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Germany Continues Debate Ending Unlimited Speed on Autobahn After Bugatti Run

26 points by ourmandave 5y ago

kylehotchkiss 5y ago
People occasionally going significantly over the speed limit (motorcycles lane splitting, BMWs with no license plate, normal Southern California things) always feels more dangerous to me than all traffic moving at 90/100mph. You try to switch lanes assuming people are going roughly the same speed as you and one of them just flies towards your car… I can’t imagine driving 80mph and being passed at over 200mph
- throwaway0a5e 5y ago
  >always feels more dangerous to me than all traffic moving at 90/100mph. That's because it is. The high speed differential creates all sorts of opportunities for conflicts.
- barbazoo 5y ago
  > feels more dangerous to me than all traffic moving at 90/100mph Would be relevant if that's what was happening in Germany. Problem is, even in Germany not all traffic is moving at the same speed. Cars with trailers and trucks have a speed limit of 80km/h (~50 mph). The speed differentials are huge especially on 2 lane (per direction) highways. It's absolutely common to prepare to overtake a slower car, check your mirrors, start changing lanes and suddenly having someone be right behind you, flashing their lights, honking because they think you are too slow. It's awful but also dangerous.
  - Symbiote 5y ago
    > Per billion kilometres travelled on motorways, Germany’s fatality rate (1.6) is twice as high as that in the UK (0.8). [1] I found a table comparing European countries last time I was interested in this, but I can't find it now. [1] https://www.thelocal.de/20190201/are-germanys-autobahns-really-the-safest-highways-in-the-world/ https://www.thelocal.de/20190201/are-germanys-autobahns-real...
    - belter 5y ago
      Important to note, most Autobahn areas have a speed limit. Only some areas have no speed limit.
- belter 5y ago
  At 259 mph (417 Km/h), this car was doing 380 feet per sec (116 meters per sec). Enough to have a quick look at rear view mirror, left side mirror, confirm all is clear and no incoming traffic is coming your way to overtake...turn the wheel to the left...and 2 seconds later be nuked into orbit.
  - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
    Pretty much driving 200+mph is coming up on traffic at 100+ speed difference. Many people have done these kinds of stunts in exotic cars over the years. If this guy behaved like pretty much everyone else who's done this kind of stunt he tried and tried and tried until one day he got lucky and there was a long enough stretch with no traffic to do it. The couple times car magazines have done this thing in exotic cars they've hired helicopters to spot them (because they can't just keep calling it quits until they get lucky like an individual can).
- mywittyname 5y ago
  It is. I can't find the study now, but I believe it was the IIHS who found that speed differentials are the primary concern when it comes to highway accidents. The risk of an accident skyrockets when the speed difference between traffic goes over 15mph.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
sschueller 5y ago
There may be no speed limit on some roads but there is still the law of reckless driving as stated in the article. Having a 500m stop distance is not considered reasonable and the Bugatti driver will face charges for reckless driving.
- pimeys 5y ago
  How are the fines calculated? Is it a percentage of his income or a fixed amount? If latter, it probably doesn't really bother the guy driving...
  - floatingatoll 5y ago
    Not exactly an answer, but they risk losing the right to drive (not just in Germany - EUCARIS exists) and being forced to sell the vehicle Or Else, alongside whatever fines are permitted. For example: https://www.autoevolution.com/news/judge-orders-speeding-driver-to-sell-his-bmw-440i-or-the-state-gets-it-172231.html https://www.autoevolution.com/news/judge-orders-speeding-dri...
  - sschueller 5y ago
    In Switzerland excessive speeding fines are based on income. A French Mann doing 250 kmh in 2009 had to pay 70k. A Sweede was also caught and the fine was estimated over a million but I don't know if it was ever paid. https://www.blick.ch/schweiz/249-km-h-von-seat-bolzer-noch-lange-kein-rekord-die-schlimmsten-raser-der-schweiz-id15163469.html https://www.blick.ch/schweiz/249-km-h-von-seat-bolzer-noch-l... https://www.blick.ch/schweiz/bern/mit-290-km-h-auf-der-autobahn-geblitzt-schwedischem-luxus-raser-droht-millionen-busse-id56190.html https://www.blick.ch/schweiz/bern/mit-290-km-h-auf-der-autob...
  - rad_gruchalski 5y ago
    In Germany fines are fixed: https://www.bussgeldkatalog.org/german-driving-laws/ https://www.bussgeldkatalog.org/german-driving-laws/. There’s a table on that page. It’s pretty easy to get banned from driving.
maxnoe 5y ago
> In fact, only about 70 percent of it is truly derestricted, while the rest of the Autobahn has a speed limit of 100 kph (62 mph). That's wrong, speed limits vary between 80, 100, 120 and 130 km/h on the restricted sections. 120 and 130 km/h being more common.
rad_gruchalski 5y ago
This country will probably remove the “no speed limit” soon but I don’t think it will be because of a guy in a Bugatti driving 400kph+ on a couple of occasions.

26 points by ourmandave 5y ago

People occasionally going significantly over the speed limit (motorcycles lane splitting, BMWs with no license plate, normal Southern California things) always feels more dangerous to me than all traffic moving at 90/100mph. You try to switch lanes assuming people are going roughly the same speed as you and one of them just flies towards your car… I can’t imagine driving 80mph and being passed at over 200mph

throwaway0a5e 5y ago
>always feels more dangerous to me than all traffic moving at 90/100mph. That's because it is. The high speed differential creates all sorts of opportunities for conflicts.
barbazoo 5y ago
> feels more dangerous to me than all traffic moving at 90/100mph Would be relevant if that's what was happening in Germany. Problem is, even in Germany not all traffic is moving at the same speed. Cars with trailers and trucks have a speed limit of 80km/h (~50 mph). The speed differentials are huge especially on 2 lane (per direction) highways. It's absolutely common to prepare to overtake a slower car, check your mirrors, start changing lanes and suddenly having someone be right behind you, flashing their lights, honking because they think you are too slow. It's awful but also dangerous.
- Symbiote 5y ago
  > Per billion kilometres travelled on motorways, Germany’s fatality rate (1.6) is twice as high as that in the UK (0.8). [1] I found a table comparing European countries last time I was interested in this, but I can't find it now. [1] https://www.thelocal.de/20190201/are-germanys-autobahns-really-the-safest-highways-in-the-world/ https://www.thelocal.de/20190201/are-germanys-autobahns-real...
  - belter 5y ago
    Important to note, most Autobahn areas have a speed limit. Only some areas have no speed limit.
belter 5y ago
At 259 mph (417 Km/h), this car was doing 380 feet per sec (116 meters per sec). Enough to have a quick look at rear view mirror, left side mirror, confirm all is clear and no incoming traffic is coming your way to overtake...turn the wheel to the left...and 2 seconds later be nuked into orbit.
- throwaway0a5e 5y ago
  Pretty much driving 200+mph is coming up on traffic at 100+ speed difference. Many people have done these kinds of stunts in exotic cars over the years. If this guy behaved like pretty much everyone else who's done this kind of stunt he tried and tried and tried until one day he got lucky and there was a long enough stretch with no traffic to do it. The couple times car magazines have done this thing in exotic cars they've hired helicopters to spot them (because they can't just keep calling it quits until they get lucky like an individual can).
mywittyname 5y ago
It is. I can't find the study now, but I believe it was the IIHS who found that speed differentials are the primary concern when it comes to highway accidents. The risk of an accident skyrockets when the speed difference between traffic goes over 15mph.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

sschueller 5y ago

There may be no speed limit on some roads but there is still the law of reckless driving as stated in the article. Having a 500m stop distance is not considered reasonable and the Bugatti driver will face charges for reckless driving.

pimeys 5y ago
How are the fines calculated? Is it a percentage of his income or a fixed amount? If latter, it probably doesn't really bother the guy driving...
- floatingatoll 5y ago
  Not exactly an answer, but they risk losing the right to drive (not just in Germany - EUCARIS exists) and being forced to sell the vehicle Or Else, alongside whatever fines are permitted. For example: https://www.autoevolution.com/news/judge-orders-speeding-driver-to-sell-his-bmw-440i-or-the-state-gets-it-172231.html https://www.autoevolution.com/news/judge-orders-speeding-dri...
- sschueller 5y ago
  In Switzerland excessive speeding fines are based on income. A French Mann doing 250 kmh in 2009 had to pay 70k. A Sweede was also caught and the fine was estimated over a million but I don't know if it was ever paid. https://www.blick.ch/schweiz/249-km-h-von-seat-bolzer-noch-lange-kein-rekord-die-schlimmsten-raser-der-schweiz-id15163469.html https://www.blick.ch/schweiz/249-km-h-von-seat-bolzer-noch-l... https://www.blick.ch/schweiz/bern/mit-290-km-h-auf-der-autobahn-geblitzt-schwedischem-luxus-raser-droht-millionen-busse-id56190.html https://www.blick.ch/schweiz/bern/mit-290-km-h-auf-der-autob...
- rad_gruchalski 5y ago
  In Germany fines are fixed: https://www.bussgeldkatalog.org/german-driving-laws/ https://www.bussgeldkatalog.org/german-driving-laws/. There’s a table on that page. It’s pretty easy to get banned from driving.

maxnoe 5y ago

> In fact, only about 70 percent of it is truly derestricted, while the rest of the Autobahn has a speed limit of 100 kph (62 mph). That's wrong, speed limits vary between 80, 100, 120 and 130 km/h on the restricted sections. 120 and 130 km/h being more common.

rad_gruchalski 5y ago

This country will probably remove the “no speed limit” soon but I don’t think it will be because of a guy in a Bugatti driving 400kph+ on a couple of occasions.