured
I explicitly asked my insurance company (verbally, not a chatbot) about this last time I went to Germany. They said as long as I’m not breaking any laws, my insurance is valid. No speed limit means there is no “too fast to be insured”.
I believe it only counts for German insurance companies. As it’s their country with no speed limit, so it’s a standard extra risk. When you go abroad to Germany your own insurance doesn’t have these high risks because it’s not all their customers driving on these roads. But that’s what I think, I’m not sure but it sounds logic to me.
Bit of both actually, the way that Germans drive is kind of an example for the rest of Europe. I’m sure that high fines have a lot to do with it but many of the best driving habits in my country came from Germany.
The fines are low compared to where I live. One of the precious pictures of my wife is her getting cought speeding in Germany and realizing it at the same time.
Can’t stop laughing everytime I look at the picture they sent us with the speeding ticket.
It was surely worth the 15 euro fine.
Speeding fines are cheap. Road tax in a sense.
But if you get into an accident, the fines multiply very fast.
If an accident is caused by the winter tire violation, the guilty must pay a 120 Euro fine in addition to other applicable allegations of the accident.
Killing an animal with your car, you’ll be fined the cost of the animals life.
If you damage a tree by crashing into it, you also have to pay for the replacement of the tree.
You can be fined for tailgating above 80km/h.
It’s also illegal to run out of gas on the Autobahn.
It’s illegal to leave your car unlocked.
List goes on and on, but I’ve actually never seen many enforced (aside from paying for the tree, it was nearly 2.5k per tree)
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.
It mostly falls under Federal Nature Conservation Act (Bundesnaturschutzgesetz). I believe it’s very localized of the penalties for killing an animal on the road.
Regardless, you’ll need to call the police if you kill a domesticated animal or any larger animals. I believe rodents are too small to be reported.
The US drivers could not handle the German traffic rules, punishments and technical checks for their vehicles. Over half of the vehicles in the USA would fail the Dekra and TÜV inspections.
Absolutely! So many incredibly bad drivers and so many garbage cars. Never seen so many broken down cars along a highway. And all the shredded tires. Makes me glad to have something like the TÜV, even though it can be annoying at times.
Yep, poor people need cars to survive in the US. Barely any public transport outside of the very biggest cities. Only richer people can replace their rusty cars every 10 years.
Well, the idea is to maintain the car and not just chug it out after 10 years. If you do this, then you shouldn’t fail a bi-annual test that determines whether your car is safe for the road or not.
