Speed limits dont work, road design determines how fast people go.
A section of the A24 was limited to 130 kmph for 20 years to reduce accidents. Because the reduction the speed limit was lifted early this year. Now there are 8% more accidents with injury and 42% more injured. Politicians call now to make it possible to limit the section again.
it looks like it’s designed for pretty extreme speeds
For highway lowering the speed may be effective but lowering the speed limit from 50 to 30 won’t stop drivers from going 50 unless the road is designed for lower speeds. So long as lanes are wide and there are little obstructions for drivers to worry about hitting, such as bumpouts, boulevards, etc., they will go as fast as they feel comfortable unless there is a cop behind them.
Edit: 50kmh to 30kmh I don’t know what that is in freedom miles
if there are speed limits i usually am forced to spend more time dicking around looking for signs or cops or checking the speedometer, instead of focusing on the road and how safe my current speed actually feels
100% agreed. If I don’t set cruise control, I usually speed on my commute due to me just focusing on the grip of my car, distance to/from other cars, and perceived speed. It’s just hard to gauge speed without checking often on my speedometer, which isn’t as safe. Even just trying to follow at a constant distance in the right lane is difficult because the semi trucks usually end up having wide speed differences at random times, meaning 60mph-80mph depending on the hill usually.
This can be solved quite easily by introducing head-up-displays in cars showing the speed in front of the driver. HUDs were introduced years ago in some airliners allowing the pilots to maintain situational awareness while having quick access to the critical information about the aircraft. And introducing safety standards from commercial aviation is almost always a good step.
I think traffic calming is really interesting for this reason, building roads to make you feel most comfortable at the correct speed. The road design here is usually good, but when driving I feel really anxious on roads that have a design not matching the speed limit too.
Speaking as an American here… could we NOT park cars in the left lane. I’ve seen enough habits of drivers in other countries where the left lane is exclusively for passing, it’s so simple and superior for traffic but Americans be dumb selfish shits behind the wheel.
Left is for passing. You may not overtake in right lane. At least that’s how it works in Sweden. Thus if left lane is slow, right is slower.
I like this in concept. The issue is that we often get asshats who want to go slow in the left lane.
When my options are to go 5 under the speed limit, or pass on the right, I’m passing on the right every time.
In the US, generally you cannot pass in the right lane except when the left lane refuses to move over despite having ample room
On the other side, Germany has TÜV with a mandatory vehicle inspection every 2 years with some exceptions for new cars.
They check vital components for road safety and won’t allow the car to be on public roads when it’s not fixed within a month. And it’s not like your tires have no rest profile anymore, it’s like you have to change them when they’re at 1,6mm… recommended is to change at 4mms…
Some “Prüfer” are chill but sometimes you won’t pass because your winter tires you were drivimg for 5 years, are 0,3% bigger than the allowed ones in the registrationpapers… at least I heard.
German here. We do have speed limits on highways. The portions without are often not that long so you rarely get a chance to go truly wild.
Regardless, the highest I usually go is like 180kmh and that doesn’t happen very often.
Meanwhile in the U.S. with ✌️ speed limits ✌️ everyone goes 10 over and the exceptions are 20-30mph over.
Yup, 10 over is my default unless I’m on a highway, which is then 15 to 20 over.
It’s funny, but those who actually go the speed limit are the ones that people get mad at for going too slow. Even though they’re technically the only ones obeying the law.
“Rest of world” Lol. India, Brazil, parts of Italy… the rule is do whatever you want, try not to crash, bigger vehicle has the right of way.
Brazil is far from lawless. In really small communities 12-year-Olds are driving scooters without wearing helmets, sure, but in all Metropolitan areas laws are pretty strict and there are expensive fines.
Fun fact: Germany is about average when it comes to road safety in Europe, which is still impressing since we’ve got the highest traffic density.
The Autobahn has become very tiring to drive on. Most people somehow decided that its easiest to drive in the middle lane at slow(ish) speeds, while the right lane stays empty for long stretches. Since you are not allowed to overtake on the right lane, both the left lane and the middle lane are clogged most of the time, averaging about 100-120 Km/h. If the public transportation was a bit more reliable and cheaper I would sell my car.
The problem is that even in low traffic, there is a truck on the right lane every few meters. Often, after you switch to the right lane, someone decides to drive right next to you, forcing you to brake.
It’s just more comfortable to stay in the middle lane.Now IMHO the real problem is when trucks are overtaking with 101km/h…
trucks are overtaking with 101km/h
As trucks are governed to a Vmax of 90 kph, and some even to 85 kph, I would suggest you get your speedometer checked, because it sounds like the advancement, required by law, is too high. It shouldn’t show more than 7% more than your actual speed. Truck speedos are more rigorously controlled and show an average of 2 kph too much at 80 kph, so trucks overtaking at 101 kph is not normally possible - of course, speedo manipulation does occur, but it isn’t so rampant that they all overtake at 101 kph.
I’ve been fined on German highways for going too fast. Memes like these are myths. It is based on fact that there is no default upper limit on highway. But there are speed-limit signs on German highways.
I think it’s based on the (fahrt fahrt fahrt auf den) Autobahn. Now, I’m not german so I could be wrong, but here’s what wikipedia says regarding speed limits on the autobahn:
Much of the system has no speed limit for some classes of vehicles.[1] However, limits are posted and enforced in areas that are urbanised, substandard, accident-prone, or under construction. On speed-unrestricted stretches, an advisory speed limit (Richtgeschwindigkeit) of 130 kilometres per hour (81 mph) applies.[2] While driving faster is not illegal in the absence of a speed limit, it can cause an increased liability in the case of a collision (which mandatory auto insurance has to cover); courts have ruled that an “ideal driver” who is exempt from absolute liability for “inevitable” tort under the law would not exceed Richtgeschwindigkeit.
So, it certainly seems there is a basis for the jokes, even if they aren’t 100% historically accurate.
We don’t have enough signs to make a speed limit happen - Volker Wissing, German minster of transit (Sadly not a joke: source)
That’s the dumbest excuse I’ve ever heard.
