5 ms·

As I remember, at least as a narrative, it is clear that having speed limits reduces traffic jams, congestion and accidents, and will actually help get people f

by timkam 5y ago

As I remember, at least as a narrative, it is clear that having speed limits reduces traffic jams, congestion and accidents, and will actually help get people faster from A to B. Of course, no speed limit is part of the "brand" Germany, but I guess this could be maintained by some work-around. Happy to revise my opinion when presented with evidence to the contrary, but to me speed limits are to Germany what gun control is to the US.

krylon 5y ago
Yes! That analogy sums it up perfectly!
- allendoerfer 5y ago
  Except that German highways are one of the safest and America has school shootings. They are both holy cows, but very different holy cows.
  - grillvogel 5y ago
    Germany had 3000 trafic related deaths in 2019. In 2019 in the US, 20 people died in "school shooting deaths" meaning someone who was shot at a school of some kind
    - allendoerfer 5y ago
      The US had 36,096 traffic related deaths in 2019. In Germany 0 people died in "school shooting deaths". You are not seriously suggesting that the US does not have a gun problem?! Of course it has one. We can argue about how to solve it, but what you are doing is almost belittleing children who died like this.
  - rascul 5y ago
    > German highways are one of the safest This may be in part due to licensing requirements. I'm led to believe that in Germany you have to demonstrate that you have some skill at driving to receive a license, plus it's fairly expensive. In the US, it varies some by state, but a driver's license tends to be under $100 (most states I've had to worry about cost around $50 or less) and all you really need to demonstrate is ability to park, stop at a stop sign, maybe turn around in a box, and use your turn signal. Sometimes there's a road test where you might have to drive around the block. Also, I'm not sure if Germany does it, but I'm not aware of any state in the US that requires you to test ever again except maybe if you lost your license. But then, I've lost my license a few times for various reasons, and only once when I was in Texas did I have to take the written test to get it back.
    - pintxo 5y ago
      No re-test in Germany, it's already expensive enough with costs about 20x as high as in the US. But there is a long lasting ongoing discussion if license renewals should be introduced, at least for people above a certain age limit (70 or 80).
AmericanChopper 5y ago
What problem are you trying to solve though? Germany has very low road fatality rates.
- Symbiote 5y ago
  Germany's motorway fatality rate is similar to France and somewhat higher than the UK (similar size/density/wealth countries, I hope you agree). Considering German drivers consider themselves particularly careful and attentive etc, that's unimpressive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobahn#Safety:_international_comparison https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobahn#Safety:_international...
  - AmericanChopper 5y ago
    German road fatalities are in the range of lowest 10-15 countries in the world, depending on exactly how you go about measuring it. You’re not impressed because it’s not in the bottom 5 (like the UK)? Are you also unimpressed by Japan narrowly losing to Sweden for the bottom spot?

by timkam 5y ago

krylon 5y ago

Yes! That analogy sums it up perfectly!

allendoerfer 5y ago
Except that German highways are one of the safest and America has school shootings. They are both holy cows, but very different holy cows.
- grillvogel 5y ago
  Germany had 3000 trafic related deaths in 2019. In 2019 in the US, 20 people died in "school shooting deaths" meaning someone who was shot at a school of some kind
  - allendoerfer 5y ago
    The US had 36,096 traffic related deaths in 2019. In Germany 0 people died in "school shooting deaths". You are not seriously suggesting that the US does not have a gun problem?! Of course it has one. We can argue about how to solve it, but what you are doing is almost belittleing children who died like this.
- rascul 5y ago
  > German highways are one of the safest This may be in part due to licensing requirements. I'm led to believe that in Germany you have to demonstrate that you have some skill at driving to receive a license, plus it's fairly expensive. In the US, it varies some by state, but a driver's license tends to be under $100 (most states I've had to worry about cost around $50 or less) and all you really need to demonstrate is ability to park, stop at a stop sign, maybe turn around in a box, and use your turn signal. Sometimes there's a road test where you might have to drive around the block. Also, I'm not sure if Germany does it, but I'm not aware of any state in the US that requires you to test ever again except maybe if you lost your license. But then, I've lost my license a few times for various reasons, and only once when I was in Texas did I have to take the written test to get it back.
  - pintxo 5y ago
    No re-test in Germany, it's already expensive enough with costs about 20x as high as in the US. But there is a long lasting ongoing discussion if license renewals should be introduced, at least for people above a certain age limit (70 or 80).

AmericanChopper 5y ago

What problem are you trying to solve though? Germany has very low road fatality rates.

Symbiote 5y ago
Germany's motorway fatality rate is similar to France and somewhat higher than the UK (similar size/density/wealth countries, I hope you agree). Considering German drivers consider themselves particularly careful and attentive etc, that's unimpressive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobahn#Safety:_international_comparison https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobahn#Safety:_international...
- AmericanChopper 5y ago
  German road fatalities are in the range of lowest 10-15 countries in the world, depending on exactly how you go about measuring it. You’re not impressed because it’s not in the bottom 5 (like the UK)? Are you also unimpressed by Japan narrowly losing to Sweden for the bottom spot?