I totally agree, in the last few years, driving on German Autobahn could be hectic and chaotic, but must not.

I liked to drive on German Autobahn (and yes, I was on of these BMW guys :rolleyes: ) some time ago, but since I reduced my time on the road and sold my car last year I got a really different impression of Drivers on German “Autobahn”.

Honestly, he problem are not only the German Drivers, there are also the Austrian, Swiss, Dutch Drivers etc., who enjoy driving fast. And they are more fast cars than BMW, Mercedes, Audi, you can add Porsche, Toyota, VW, Ford, etc.
And nowadays, everybody accelerates to higher speed if he could and breaks some meters ago - why, because he has 150 + hp and a top speed of 200 km/h + and he wanted to show us.
Today, I have been in a typical Stop-and-Go Situation in rush hour (luckily one on the rear seat) on an Autobahn (A 3) from Düsseldorf to the Ruhrgebiet Area. In front of us was a guy with a Lexus, who accelerated his car up to 140 km/h only o break after 600 m – he could have seen the car slowed down. He overtook a van on the right lane during this time and the speed limit was 80 km/h. He turned to the exit lane only some 60 meters before exit sign (with still 100 km/h), we and two other cars on the right lane had to break. But this situation is typical. The most people drive today, as they are the only car on the road. And you are in an even worse situation, if you only have a small car. Trying to overtake another car it could happen you get a view of the full front lights, bi-Xenon-light and fog lamps of the Audi pp..

I do not know, but during rush hour in the big cities we really need a speed limit or a speed limit which is set by the traffic situation.

Okay, you can really drive fast (and a few times a year I do it myself) on a sunny Sunday Morning at 6 a.m on my favourite motorway. But in any other time, I prefer the train, especially the High Speed Trains are much faster and you can reach Frankfurt City from my office by train in less than 1 hour 35 minutes relaxed.

... which is illegal in Germany while driving, btw...

Interesting thread - I agree with the posters who mention that one is more alert when driving fast. You hardly pass one car and have to move over right away because someone faster is trying to pass you.

^^

A British friend of the family moved out to Baden-Baden about 12yrs ago and he enjoyed driving fast and soon began to enjoy Autobahn lifestyle. We went out with him in his Audi S8 and were sitting at 155mph / 250kph on the Autobahn and got flashed by a guy on a motorcycle, he then zipped past us like nothing I've ever seen.

Unfortunately he started to drive like this on UK roads (police take a dim view of anything over 95mph on UK roads :D, fortunately German plates and a grasp of the German language put him in good stead for avoiding tickets :D)...the best was when he was driving in the US between Chicago and Knoxville and phones my father who after the conversation ended asked what the screaming noise was. Jim replied it was his 'damn rental car that would only go 120mph :D' . He spent a lot of time in the US on business so knew he was probably out of his mind! But I'm just surprised when people over here say the fastest they've been is 95mph :eek: I used to drive 95mph on all dual carraigeways and motorways in my 1.4 litre car in the UK!

If I had to choose one country on this planet to spend the rest of my life driving it would be Germany. The best drivers and roads in my opinion.Not to mention that the German TUV organisation, one of the best ideas regarding traffic that I have ever seen. Everybody operating a vehicle in Germany has to have regular inspections done to certify their vehicles roadworthiness,i.e. the heaps of rolling junk without working brakes,indicators,brake lights and an exhaust system that blows a huge cloud of black smoke in the atmosphere everytime it moves, are simply pulled out of circulation in Germany.

I am sure there are things to find fault with in Germany but the traffic is not one of them.

If you want to see some really scary driving I would recommend such cities as Athens,Rome,Djakarta,Mexico city, and and almost any 3rd world country.

Not to mention cab drivers in any major city in this country.... :D

You mean... you don't have road worthiness tests in the USA???

I never knew that... it's amazing what one learns on FT.

We have them here in the UK (yearly - I believe it's only every other year in Germany), and I always assumed all civilised countries did.

My only experience on the autobahn was this fall, and I thought it was pretty good (FYI, top speed of a Ford Focus is 190kph) with the exception of one jack*ss who swerved into (our) centre lane as he passed us at about 50kph faster than our 180 or so, just to shake us up.

Now if you want to live on the edge, hire a driver in Morocco. I think one of Mrs. AC110's fingernails is still in the seatback.

I knew this from previous experience, but no one in Europe ever believes me when I tell them if they haven't seen it for themselves.

There's a program on MTV called Pimp My Ride which will probably never be copied in Europe for the very simple reason that these hopeless hunks of junk that are refurbished on the show would have made their way to the junkyard ages ago.

A great number of the cars still driving (if you can call it that) on American roads are accidents waiting to happen. I certainly wouldn't be driving at 220 km/h in one of those things. But if you've got a car that is up to that kind of performance, then it's all not a problem, provided you stick to one simple rule: keep right whenever you can. This will solve 90% of your problems when driving in Germany.

We do have road worthiness tests in the USA, but standards are on a state by state basis. Massachusetts requires an inspection every year for headlights, brakes, etc. Emissions testing is every other year.

A prime example of the junky cars are the scrap metal/junk collectors here in Chicago.

Generally, these are pick up trucks, at least 15-20 years old that have "modified" the cargo bed of the pick up truck to be able to stack 10 feet of old bicycles,bath tubs,sinks,pipes,..etc on the back. They cruise around the back alleys of the city and pick up any old bit of metal/junk they can find and take it to the scrap yard. These trucks arer literally held together with wire and duct tape. :td:

I am sure it does vary from state to state but here in Illinois you see some pretty crazy stuff.A policemen may pull you over for a broken brakelight or similar but there are vehicles driving around here that you do not want to be anywhere near in traffic should they ever need to stop suddenly.

And in states with standards, the standard that matters most to the garage doing the test is sometimes whether or not you're prepared to pay for the test.

As a contrast with Massachusetts, Tennessee has no annual testing requirement at all.

I think everyone who's ever driven on an unrestricted stretch of Autobahn knows the experience of getting ready to pass a car in front of you: Very quickly, you learn to scan the rearview mirror searching for approaching vehicles in the passing lane before moving into that lane yourself. Ideally, you wait until you have good visibility of a long stretch of empty road behind you, to be sure you won't get flashed. Then, of course, as soon as you pull over and get about even with the car you're passing, a Porsche/BMW/MB/etc. appears right on your tail flashing its lights.

That's how you know the earth is round.

Maybe, after years and years, these men are sick and tired of being taxed too much by the German federal government. Isn't income tax way over 50%?

There is a UK version, with resident tool, Tim Westwood

It's been a few years since I last drove on the Autobahn but from my own personal experiences, I would say that Germans are the best drivers in the world. I can't stand the way Americans drive. Passing on the left, driving slow in the right lane. Not using turn signals, etc.