The Truth About Cars | German Speed Limits: I Can’t Drive 155?
I recall being in the back of a big Benz cab, going from the Munich airport into the city (a very long drive)… I was behind the driver, with my co-worker opposite me. It was his first trip to Munich, but I had been there many times before. I was just looking out the window, enjoying the scenery when I turned to say something to him. I stopped speaking when I noted his eyeballs were as big as saucers. He was staring at the dashboard in front of the cab driver with a look of fear. I glanced over the driver’s shoulder and he had the big S-class barge floating along at well over 200 Kp/h.
I just smiled and said to my friend: “Welcome to Germany.”
Up until that moment, I had no sensation of speed at all… just another cab ride on the Autobahn.
I also agree that the 80-110 MPH zone on most restricted access highways is quite comfortable, and would be achievable here in the USA if they made getting (and keeping) a driver’s license more stringent than it is now. My son is 16 and I’ve been helping him learn, but the testing – at least in my state – is laughable. 20 questions, easily half of which are concerned with fines and DUI, and very little about actual driving.
That is an embarrassment and pretty much sums up why Americans drive the way they do.
–chuck
I don’t know about Washington State, but the crappy roadway conditions of the freeways and highways in California are a general deterrent to high speed travel here.
And yeah, we have such low qualifying requirements that people in their 80s and 90s can regularly and easily qualify to renew their drivers licenses. Witness the 86 year old guy who killed 10 people in the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market was driving on a legal license. He “missed the pedal” – thought he was pressing the brake…
I was backed into in a supermarket parking lot by a 80something guy – how can someone miss a white Montero that is filling their rear view mirror because it is less then two meters behind them? They miss it because they are too incompetent to look behind.
much the same here…. kids can get a learners licence (theory only) at 15 (too young) and have to have held that for 6 months before doing practical to get their restricted licence and then after a period (12 months I think) of restricted driving hours and no passengers they can try to get their full licence – which has a tougher practical test – www ltsa govt nz factsheets58 html (you fill in the dots and forward slashes) …. but still nothing major on the practical side of things…
Jerome