4 ms·
> I don't think the main problem is that speed differentials are causing poor dynamics, but that the roads don't have enough lanes. I don't know. I drove thro
by seszett 10y ago
> I don't think the main problem is that speed differentials are causing poor dynamics, but that the roads don't have enough lanes.
I don't know.
I drove throughout Germany a few times last year, and I didn't really understand why there were so many jams and general slowdowns. I usually drive in France where the highways are almost exactly the same as Germany (most often two lanes, frequently three, rarely more, usually in very good state) and traffic is rarely as bad. I got stranded a few times in completely still traffic, for tens of minutes, during a normal working day, while this only ever happens at the worst time of holiday traffic in France.
Maybe it's because French highways are paying which probably discourages some drivers, but I also noticed a lot of roadworks in Germany (almost as bad as Belgium during the height of roadworks there last year). Enough, as you said, to never be able to maintain a high speed for long, while you barely ever notice those in France. I don't know how French companies do it, but I'm pretty sure it helps with the traffic.
Other than the traffic though, driving in Germany was a pleasure. People are aware of their surroundings and don't drive like the road was theirs.
- smitherfield 10y agoHaving driven in both countries, I think that has a lot to do with the extremely steep tolls on French highways, and the much higher gas tax. I believe Germany also has a higher rate of car ownership and the average population density is higher.
- Zak 10y agoIn 2015, according to estimates by the World Bank, Germany had 234 people per square kilometer. France had 122. And then there are the tolls. I'm pretty sure Germany is trying to use less road for a lot more cars and everything else is secondary with regard to traffic jams.
- hvidgaard 10y agoGermany Autobahn see more use and needs more maintance. Besides more Germans on the road, a lot of trafic pass through German, a lot more than in France. And the fact that the French highways require payment reduce trafic even more. But they are a joy to drive on. Set the CC and just go.
- usrusr 10y agoAnd the fact that SNCF has dedicated high speed infrastructure for the TGV, whereas DB runs the ICE mostly on mixed use tracks which makes it more challenging to provide fast, predictable service, all while having to compete with faster best-case speeds on the road.
- ptaipale 10y agoThe difference really is that many French motorways are toll roads (that péage sign) and have far fewer cars and lorries than the German autobahns. In Germany, the logistics clearly utilizes the autobahns a lot. You see constant lines of heavy vehicles on the rightmost lane, and sometimes your overtaking them is interrupted by one truck passing another one, very very slowly as they both have a speed limiter, just adjusted slightly differently.