4 ms·

Fact is that people drive that speed regularly on German autobahns without any widespread carnage. Driving aggressively when below the speed limit, or being dis

by wizee 6y ago

Fact is that people drive that speed regularly on German autobahns without any widespread carnage. Driving aggressively when below the speed limit, or being distracted, is far more dangerous than just driving quickly on a clear road. The emphasis on speed is mainly because it’s easy to measure and enforce. There’s standard etiquette there to slow down when there are vehicles in the distance ahead or curves or imperfect visibility. You don’t have to drive like a mindless drone holding a one-size-fits-all-situations speed limit. You and other drivers are generally safer going 160 km/h on a mostly empty highway than 50 km/h through an urban where there’s a much higher risk of encountering other people/vehicles/obstructions.

ta988 6y ago
In Germany not all drivers want to go fast even on unlimited sections. And people are much more respectful (both fast drivers and slow drivers) of who use which lanes and to not push you if you are in the right lane. Statistically you would be safer anyway at 130km/h on that same highway than at 160km/h. Lets compare apples to apples.
- sokoloff 6y ago
  At 130kph, you will spend more of your life driving than at 160kph. If you drive 16k km/yr at speed on motorways, the difference is about 23 hours/yr or 2 months (3 waking months) over your driving lifetime. That’s a different form of life being taken away as well.
- wizee 6y ago
  My point is that driving at 160 km/h on a fairly empty highway in a manner that is respectful of others is not particularly dangerous. In fact it’s pretty relaxed and routine in Germany for the middle lane of 3 lane derestricted autobahn. The right lane goes 130 km/h, middle lane goes 160 km/h, left lane stays mostly empty except for the occasional person passing. People keep their distance, slow down when there’s traffic in the distance ahead, and strictly adhere to keeping right except to pass. On most modern cars, stopping distance and fuel economy are also pretty reasonable at 160 km/h. I will admit people flying by at over 200 km/h in the left lane can be scary, and stopping distance and fuel economy become terrible for most cars at 200 km/h, though it generally works safely there because of the strict lane etiquette, coupled with people maintaining distance and slowing down in advance when traffic is ahead. A bigger danger than speeding on clear highways is things like tailgating, weaving between lanes, aggressive passing, and distracted driving. This often happens below speed limits, and is not the focus of automated speed enforcement systems. In Ontario, Canada, we have wide, well maintained, and well engineered highways that have unreasonably low speed limits of 90 or 100 km/h. While there are times when it’s necessary to drive more slowly (bad weather, traffic ahead), strictly enforcing such limits on wide clear highways in good weather would be silly. People here generally drive 120-130 km/h because cars are designed to operate safely and efficiently at these speeds. Strictly enforcing unreasonably low speed limits would just breed contempt from drivers, so currently the police are lenient with the speeds people actually drive. Strict enforcement of speed limits could be more reasonable if they set realistic speed limits, perhaps variable ones depending on the weather and traffic conditions.
foldr 6y ago
>Fact is that people drive that speed regularly on German autobahns without any widespread carnage. Germany has quite a high rate of road traffic deaths compared to other European countries.

by wizee 6y ago

ta988 6y ago

In Germany not all drivers want to go fast even on unlimited sections. And people are much more respectful (both fast drivers and slow drivers) of who use which lanes and to not push you if you are in the right lane. Statistically you would be safer anyway at 130km/h on that same highway than at 160km/h. Lets compare apples to apples.

sokoloff 6y ago
At 130kph, you will spend more of your life driving than at 160kph. If you drive 16k km/yr at speed on motorways, the difference is about 23 hours/yr or 2 months (3 waking months) over your driving lifetime. That’s a different form of life being taken away as well.
wizee 6y ago
My point is that driving at 160 km/h on a fairly empty highway in a manner that is respectful of others is not particularly dangerous. In fact it’s pretty relaxed and routine in Germany for the middle lane of 3 lane derestricted autobahn. The right lane goes 130 km/h, middle lane goes 160 km/h, left lane stays mostly empty except for the occasional person passing. People keep their distance, slow down when there’s traffic in the distance ahead, and strictly adhere to keeping right except to pass. On most modern cars, stopping distance and fuel economy are also pretty reasonable at 160 km/h. I will admit people flying by at over 200 km/h in the left lane can be scary, and stopping distance and fuel economy become terrible for most cars at 200 km/h, though it generally works safely there because of the strict lane etiquette, coupled with people maintaining distance and slowing down in advance when traffic is ahead. A bigger danger than speeding on clear highways is things like tailgating, weaving between lanes, aggressive passing, and distracted driving. This often happens below speed limits, and is not the focus of automated speed enforcement systems. In Ontario, Canada, we have wide, well maintained, and well engineered highways that have unreasonably low speed limits of 90 or 100 km/h. While there are times when it’s necessary to drive more slowly (bad weather, traffic ahead), strictly enforcing such limits on wide clear highways in good weather would be silly. People here generally drive 120-130 km/h because cars are designed to operate safely and efficiently at these speeds. Strictly enforcing unreasonably low speed limits would just breed contempt from drivers, so currently the police are lenient with the speeds people actually drive. Strict enforcement of speed limits could be more reasonable if they set realistic speed limits, perhaps variable ones depending on the weather and traffic conditions.

foldr 6y ago

>Fact is that people drive that speed regularly on German autobahns without any widespread carnage. Germany has quite a high rate of road traffic deaths compared to other European countries.