6 ms·

I love the Autobahn, less so because of the driving experience and more so because it represents the Pinnacle of road engineering. Every inch of lane is striped

by dmode 7y ago

I love the Autobahn, less so because of the driving experience and more so because it represents the Pinnacle of road engineering. Every inch of lane is striped properly, every sign is informative and bright, every Gore point is painted, every inch of road is paved with high quality materials, no potholes, all exit and entry ramps are separated and predictable, with long merges, highway facilities are in excellent condition. I don't know why we can't have these things in the US

scottlocklin 7y ago
The same reason our cars are shittier, and our water faucets don't make most excellent whooshing sounds: insufficient German engineers and craftsmanship. American engineering is always over engineering, but lazy over engineering without any Teutonic perfectionism. Except maybe the various moon shots. Oh, wait.
- Patrick_Devine 7y ago
  Just don't bring up the Berlin Brandenburg Airport. Never, ever do this.
  - wongarsu 7y ago
    There are plenty of countries that would have opened BER in the state it was in 5 years ago, either sweeping problems under the rug or fixing them during operation. The airport is as much a testament to bad construction as it is to safety inspections and rules trumping economic interest.
    - Patrick_Devine 7y ago
      When you kill 17 people and have to reconstruct multiple airport terminals due to fire (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%BCsseldorf_Airport#D%C3%BCsseldorf_Airport_fire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%BCsseldorf_Airport#D%C3%B...), you want to make certain you don't have a repeat.
- epanchin 7y ago
  Insufficiently demanding consumers?
m463 7y ago
On the other hand, I believe their automobile maintenance is held to higher (engineering) standards, which would exclude many cars in the US. What's interesting is a friend went back to mexico and was given a driver's license by just signing up for it without a test (apparently it's a right).
mbeex 7y ago
Not anymore. We had some - even deadly - accidents the last few years during summer, caused by cheap construction material and layout. Caused in turn by choosing the wrong kind of competition between contractors by governmental (the Autobahn's owner) entities. Here some links (in German, but the pictures should demonstrate the issue sufficiently): https://www.tag24.de/nachrichten/blow-up-deutschland-todesfalle-autobahn-hitze-laesst-strassenbelaege-platzen-blowup-unfall-714406 https://www.tag24.de/nachrichten/blow-up-deutschland-todesfa... https://www.google.com/search?channel=crow&q=autobahn+hitze+rampe&tbm=isch&source=univ&client=firefox-b-d&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiD2ITDoc_iAhVOalAKHS6KA9EQsAR6BAgAEAE&biw=1431&bih=803&dpr=1.5 https://www.google.com/search?channel=crow&q=autobahn+hitze+...
MrMember 7y ago
>I don't know why we can't have these things in the US Road conditions are heavily dependent on the state. Not all states adequately fund highway maintenance, and some states have to deal with extreme weather variances that wreck havoc on all their roads.
- dmode 7y ago
  Europe has a pretty rough winter as well. But I have never seen a pothole in Western European highways. I mean Germany itself experiences cold winter conditions

by dmode 7y ago

scottlocklin 7y ago

The same reason our cars are shittier, and our water faucets don't make most excellent whooshing sounds: insufficient German engineers and craftsmanship. American engineering is always over engineering, but lazy over engineering without any Teutonic perfectionism. Except maybe the various moon shots. Oh, wait.

Patrick_Devine 7y ago
Just don't bring up the Berlin Brandenburg Airport. Never, ever do this.
- wongarsu 7y ago
  There are plenty of countries that would have opened BER in the state it was in 5 years ago, either sweeping problems under the rug or fixing them during operation. The airport is as much a testament to bad construction as it is to safety inspections and rules trumping economic interest.
  - Patrick_Devine 7y ago
    When you kill 17 people and have to reconstruct multiple airport terminals due to fire (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%BCsseldorf_Airport#D%C3%BCsseldorf_Airport_fire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%BCsseldorf_Airport#D%C3%B...), you want to make certain you don't have a repeat.
epanchin 7y ago
Insufficiently demanding consumers?

m463 7y ago

On the other hand, I believe their automobile maintenance is held to higher (engineering) standards, which would exclude many cars in the US. What's interesting is a friend went back to mexico and was given a driver's license by just signing up for it without a test (apparently it's a right).

mbeex 7y ago

Not anymore. We had some - even deadly - accidents the last few years during summer, caused by cheap construction material and layout. Caused in turn by choosing the wrong kind of competition between contractors by governmental (the Autobahn's owner) entities. Here some links (in German, but the pictures should demonstrate the issue sufficiently): https://www.tag24.de/nachrichten/blow-up-deutschland-todesfalle-autobahn-hitze-laesst-strassenbelaege-platzen-blowup-unfall-714406 https://www.tag24.de/nachrichten/blow-up-deutschland-todesfa... https://www.google.com/search?channel=crow&q=autobahn+hitze+rampe&tbm=isch&source=univ&client=firefox-b-d&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiD2ITDoc_iAhVOalAKHS6KA9EQsAR6BAgAEAE&biw=1431&bih=803&dpr=1.5 https://www.google.com/search?channel=crow&q=autobahn+hitze+...

MrMember 7y ago

>I don't know why we can't have these things in the US Road conditions are heavily dependent on the state. Not all states adequately fund highway maintenance, and some states have to deal with extreme weather variances that wreck havoc on all their roads.

dmode 7y ago
Europe has a pretty rough winter as well. But I have never seen a pothole in Western European highways. I mean Germany itself experiences cold winter conditions