Autobahn speed limit proposal revs up debate in Germany

[cpzilliacus]

Washington Post: Autobahn speed limit proposal revs up debate in Germany

BERLIN – For many in this car-crazy nation, the freedom to hurtle down the famed autobahn at 120 mph or more is an inalienable right.

Germany, one of the world's top car producers, is alone among industrial countries in allowing drivers to decide for themselves how fast to race along the highway. So a proposal this month to impose a speed limit of 75 mph has set off an election-year battle that has some people questioning a basic tenet of German identity.

The traffic-cop-like suggestion from a top opposition leader challenged Germans to pick two popular obsessions – safety and sustainability – over another: a seemingly primal need to use their 500-horsepower engines to catapult themselves across their country's gently rolling countryside.

[kphoger]

Traffic deaths have been dropping for years in Germany, but Gabriel said they would drop faster if there were a speed limit.

Same old tune...

[cpzilliacus]

Traffic deaths have been dropping for years in Germany, but Gabriel said they would drop faster if there were a speed limit.

Same old tune...

Yeah, sung by  persons and groups that probably don't care at all about traffic safety.

[jeffandnicole]

On speed limits, "the rest of the world has been doing it for a long time,"  Sigmar Gabriel, chairman of the Social Democratic Party, told the Rheinische Post,

More specifically, it should read "the rest of the world has been posting speed limits for a long time", especially since the majority of motorists tend to travel over the speed limit.

[pctech]

With the cost of fuel being high in Germany, you would think that people would tend to slow it down a bit to conserve?

[Chris]

Most people tend to pass you if you drive 80 miles per hour in Germany.

[kphoger]

Yes, I remember travelling in a Fiat motor home, and the driver apologized that he couldn't drive very fast.  We assured him that 72 mph was actually quite normal in the United States.

[Dr Frankenstein]

They forgot to mention that most countries have been raising their speed limits lately.

(With Canada trailing behind like a loser)

[agentsteel53]

Most people tend to pass you if you drive 80 miles per hour in Germany.

in my experience, I was passing, and being passed by, near-identical amounts of people when I was going ~155 km/h (about 96 mph).  this aligns well with what is my preferred cruising speed in the US on a wide open road when I have reasonable belief that there is no one out there with a radar gun. 

so I think 96mph seems to be a speed that most people are comfortable with.  but I wouldn't want to make it a law.  the rule about speed being considered above 130 km/h in case of an accident is more than sufficient to discourage recklessness.

[kphoger]

Most people tend to pass you if you drive 80 miles per hour in Germany.

in my experience, I was passing, and being passed by, near-identical amounts of people when I was going ~155 km/h (about 96 mph).  this aligns well with what is my preferred cruising speed in the US on a wide open road when I have reasonable belief that there is no one out there with a radar gun. 

so I think 96mph seems to be a speed that most people are comfortable with.  but I wouldn't want to make it a law.  the rule about speed being considered above 130 km/h in case of an accident is more than sufficient to discourage recklessness.

On the same trip I recalled earlier, there was a time we were on the Autobahn in a minivan (Renault, if I remember correctly).  The driver was going 160 km/h (99 mph), and it seemed to be quite an average speed for the road at the time.  He explained that he wouldn't go faster because the tires weren't rated for much higher.

[Chris]

It's quite common to see large vans and compact cars zooming by at 90 - 100 mph.

On the other hand, trucks are limited to 50 mph on freeways and even a meager 40 mph on non-freeways in Germany, though the latter does not appears to be enforced strictly. Most trucks drive (near) 50 mph on non-freeways if traffic and alignment allows.

[Brandon]

It's quite common to see large vans and compact cars zooming by at 90 - 100 mph.

On the other hand, trucks are limited to 50 mph on freeways and even a meager 40 mph on non-freeways in Germany, though the latter does not appears to be enforced strictly. Most trucks drive (near) 50 mph on non-freeways if traffic and alignment allows.

Quite a radical difference from the situation in North America.  Here, trucks have speed limits that vary from 55 mph (more than a few states) to at least 80 mph (Utah, maybe Texas) on freeways.  Most of the western states let them go 75 mph.

[DAL764]

What can you expect, elections are coming up this autumn, and since the SPD is trailing the CDU by quite a bit (despite all the governmental f-ups on the CDU's part), Gabriel is desperate for attention and just shouting out a lot of ideas, completely failing to realise that most of the stuff he spouts is just bound to p!ss people off and cost his party more votes.

It's quite common to see large vans and compact cars zooming by at 90 - 100 mph.

On the other hand, trucks are limited to 50 mph on freeways and even a meager 40 mph on non-freeways in Germany, though the latter does not appears to be enforced strictly. Most trucks drive (near) 50 mph on non-freeways if traffic and alignment allows.

I'm not so sure the first is being enforced either. Most trucks I pass on my daily commute to work go 65mph, and the only ones actually sticking to 50 are usually the fuel trucks transporting A-1 to Hamburg Airport.

[Chris]

Except for British and Irish trucks, European trucks are governed (physically limited) at 55 - 57 mph. If you spot trucks doing 65 mph, it means your own speedometer is off (as is the case with virtually all passenger cars at higher speeds). Most truckers do drive as fast as their speed limiter is set though.

[US 41]

Except for British and Irish trucks, European trucks are governed (physically limited) at 55 - 57 mph. If you spot trucks doing 65 mph, it means your own speedometer is off (as is the case with virtually all passenger cars at higher speeds). Most truckers do drive as fast as their speed limiter is set though.

On my favorite game Euro Truck Simulator 2 the fastest my truck goes is 90km p/hr (which is somewhere around 55mph). The game is apparently very realistic in certain areas. I'm amazed at how much different european semis look compared to american semis.

[english si]

Except for British and Irish trucks, European trucks are governed (physically limited) at 55 - 57 mph.

UK trucks were limited to 60mph, but they harmonised it to 56mph, to match the 90km/h on the continent when the EU law came in.