Worth mentioning: just NEVER overtake on the right side. Driving on the autobahn is serious business. No one is expecting you to pass on the right. Only in traffic jam
@@Eric-xh9eeich kann dir nur wärmstens empfehlen ein Führerscheinauffrischungskurs zu belegen, denn es scheint, dass du die Grundregeln der StVO vergessen hast.
Eso se llama sentido común, que sociedad mas triste tenemos que parece haya que aclarar estas cosas, por que parece que la gente necesita un estado paternalista que les diga lo que pueden, tienen o deben de hacer en vez de ser suficientemente adultos para saberlo por si mismos.
@@oliverhardy9464 Too high speed is the main reason for traffic related deaths. That is true. But it is not going 200 kph on the Autobahn in an unrestricted section, which is problematic here. It is going 130 kph on a twisty "Landstraße" or 90 kph in a city. The other term is "nicht angepasste Geschwindigkeit", which means non-adjusted speed, i.e. driving faster than the conditions allow. This can happen where there is no speed limit. But it can also happen everywhere else. And in fact this was the cause of my worst accident. I was well below the speed limit on a "Landstraße" (technically a "Kreisstraße") but it had started freezing between the start of my drive and me entering a curve where 70 kph would have been allowed at 50 kph, sliding on a frozen puddle and spinning my car into oncoming traffic on the opposite lane, a van specifically. This could very well have been fatal, had I not gotten lucky by only crashing into that van with the empty back of my car, resulting in only damaged vehicles and no injuries.
The first and only time I was on the Autobahn was in 98. We were doing 120mph in a van, and the left lane was passing us like we were doing 45 in a 75. When she says keep right... she's not joking. Because people in the left lane are FLYING.
I can confirm this! The Germans strictly obey the drive on the right rule and only pass on the left unless they are flying so fast that they're passing everybody. I don't know how many times I've passed a truck or a slow car (most people drive about as fast as Americans on our freeways), where I checked my mirrors, saw the left lane seemed to be clear for miles, and then halfway through the pass ( at 160 KPM/100 MPH), I would check my mirror and all of a sudden there's a line of cars flashing their lights at me to move out of the way. Talk about high pucker factor when you first see that. After a while you get used to it and you simply speed up as much as you can and get over to the right as quickly as you can. Driving on the Autobahn is one of life's most exhilarating experiences and I wish America had built our Interstate system exactly the same way the Germans had, complete with unlimited speed limits. One thing for sure, when you drive faster than 100MPH it's practically impossible to fall asleep while driving - guaranteed!
When I lived there I had an Opel Diplomat. It was a wonderful car with very long legs. I got on the highway one day and when the speed limit went away, I let it rip. The speedometer went to 250k's but the best it would show me was a little over 230k's. (That's about 145mph). I'm in the left lane and I'm passing people in the middle lane like they were going the other way. A bit later I see a car in the mirror that is gaining on me and flashes the headlights as it approaches. I find a slot in the middle lane (where I'm going twice the speed of the traffic there) and that car passed me like I was the one going the other way. I'm moving 145mph and that guy passed me so fast, I couldn't even tell what kind of car it was. He had to be going 200mph (320k's). Suddenly, I didn't think my Diplomat was all that fast anymore. That happened in 1982, I can't remember the cars model year but it was a Diplomat B with a Chevy 327 V-8. I wasn't making a bunch of money so it had to be a fairly old car so probably mid 1970s production, but that car was quick, well at least until the really quick cars showed up. Lol
One time we drove in our lightly tuned 2005 Mustang over the Autobahn with 270 kmph there are no cars than wanna overtake but there are some who can catch up with you (most of the time Audis 😂😂)
A few side notes: Just because there's no speed limit doesn't mean you can drive as fast as you want. You still have to drive a safe speed depending on the circumstances. If you drive faster than the recommended speed (130 km/h) and you get into an accident, you can get partial liability, evem if you didn't cause the accident.
@@nnnik3595what? Why wouldn't the insurance pay? They might not pay the damage to your own car if you are drunk or street racing. Thats pretty much it.
@@yannicanguelov3170 if you drive too fast and they decide that driving too fast at least partially contributed to the accident your insurance is not forced to pay you the full amount.
The first time I went to Germany I was in the left lane doing 160 KPH and I looked in my mirror. There were two headlights in the mirror very close together and a long way behind. I looked away for what felt like a few seconds and when I looked in the mirror again the two headlights were far apart and approaching fast. I dove into the middle lane and a Porsche blew past me so fast he shook my car! I stayed in the middle lane a lot more after that, (Apparently 100MPH wasn't as fast as I'd first thought!) The worst was getting back to the US and catching myself doing 85 in a 55MPH zone the first day!
There are parts of the USA where that‘s normal as well. Texas and Louisiana come to mind. Had the same exact experience as you between New Orleans and Baton Rouge!😂 I thought I was the worst speeder until a couple Audis blew past me going 150mph minimum!
Just to be clear, it's a MUST to drive on right lane, when there is no one in front of you, it's called the "Rechtsfahrgebot" ("Drive-Right-Lane-Law" 😅). Also it's strictly prohibited to pass a car on right lane, you always pass on left lane.
Same in the UK but just reverse left for right and right for left in those sentences 😅 Also we don’t have a long word for it… it’s just called, well actually we have a long set of words… middle/right hand lane hogging and undertaking.
One early morning I thought I would find out my car's terminal speed on the autobahn heading north from Hamburg. At 138mph I saw lights behind me so I eased off to about 120mph and seconds later was passed by a carbon Lamborghini going a good 100 faster than me. I felt the WHOOMP of air from that car even from within my own.
Damn i wish i would get passed by a Lambo to hear the noise. 99% of supercars i see on the Autobahn chill on the middle lane. It's always so weird to pass AMG GTs or Ferraris in my BMW 116i 😳
Me 190 km/h overtaking a car (130 km/h) and then back to right lane (as I saw a dot in the mirror) - some seconds later a Dodge Viper passed with around 300 km/h
mein erster wagen war n alter polo 9N. ich habs geschafft ihn auf 200 hoch zu treten aber angenehm war das nicht. wenn n polo dermaßen trittst brauchst mindestens 2 öl kanister auf vorrat, ne jerrycan randvoll mit benzin und wenn platz vorhanden n 2. motor weil deiner kurz davor ist zu schmelzen xD.
Ja also in Europa schaffen die anderen Länder das irgendwie besser als wir Deutschen, man sollte es also erstmal den deutschen erklären. Siehe z.b. Berichte wie "notarzt musste mit Fahrrad zu unfallstelle fahren weil es keine rettungsgasse gab"
@@nri363 Ja, kannst du auch diese Videos aus den USA? Die bleiben einfach stehen und der RTW kommt komplett nicht nach vorne. Immer... ich finde schon das wir Deutschen das manchmal ganz gut hinbekommen...wichtig, MANCHMAL. Aber ja, ich kenne den Fahrrad Arzt, der ist bei mir in der Nachbarstadt xD
@@j22563Im German and I have seen it very often that people do a rettungsgasse And I was already in other countries like France and Italy And they don’t do anything So as a German I don’t know if French people get that taught in driving school But I know that for us germans it’s no "concept" it’s a rule And most of us follow the rule
I got my European driver's license back in the 70's. I remember how intense for a German young man or woman it was to get a driver's license. I bet most Americans could never go through those processes.......love your show !
Sure they can. They just don't have to. The California written test was as difficult as the German with the exception that there is only one answer possible while in the German test there were multiple answers.
@@roncenti yeah but in the German one you also have to get ALL multiple ones correct. So if three out of four answers are correct, you HAVE to choose all of them, if you only choose one that’s correct, you answered wrong altogether. Only 10 mistakes as well, but that’s meaning 10 points, nlt 10 questions wrong. So depending on what type of question it is, it can count for 4 points, meaning in some combos you can only get 3 questions wrong. If you already have a motorcycle license, you can only lose 5 points
Not quite. There are over three times the fatal accidents on German motorways than there are on UK motorways. When I lived in Dusseldorf it seemed like there were major smashes pretty much every day.
@@paulsengupta971 two days ago i had a pretty close call. I was going around 200 on a free autobahn and there were two trucks on the right lane, i went off the gas to 150 km/h because i know these guys love to overtake each other. When i was around 150m away the truck pulled on my lane. Full break and saved it. It was a polish truck. So usually what makes the autobahn dangerous are people that dont use mirrors or dont understand how fast cars on the left lane actually are.
Fun fact: Germany has a cute road network but there are thousands more miles of interstates in the U.S. than autobahn in Germany and the longest interstate is over 5x the length of the longest autobahn.
I learned about driving on the Autobahn from Car&Driver magazine. They hammered the point to "keep right except to pass!" They would criticize American's lack of "lane discipline" and our idiot "left lane bandits." Now in America even flashing your lights to get a slow driver in the left lane to move right could get you shot by a "road rager"
If you flashed me, I would slow down. You flash your lights in Germany because that's how we have always done it and you are not allowed to pass on the right. In the US you can pass on the right so if the car is not fast enough for you, just pass on the right or be patient until he has passed the slower car. There is no rush. You will save 2 minutes max.
@@anotheraggieburneraccount as I was in America 2012 and 2015,I drove in the car with friends (the friend has driven) and they have passed us on both sides. That I can remember, because it was so crazy for me.
The rules are similar in both countries. They just have too many stupid people in the US who just wander across any lane they want. It's getting the same in the UK, particularly on motorways where there are speed cameras. A lot of people have no idea how to drive properly.
Also good tip, when you are on the "B" roads and see the limitless signs, it does not mean go unlimited! The "B" roads, which can be highways in some stretches, aren't rated for over 120 and 100 on most cases!
There are so many Autobahn driving videos, no one has ever shown the "no speed limit" sign. Feli is really a treasure in the RU-vid, goes deep into everything and explains. This is RU-vid at its best.
It's not a no speed limit sign, it's a the previous speed limit is canceled sign (VZ 278 or VZ 282 ). If there is a general speedlimit, or an electronic sign, that speedlimit is still in place. F.e. if there is construction or an accident the speedlimit is 80 km/h no matter if there's that sign or not. Normaly they would cover that sign to avoid confusion, but no matter if they did or not, the general speedlimit stays in place. It's only no speed limit, if there is no general speed limit.
The meaning of the ,,no speed limit,, sign was explained partially correct: if you encounter a white sign with a line in it it means the limitation that is crossed is lifted and therefore only the general limitations for the type of road are true. ( if nothing is in it, than it means all previous limitations are replaced by the general ones). This means that I case of the blank one you can now pass others again, if restricted previously, and have to abide the speed regulation of the road type you are driving. On the autobahn there is no speed limit in that case ( but 130 kmh are recommended). On streets outside of towns that it would be 100 kmh and 70 kmh for trucks. Inside of city's this sign would allow you to drive 50 kmh. ( this limit Inside of city's can he increased by regular signs though)
I lived in Germany and had fast cars. There’s nothing much better than doing 190 mph on an empty Autobahn at night. But if I really have to get from some place to another, I honestly prefer the calm and relaxed gliding along at very moderate 65, 75, sometimes 85 mph on a US interstate.
This might've already been said, but I didn't see it in the top comments, sooo: A sign with a speed limit crossed out lifts ONLY that specific speed limit. This is important. To give an example: Often times, there'll be a general speed limit of 120 km/h. Now you get a new speed limit of 100km/h, but with the addition "when wet". So, if it has rained and the street is wet, your speed limit is now 100 km/h. Now you reach a sign with the 100 km/h crossed out, lifting that limit. This does NOT mean, you may drive any speed you like now. It ONLY lifts the conditional 100 km/h limit, so you're now back to the previous, general 120 km/h speed limit. Drive safe!
For my driving lessons my instructor forced me to go at least 200 for a while. Like literally spent an entire lesson looking for a stretch that had low traffic for it. Because he felt his students need to have that experience to feel confident and safe on them. Quite fun though.
I remember we were on the A9 coming from Munich visiting my grandma and there’s a pretty long strip of no speed limit. We were going 180 km/h in the middle lane and still getting passed by everyone else 😂 Also the way I recognize we’re back in Germany when coming back from vacation is that it suddenly feels a lot faster
In my 70 years in Germany, I´ve never ever heard this crap. Life in the fast lane may be nice. Not so for slower drivers. Speeds beyond say 180 km/h are driven just for fun, not necessity. I personally don´t want to die because of some fool´s speed mania.
Also when you wanna get ahead of another car, make sure to not check your rearview mirror for a long time, but for a couple short intervals - because if there really is someone coming up with 200+ km/h, you won’t realize their speed with you look at them too long at a tome
My aunt used to live there & used to tell us about this all the time! Our closest big city is 52 miles/84 km from us. She would drive the equivalent there in 14 minutes!
Most countries including the US and Canada say to keep to the right except when overtaking. In the US and Canada, drivers think they can block other drivers, as if they have been given a badge that allows them to slow everybody down.
I’ve been twice in the past year. Besides, the country being absolutely beautiful, it is the single thing that I missed the most. I don’t put stickers on my vehicle, but I ordered one that shows no number and the three lines and put it on my truck. I really really miss the Audubon.
Be careful the white sign with crossed out number does not always mean you can drive as fast as you want. For example on a open road outside a city (not in a city or autobahn) this sign means you can drive the maximum allowed speed, which is on these types of roads 100
@@itsgonnabeanaurfromme but he is right tho. The sign with the crossed out number isn't saying no speed limit. It says the 100kmh limit is lifted and you should observe the maximum allowed speed limit on that section of road. As an example let's say you have an electronically regulated autobahn section with 130 kmh limit show on painted signs. Then in the same time an electronic sign above shows a speed limit of 80 kmh (like in this video), after a while a crossed out 80kmh sign is shown. This means you have go back to observing the 130kmh speed limit show on the painted signs and you are not allowed drive as fast as possible.
I was on the Stuttgart autobahn in the late 80's in my friend's BMW. We were doing about 130 MPH and three Porsches flew by us like we were standing still.
Pre-WW2 Autobahns were a revelation, not only were the multi-lanes a new concept but the engineers designed them with banked curves that did not require steering input. My father showed this to me once when we drove some miles without him actually touching the steering wheel on a very curvy road. One thing to remember on the Autobahn is that whatever speed you are doing someone is driving faster and wants to overtake. Also, Ausfahrts must be taken slower than you think.
You need to do one on your stop light system. Because Americans don't know about the red yellow, green, green, yellow red stop lights that Germany has. Or about how you lose your license if you run a red light
I live in the Northern Territory (Australia) and for many years there were sections of the Stuart highway that had no speed limits but afew years back the government put in a 130 kmh limit along most of the length of the highway. I usually drive at about 110kmh because of livestock and kangaroos on the road.
One of my german courses had a whole day devoted to "how not to get killed driving on the Autobahn". Basically stay out of the way, and know the limits of your car and ability. My professor was from Thüringen and said people try to drive compact rental cars like they're a big Mercedes and can't handle the speed. As fast as you want does not mean as fast as you can. When I visited Germany I traveled by train.
@@shwanmirza9306 BS!They don't!From factory there is a speed-limiter at 250km/h-Only tuned versions,are"open"but require extremely expensive "special"tires" and special drivers training!
When I was younger I wanted drive on the autobahn because of the speed. As I’ve grown older, I still want to drive on it because of the speed, but I’ve also grown to want to drive a road that is that well taken care of.
Do you have any problems adjusting back to US speed limits after returning home? I remember coming back to California after living in New York where it seems that pedestrians don’t have the right of way. I’ll just say that I startled some pedestrians until I adjusted.
As someone who usually goes just a bit slower than speed of traffic in California where everyone speeds like maniacs, driving 95mph seems horrifyingly fast to me. I usually go 80 or just under and I feel like its pretty fast
Driving in the US is pretty different in many ways. More lanes, more traffic, worse drivers, passing on the right, trash laying around on the freeway and so forth. Driving on an interstate resembles driving on a Schnellstraße in Germany. The Autobahn has a different, more organized vibe (don't know how to describe it better). So, we are not crazy. I'm a careful driver but 160 km/h is not as dangerous as it sounds.
Having lived in Germany for 3 years, I felt safer at 145kmh there than almost any highway here. The rules are simple... lead, follow, or get out of the way. I drove from Garmisch-Partenkirschen to Muenchen in 30 minute. Fast as my car would go for a half hour. (234kmh)
@@icerepublic Spot on. There are pot holes everywhere. Or if fixed then fixed badly. There is absolutely trash everywhere. Trucks loose the tires and pickups loose whatever they have loaded. So many mattresses. I drove over a ladder once. My insurance was very happy about that.
@@roncenti Yeah, I noticed that everytime when I'm on vacation in the US when driving around. It's a whole different experience. So many potholes, trash, rusty old cars etc. It's totally understandable that people from the US think "and I should drive through *that* with no speed limit?". But that's just not the case over here. In Germany it's not allowed to even have advertising next to the Autobahn so driver's are not distracted. And the whole organization is spaghetti-like in the US. "This lane must exit", "Exit left", "Exit right".. WTF? In Germany we don't have that. 2 or 3 lanes usually. Separate exit strip. Always on the right. It's all way less confusing and thus less dangerous. We are not suicidal or anything. 😂
I'm looking your short video and thinking this autobahn seems familiar...and then I see the signs.😂 Every day from Hallbergmoos to Gräfelfing. Worst part is when they close the tunnels after Karlsfeld.😢
Some Germans feel the need to cross from the far right lane to exit at the last minute. Driving across two or three lanes of heavy traffic at full speed to get in the exit lane right before it ends. And being behind a truck for more than 10 seconds is against their religion. (Truck driver living/working in Germany)
Germany this summer I got a ticked driving 100 on a 70, I drove there for the first time and everyone around drove >120 so I thought I just missed the sign. Just to be save a drove 100😅 it was only 40€ so maybe thats why people just ignore it(?) In the Netherlands you'd get like a 200€ ticket
I just wish there would be a 130kmh speedlimit everywhere on autobahn. I drove to frankfurt last week.. some people are nuts, driving over 200kmh risking other peoples lives
But how are they risking other peoples lifes? When you know there is no speed limit you need to check your mirrors even better. No one will just rear end you because they feel like it.
@@fynncordts7930 is that a serious question? No one can hold that concentration for hours, there are tired/unexperienced people on the road too. It is dangerous, there should be a speedlimit everywhere
It sounds way cooler than it really is I must say. Because there are still many speed limits or the Autobahn is just so full that you don't really get the chance to drive that fast. I mean it depends on the area of course....I'm from the Ruhr area and we constantly have Stau (traffic jam). In other areas there'll be less of it. But still....most of the time I don't manage to drive faster than 150km/h
Not just autobahn but everywhere: If you are passing, be careful for idiots who drives in the right lane in the high speed of 60 km/h (37) and randomly just switches to the left lane for no reason Happend to me and luckily i avoided the situation (Sure, it was on 2+1 road in sweden that was 100 km/h, but anyway)
You're absolutely right. It isn't. It's a discussion like americans have about weapons, for example. Everyone knows, it isn't a good idea, but money wins. It's a topic since a decade here, but nothing really happens. Even as we assumed, we'll have to less oil or it will get too expensive after the war in europe began, our government wasn't able to enforce a speed limit, not even for a short time period. Our neighbors who already have a general speed limit easily decided you're not allowed to drive faster than 100 km/h anymore, as long as we didn't know, where to get affordable oil from. Now it's already lifted up to 120 km/h again, that's the limit of most of the countries around us, I guess.
@@jamesdec1774 You might want to google what kind of driving pollutes the most! ;) Hint: the fastest driving is the worst in terms of environmental impact.
Worrying about the damage you are causing to the environment by doing 95mph rather than 75 is pointless. Just think about the carbon emissions all those aeroplanes are creating, just so people can have holidays, or how much damage China's 1000+ coal fired power stations are creating. They keep on telling us that our cars are killing the environment, but they're talking rubbish.
I usually prefer to drive at 90 Km/h in the highway, and exceed the 90 during overtaking. The reason I do that is because I like keeping my car's rpms between 2000 and 3000 in order to minimize my fuel consumption
Pro tip. Dont jump on the autobahn amd drive fast immediately learn the traffic laws and how motorists behave first by collecting expirience on the road. Also never fucking pass on the right please
I as a German usually drive between 150- 180 kmph when there's no speed limit. Fast enough for me, especially for longer distances where you gotta stay focused over a long time. Sometimes I'll drive "only" 130 kmph, too. If I wanted to drive down to Austria, which is a 600+ kilometres, 6+ hours drive down BAB 9, I'd stick with 90- 110 km/h in order to possibly reach my destination without refueling.
So lucky to have this freedom. Seems like since cars are going faster in the fast lane you guys pay more attention and actually get over for traffic. I wish we had this freedom back in th me us that we lost. Cannonball run!
I went to Germany just to drive the Autobahn. And I went over 160 mph. However, I am an experienced track driver. Was it dumb? Yes, as others movements are not as controlled. Would I do it again? Yes, but only when there is less traffic, as learned from my past experiemce on the Autobahn
My friend drove 200 on the Autobahn a gew years ago, and I loved it haha. One of my other friends was terrified so the driver slowed it back down after a bit hahaha
YES. Even my Geeman husband and his mom (born and raised in Germany) disliked driving on it near cities: fast, slow, faster, slower, it’s scary with all the lane changing and people driving 200-220mph!
You explained it very well to our US friends, Feli. There is nothing to add. However, for those who now think that they should be afraid of a Bugatti overtaking at 414 km/h when they visit the “German Autobahn”, I can confidently reassure you. The Czech billionaire had previously taken explicit safety precautions before undertaking this high-speed journey. Even without a speed limit, you can only drive as fast as you do not endanger other road users. Otherwise, it has been considered an “individual race” since 2017 and is not allowed.