I really must add the caveat to the above two posts: ...except in Italy. My experience driving in Italy has been that traffic laws are not strictly enforced. I've seen people passing on the right almost every time I get on the Autostrada in Italian plated vehicles. I have trouble believing they've all been Americans with cover plates. Italians do use mobile phones excessively while driving. What I have found is that when I cross the border into Austria and continue into Germany, the style of driving changes completely to what has been described above.

 

I just came back from 10 days in my home country.
Pulled around 800 miles on the Autobahn, several times Frankfurt to Saarbruecken (A5/A67/A6, passing by Ramstein) and to Karlsruhe (A5).
I only had a Golf 1.6 as a rental and the wife with me so I kept to a max of 160 kph in the unlimited sections. Of course getting passed by all kinds of nice cars, including several Porsches and once by a Audi R8.

While I learned driving on the Autobahn (with my instructor forcing me to go 200kph at one time, his argument "you will be driving these speeds later so you should learn it") it takes some adjustment to get back to it coming from several years of Interstate.
For one, the trucks go a max of 100kph which means you are closing pretty fast if you pull to the right lanes to let a faster car pass.
I remember going back after 2 years in the US and felt pretty stressed out afterwards. One reason could have been that I ran a speedtrap 15 minutes outside the Airport. Never got a ticket though
As for deer on the Autobahn. Doesn't happen that often, they have usually fences along the Autobahn to keep them off.
I ran a wild boar once, but that was a regular road through a forrest area. Buddy spooked them driving in front with his Triumph Spitfire and I hit the yearling following his mommy at around 110 kph. Nothing happened to me but the boar was toast. The car had around $1500 damage but was covered by insurance.
What you will see on the Autobahn (or rather won't) is the lack of blown tires. It still happens but it is much less than on any Interstate.

@BRG: Schnitzel

@abuzavi: 3rd April week in town ? I still owe you a dinner

 

I'll admit I was pretty scared the first time I hit the Autobahn and was driving extra conservatively until I got used to it. The thing I realized after just a few minutes was that I was the problem with traffic in that I wasn't driving with the flow of it and that everyone used signaling devices and the lanes properly. A few minutes later I was cruising with the flow at about 90mph, and a week after that I had no issue doing 100+ with traffic on the A6. It's not so much about outright speed, as it is about everyone driving the relative same speed. In the US you'll have people doing the speed-limit, people doing 10 below, people doing 10 over, and people driving up to twice the posted limit, and no concept of lane discipline. A drive down the highway at 55mph in the US in 10 times more dangerous than 120mph in a family sedan in Germany.

 

I'll chime in on high speed driving on the Autobahn. I have been in Germany for the last 5 yrs and have taken my BMW K12RS up to 150 and sustained runs at 110-120mph from K town to the Nurburgring. I am safer driving in Germany than I ever was with the idiot drivers in San Antonio. So, driving 120 mph on an unlimited stretch of Autobahn with people that pay 2000-3000 USD to get a drivers license and know what "slower traffic keep right" means is better than slugging around at 70 mph on any US highway.

 

That's a nice bike ! I just saw my K100RS again, tugged away in my mom's garage in Germany. Boy, I really wanted to ride it !

 

Volker -- maybe. I might be in the US then, but who knows. PM me when you have details of your visit -- would welcome the chance to have dinner again.

 

Anyone have any idea what the highway vs. autobahn fatality rates are annually? Here — I looked it up. 5.2 people killed per billion kilometers driven on US motorways, vs. 3.8 per billion for the German autobahn. Interestingly, the rate of fatalities on non-motorways is twice as high in the US (vs. American motorways), and more than three times higher in Germany (secondary roads vs. the autobahns). So, really, if my choice is to drive on the autobahn or a German secondary street, or a US highway or a US secondary street, I’m actually going to be safer driving on the autobahn.

So, it's not the roads. And it's not the speeds, either. We just looked at how there are more fatalities on the slower moving highways than on the fast moving autobahns, and ever more on the still-slower moving secondary streets. Who’d have guessed?

 

i did a quick read of this thread and didnt see it mentioned, always remember, before driving at speeds exceeding 100 mph, check the speed rating of your tires, and ensure at least a 10% safety margin.

 

It's easy, if you're driving at 130-150 MPH are you going to be text messaging or putting on your makeup? American drivers have no concept of what "Safety" is. People just figure the speed limits are there because slower is safer. Most of the speed limitations in the US came from the 70's oil crisis, where the government thought it would be fun to tell people how fast they could drive in an effort to marginally reduce fuel consumption. Here's an idea, tax gas hogs! Anything that gets less than 25 mpg city and 30 MPG hwy pays 5% gas tax on the purchase price, anything that gets under 20 mpg city and 25 mpg hwy pays 15% gas tax on the purchase price, even more taxes for less efficient cars, still interested in that Escalade if you're paying $15,000 in gas taxes to buy it?

Italy some time ago raised their national speed limit to 95 MPH. They've seen a marked reduction in highway collisions (Because people actually pay attention now! What a concept!).

If we had an autobahn in the US the accident rates would be 20x what they are in Germany, because most American's have no idea how to drive at speed. Any idea what it costs and takes to get a drivers license in Germany? It's a bit more than the 50 question written and 4 minute "Reverse along the curb, make a left here, and pull into the parking lot" test we have here. It costs about €2,000 to get a drivers license (for an adult) in Germany. What's that at the current exchange rate? About $3100?

It's such a joke to get a drivers license here, that's part of the reason why we have such abysmal accident rates, and why people can't seem to keep their damn car pointed down the highway at ANY speed, let alone our own hwy speeds. I sit on freeways weekly and watch people slam into the backs of cars next to me for no reason at all, because they decided that in traffic, they had to accelerate to 40 MPH then come to a screeching halt because they're putting lipstick on and didn't have any idea that the person would be stopping in front of them (Uh, hello? EVERYONE IS STOPPED!)

Speed doesn't kill people, inexperience kills people. Like someone said a few posts up, if you think it's somehow more dangerous to drive at 150 than at 80-90 you're on drugs. You're just as dead if you hit something at 90 MPH as you are at 150. At least at 150 you're paying attention to the road and everything around you. At 90 most people are screwing around with their ipod or yapping on their cell phones .

 

Most anyone on these forums has at least H rated tires (130 MPH) The majority should have tires rated to 149 (V I believe) or even 186 MPH (Y I believe).

 

As much as I'd like to have an autobahn in the US, I think it would be a massive failure because:

1. Many US drivers have bad habits that could impede smooth traffic flow - just take a look at any interstate now. Slow drivers in the middle and left lanes. People talking on cell phones, messing with their electronic devices, etc.

2. Our interstates aren't set up as well for high speed driving. Way too many on ramps and exits, with many of these coming in/out on either side instead of just the right side. Do I even need to mention the road surface quality? There's also a few places where the road grading is completely wrong, even for the speeds we drive now!

I'm sure we'd eventually weed out the bad drivers, but how long would it take before people would figure it out? How much would it cost to fix our sub-par interstates for high speed driving?

At this rate, I think the only time I'll ever get to enjoy driving (legally) at high speeds is when I travel abroad. :(

 

An Autobahn in the states would be a death trap. American's can't drive at the legal limit now, giving them a legal avenue to go faster would be insane.

So many accidents that could be prevented with driver training . Every day I see people doing stupid crap on the roads (Weaving between traffic in a surburban on 22 inch rims, raised, etc. People who try to avoid an accident and have no idea how to drive and careen across the freeway... it's horrible. We really are some of the worst drivers in the world .

I hope they eventually make it illegal to do ANYTHING in a car except drive it .

 

There was an interesting study by the US highway folks, about how incremental increases to the speed limit actually produce more accidents. So, yeah, it makes sense that America is, well, screwed.

Viva Germany, I guess.

 

Besides the abysmally bad drivers in this country (I felt comfortable at over 100 mph on the Autobahn!) our highways were built by the lowest bidder and are falling apart all over the nation. No interstate even compares with the Autobahn in design, durability and quality. Think about it: American cars are not designed to cruise comfortably at speeds approaching 100 mph, our cars were all about throwing down a ton of horsepower for exactly 1/4 mile and then stopping. Turning the steering wheel was not even part of the equation. It became a national mindset. I went thru that period in my life and burned up a lot of adrenelin. Then I went to Europe and discovered sports cars and twisties. 'nuf said.
-skip-

 

I haven't noticed OkieSnake in this thread, but I sure like the quote in that person's signature...

"“Have you ever noticed? Anybody going slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac” ~ George Carlin"



Bear with me, I'm from Massachusetts. In case you are unaware, in Massachusetts a turn signal is used to claim credit for the swerve just completed, the brakes are used to scare the tail-gater behind you, the horn is used for anyone with greater than .4 sec reaction time off a stoplight, the high beams are used to provoke that brake check response, and the Interstate Rt numbers indicate true speed limits...

Not sure if we do miles/fatality, or fatalities/mile...I'll check.

 

I knew because "Drivers Ed" isn't taught anymore that a batch of bad drivers would be out there.
New Mexico has vacant straight roads. If you dare.

 

Germans do take driving very serious. Not so long ago, three years, a German spec BMW 3 series (and most other brands) didn't have cup holders, my 2003 325t does. Just goes to show that drinking a soda while driving isn't that important, or safe, when driving fast and German engineers recognized it.

I feel much safer on the Autobahn because drivers practice situation awareness, check the lane, signal, move.

Also other Americans are fairly easy to spot, Dodge Dakota in the left lane going 70 and won't move over. And the same Dakota will go down my residential street way over the posted 30KPH.

 

Yeah the ugly Americans driving Ford Excursions are easy to spot on the Bahn.

 

yep 145 it is a nice thrill on a MCS

 

Hey, I don't mind the cars, it's the driving habits. My street is zoned for 30KPH and many folks, mostly American, blast past at 50-60KPH. One, a Dakota, does just what I said. I'll pass it on the Bahn, get home and a few minutes later, zoom, no regard for kids. I have talked with the driver, but she is oblivious.

 

Just a reminder for those who want to post on this tread. So far so good.

Be careful about driving on our highways. This is not the autobahn and we do not have the same drivers.

1. LEGAL
   Posts relating to street racing, excessive speeding, or violations of other laws are prohibited. If you want to race, take it to a legal venue.

Be safe, accidents will spoil your day.

 

thank you o so very much for rubbing it in ha....its only illegal if you get caught.

 

the US needs an autobahn...well, not with our current drivers.
We need to have a special endorsement for faster highway driving. You would have more training and whatnot to earn that endorsement, but then you'd get a special colored plate or something to help identify the car so every cop doesn't pull you over. Granted, that still wouldn't mean you can drive like an idiot. If you are weaving in and out of traffic, and being unsafe, then you can still get into trouble.
...o boy, can you tell I have though tooo much about that...

 

I think this still goes on topic, if not please bear with me as I have to get this off my chest...

I wrote a paper in high school (which got an A by the way very good paper, and it actually meant something to me ) about the history of the Autobahn, and how we could never have one over here in the USA.

The people over in Europe (by majority) are straight up more responsible than the majority of the USA. I completely agree I think there should be an "Autobahn" or similar here in the U.S., but there are always those irresponsible people that say "Too bad ill go on it anyways" and there always the ones who ruin it for the rest of us...

Ill be honest, I am only 18, but I think I am not like other teens. (holding the same job for a company for 4 years, being money responsible, working full time now). Granted I do have a lead foot from time to time and I have only had 1 ticket... "Not stopping at stop sign and specified stop line"... But the vast majority here in the U.S. is simply not responsible nor mature enough for something like this. Not to mention the spending. It wouldn't be economically viable for the U.S. to implement the project. Simply put the # of irresponsible population greatly outweights the # of the ones who would qualify to use it. Spend Trillions of dollars to build a project that 1/4 of the population could use.... I don't think it would go far in congress.

With the rules and limitations, special licensing, I am sure insurance companies will jump on too since everyone wants money, the pure cost for those the way we dont have money already, and the mark of inflation on the rise, that narrows the number of people to get licensed shrinking the margin.... Anyways I should get back to work..

Thats just what I think about the whole Idea... I have thought about it and it would be better to move to europe. Plus theres better roads out there anyways. (Monaco, Col de Turini, The Ring).. anyways... Chime in this could be fun

 

I hear ya!! This particular lack of consideration make me wish for an anti-tank gun! Heck, I'd settle for Louie Anderson's "I've musta be stupid" gun. The sad thing is some of these folks have children of their own.