[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Germany is well-known around the world for its Autobahn, commonly known as “the highway without speed limits.” However, this is not always the case. Here are some pointers to help you get around.
We take a fresh look at German roads as people hit the streets for summer fun.
Germany has its beer and sausages, sauerkraut, Christmas markets, and everything else that people from other countries associate with the country. There is, of course, the Autobahn. Tourists who seek adventure and speed believe they can rent a car, jump in, and drive without limitations over the national highway network. What a fantastic way to travel!
And they can — on occasion. After all, Germany is the only country in Europe without a general speed restriction.
However, according to ADAC, Germany’s national vehicle association, there is a speed limit of 130 kilometres per hour (81 mph) across around 30% of the Autobahn network – and that is usually in the busiest places. Additional limitations apply around construction sites, dangerous curves, especially in and around cities.
There is a blanket “recommendation” of 130 kilometres per hour on the unrestricted stretches.
Speed limits a touchy issue
Why there are no limits on the remaining 70% of motorways has previously been attributed to the power of the German vehicle industry’s lobby, according to Thomas Harloff in an article in Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung.
After all, the country is recognised for producing fast, well engineered automobiles, which is a big selling feature. Allowing those cars to fly freely on German highways “justifies their right to exist” in the first place, according to Harloff.
While times change, speed limits on the Autobahn remain a contentious subject among Germans. ADAC said on its website in February 2023, citing a 2022 survey, that a slight majority of its own members support a general speed limit: 52% in favour, 44% opposed.
Those in favour argue that driving would be more relaxed on highways, among other things. More crucially, they claim that slower speeds will result in fewer fatalities.
According to ADAC, 60% of all fatal incidents occur on rural roads, where the maximum speed restriction is 100 km/h (62 mph) at most, and is frequently as low as 70 km/h (44 mph).
However, there are environmental reasons to limit speed limits, with climate activists claiming that slower speeds would help cut CO2 emissions.
Plans for expansion
German Transport Minister Volker Wissing is working on a proposal to accelerate the expansion of the Autobahn network, which would involve around 140 Autobahn projects across the country, 66 of which would be in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state.
However, the idea has proved immensely divisive among political parties and several German states. The Green Party wants solar panels erected along new Autobahn lines, and the programme also includes improved bike paths.
Meanwhile, climate activists from the Last Generation movement have been holding protests in Berlin in recent weeks, including glueing themselves to roadways to impede traffic.
The group is advocating for the formation of a citizen’s assembly to address climate change. According to them, it should explore “how the use of fossil fuels can be ended in a socially just manner by 2030.”
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Other recommendations from the organisation include a speed limit on highways and even lower-cost flat-rate public transit tickets.
Dispelling myths
So we can remove the fallacy that there are no speed limits on German motorways — and while we’re doing it, we can demolish another widely held belief: that Adolf Hitler launched the Autobahn’s construction.
In August 1932, Konrad Adenauer, mayor of Cologne and later West German chancellor, officially opened the first segment of the Autobahn. The Nazis would not take power until the next year. They did, however, co-opt the Autobahn idea, with Hitler hastening construction of the so-called “Third Reich” Autobahn. More information about the subject can be found by clicking here.
Meanwhile, if you’re going to Germany merely to put the pedal to the medal, check out the picture gallery in this post for some pointers. After all, it takes steel nerves to navigate the Autobahn and stay alive![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
