German Autobahn vs US Highway
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- Опубликовано: 13 окт 2024
- Sure, there are some similarities between the two; the US Highway system was modeled after the German Autobahn after all. However, there are so many distinct differences between driving on the US Highway and the German Autobahn that it's enough to make you go crazy sometimes if you're used to one over the other. Join me as I drive on the US highways and explain to you some of the differences that really stood out to me!
Hi! I'm Kelly and I am an American who lived in Germany for 18 wonderful months. While I lived abroad before in Turkey and had done quite a bit of traveling beforehand, those 18 months in Germany definitely broadened my perspective of Germany, Europe, and even the US in so many different ways! I wanted to share my perceptions with you guys through RUclips so that maybe you can gain context to things you've heard about, or learn new information or a different perspective, or maybe this is everything you've heard before and further confirms your world view. No matter what the reason, I hope that you enjoy my videos! Don't forget to subscribe to my channel and turn on notifications so that you always know when I'm posting new content :)
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#autobahn #highway #germany #germanyvsusa #us
Every single exit in Germany is numbered. Youre always reminded on which Autobahn youre on, pay attention. Every state has its own sign when entering via Autobahn.
Even numbered Autobahns go east west, odd numbered ones go north south. Single digit ones go very far, through various states, two digits only regional. A20-29 for example is northern Germany, A10-19 Berlin and east Germany. The three digit routes are very short and connect highways or cities with highways.
There are more little helpers, if you know these, chances getting lost are low. ;)
"Every state has its own sign when entering via Autobahn." - I really had to think twice what this remark is all about, since the Autobahn is a federal project and the road signs look all the same across Germany. But you are talking about the "welcome signs" when crossing from one state to another. That's a thing on US highways too.
Every exit may be numbered, but not every sign of importance about that exit will have the exit number. And while you are reminded which Autobahn you are on, in the U.S. they also tell you the direction of travel. So when you exit and you know you are roughly travveling east, you just follow the east sign. In Germany, you need to know what major cities are in the same direction as your destination. When I drive in the U.S. and even though I have great apps on my phone, I find that very convenient.
@@Hans-gb4mv no, not every sign. But the fist sign with the exits name has the number, and right before the exit (on top of the 300m sign) there is another one. Enough for my liking.
You are right, would be handy to have directions on signs itself. Sometimes the kilometer mileage has it, but thats quite a new thing.
why do you need the direction? you travel in the direction of the cities, not of the cardinal points... people in Europe know how to drive, they don't need to have a compass
You are joking, right? For "short" distances I agree, but for long distance travel? And with long distance, I don't mean a 2h drive but cross country. Going into areas you are not familiar with. At that point you have a pretty good idea of the cardinal direction you are taking, but not necessarily all the major cities on that route.
For example, when I was coming back from Niagra Falls on my way to Cleveland, driving in the US for the first time, I could have done it without the help of the GPS simply because I knew once I was back in the States (sorry, I was told the falls are nicer on the Canadian side) to find I190 South followed by I90 West. I didn't need to know any of the cities along the way, I didn't need to know how the junctions that connect the highways looked or what city to follow. All I needed to do was find my way to the I90 and take it westbound. And that would bring me straight back to Cleveland.
You often don't recognize police cars on the Autobahn since they are driving undercover cars like Mercedes n BMW. Actual Police cars aren't too common on the Autobahn
Yes, they are undercover and usually pop up behind you if you go way to fast (in speed limited areas) and have a friendly blue light and pop up red police message in their window 😆
Just like "Alarm for cobra 11" series. :D I loved it.
If there is a police car, everybody hit the brake and cause a traffic jam ;-)
Actually, there are a lot of unmarked police cars on the road, they don´t intervene at minor infractions if it is not dangerous to others. If somebody is on the road without license plates, you´d be reported to a marked police car that waits near all of the exits. So you might get some 10 or 15 minutes before you get pulled over. The same if you stop on the side strip, there will be police within ten minutes unless there is some other problem, that is more urgent. Sometimes people think they can get quickly away on the Autobahn after a crime, but it is the first thing that gets monitored. They´ll just wait at all of the exits for the criminal to show up and they are trapped.
There's a very good reason why there's no broken down cars. It's simply because they don't break down too often. There's a thing called TÜV where your car gets a inspection and if it doesn't pass (because old, really broken etc.) it isn't allowed to drive anymore. In the US there's like cars driving around without headlights or only 3 tires (YES I've seen that xD) and in Germany you just wouldn't be able to hit the road in such car
Also. If you're just out of fuel you will most likely get a fine.
The is another reason, why you wont find much disabled vehicles on the side of the Autobahn. You have several local emergency assistances clubs like ADAC. You may call them via mobile phone or emergency phones placed at the side of the Autobahn. Its always the highest priority for everybody to clear the Autobahn of disabled cars due the high risk of fast driving traffic.
@@ChrisRuhr Well you do have quite some towing companies in the US but it probably takes longer to get a tow truck in the US
In the US you have AAA as well, i would compare that with ADAC and so on.
Also, car inspections are a state thing in the US. Some states are very restrictive, some aren't. You can't put that onto the whole country. Also within Europe, Germany hasn't even the hardest inspection pattern. I worked in Portugal and if your car is older than ten years, you have to show up every 12 months. The same in Austria. Not 24 months like we have.
@@MajorLazer182 probably that's a local thing, but I waited 3 hours for a tow truck in Bavaria, and not far from a major city. Granted it was Sunday evening.
Re: "adopt-a-highway": Not suitable for Germany. German Autobahns are dangerous places for pedestrians, you don't want amateurs walking around there picking up the trash. Let the professionals from the "Autobahnmeisterei" do it. Ideally, also watch out more for careless drivers who throw their trash out of the window, and fine them for their anti-social behavior.
Shouldn'[t be throwing crap out the window, anywhere. Ugly, thoughtless, and dangerous. Much less of it in Germany than the U.S. Fines are higher in Germany.
and basically, we kind of have enough money to let professinonals do that job. Your goverment is broke, I guess... what a joke. " no clean water, no healthcare and no roads...but lots of weapons and a fucking space force....yeah...
+theBlackiwid While all true, the US has roads and bridges that are literally falling apart due to neglect and lack of money. They could take care of it, they just choose to spend their money on other things.
Funny though there is money to pay two police officers sitting all day watching for speeders, but not for cleaning up.
Same as for Sweden, also that is taken care of in two ways, one is that people in general do not litter. The morals of littering is pretty high and probably due to in schools in the 60-80's there been an ongoing campaign about littering "Håll Sverige Rent" meaning "Keep Sweden Clean".
Second, we have that taken care of by our taxes. We have among the highest taxes/ living expenses but this is on other thing that is taken care of within taxes, so "The Swedish Transport Administration" are responsible for the cleaning and fixing of roads and they get financed by yearly tax on your car and some from government taxes.
All exits are numbered in Germany, too. You can see the number on the sign 1000m ahead of the exit (at normal exits; for motorway junctions it's on the 2000m sign I think) and again above the '300m' sign before the exit so you have enough time to check the number, get to the right lane if you have been on one of the left ones, turn on the turn signal and exit the autobahn unstressed. Exit 1 always is the first exit in the north or west, so if you head south or east the numbers get higher with every exit.
Except for a small village hmmm stretch of autobahn in northern Germany on the A20 between Bad Segeberg (A21) and the A1 (near Lübeck).
Since they build the A20 eastward beginning at the A1 soon after the fall of the Berlin wall, they also started numbering the exits there beginning with 1.
Now they started building westward from there.
Since there is no presented on how to number below 1, the numbers for the exits are simply kept blank.
In not sure when the exits are going to be renumbered or if I will live that long to see it. Damn bats.
There are also blanks at the notth part of the A14. Just because it is not completed yet and they number the exits after completion.
The letters are added when an exit is inserted between existing exits so you don't have to renumber all exits. Just add a Letter and everything is fine.
at 3:00 LOL First difference: In Germany you are doing something really wrong when you are comfortably overtaken by the truck - while you are filming yourself ... :o)
Our trucks can be extremely aggressive. I want to do a video where I talk about actual driving differences because that is also very different and truckers are included. Massively different.
There are some states in US (if i remember correctly) where even trucks can go as fast as they want, while in the EU, trucks are all electronically limited to 80 or 90km/h
Exactly
As far as I know, you can freely choose the lane in the USA - that would be a catastrophe in Germany. Also, there are usually more lanes in the US.
Would you therefore in Germany with the car on the right (or even another) track with 80 gondolas so that a truck overhauled ...
Since you have no friends on the highway: o)) - and probably a traffic jam warning on the radio ....
That was something that surprised me in the states. I was nicely hitting the speed limit on the interstate and I was overtaken by a lot of traffic, including trucks. To be honest, I felt a bit unsafe but didn't want to risk going over the limit.
"adopt a highway", "collecting debris at the sides of the motorway".
Whoever would try this in Germany would find themselves very soon in a police car, that will bring them to the next safe exit. Equipped with a fat fine for walking on or close to the motorway. Perhaps also for causing a traffic jam, because drivers will slow down, when pedestians walk right beside the motorway.
When "Autobahnmeisterei" (motorway maintenance) does the cleaning or grass mowing or..., there will be a temporary speed limit, mostly a lane will be blocked. At the beginning of that blocked lane in addition to all the signposts, flashing lights and other markings, a heavy truck, often loaded with gravel will be parked as a bollard against sleeping truckdrivers.
With the amount of traffic on german motorways it is an absolute no go to try something like that.
"adopt a highway", "collecting debris at the sides of the motorway".
i love the explanation on the autobahn, but the aforementioned quote is just our standard form of community service (for traffic infractions, criminal offenses, mowers, etc).
11:48 I think a bigger advantage of the German enforcement with speed cameras is that the police isn‘t busy with enforcing the speed limit and can put their resources to better use
Seems like you didn't pay much attention to the motto signs for the Bundesländer. They definitely are posted on the sides of the Autobahn (and they are the only way German people know about those state mottos). For example Schleswig-Holstein is "Der wahre Norden" (The true north) or Sachsen-Anhalt is the "Land der Frühaufsteher" (Tha land of the early risers). Baden-Württemberg claims "Wir könnnen alles. Außer Hochdeutsch." (We can do everything. Except speak High/Standard German.) Only Bavaria doesn't have an official motto. Bavaria speaks for itself.
Yeah I guess I just never noticed them. I crossed between Rheinland pfalz and hessen almost every day and never noticed either unless I’ve just erased it from my memory which is quite possible.
Kelly does her thing Maybe you mistook them for just some billboards. Because neither Hessen ("An Hessen führt kein Weg vorbei") nor Rheinland-Pfalz ("Wir machen's einfach") have really outstanding mottos.
Cool facts, even I heard some of them before, I didn't know they are official . Some people say Germans have no kind of humor LOL
Especially Hessen has this very noticeable signs with the kids like shown here:
www.rnz.de/nachrichten/metropolregion_artikel,-Metropolregion-Nach-Baden-Ja-bitte-Nach-Hessen-Niemals-_arid,69462.html
Bayern Power!!!
Hi Kelly. I just came back from one week trip to USA (I'm catalan) and after driving around 1000mi I realised that.... I hate "motorway exit" system in USA!!! They just show directions and road numbers, but no (well few) cities. Junctions are a mess: I-85 NW, 441-N, 27th st SW.... I don't know! I just want to drive to Orlando! So, as an european, I prefer the german (or european) system.... he, he, he.
Great video. Congratulations!
yeah i think perhaps this is a good example of how people are more comfortable with the system they're used to :) thanks for watching!
We should just ose both. That way any driver can go by destination or exit no.
I bet one of your pet peeves about the motorway exit system here in the USA is the fact that in most US states, the exits are numbered by the mile marker they're at - and frequently there's at least two miles between exits!
@@Kellydoesherthing
I came back from my westcoast Trip After 2500 Miles.
The motorway exits in the us ist a big joke!
What the fuck is exit 181b?
And this diffrent namens of junctions?
You drive true the exit, 100Jahren feets after that the next exit then the third, the fourd...
I Go crazy...
And amerikan people drive like crazy, they have no clue of driving cars.
They drive like crazy in a movie like fast and furious!
Particially everybody watch in his Smartphone when driving in the highway.
In germany so will never see someone doing that !
@@dersebbi4897 Exit 181b is an exit located at Mile 181 (count starts at the state line or start of the road) and b designates that there are at least two different exits at this exact location. How else would you call them if not mileage number? I guess the other way would be to number them with plain numbers. This is how certain special roads work, for example, New Jersey Turnpike. I like the American system of highway signs - it makes sense (most of the time anyway).
Autobahn. First Rule: Use Mirrors two times before switch to the Left Lane. Second Rule: Use Mirrors two times before switch to the Left Lane. Third Rule: Dont drive on left lane, unless you are fast and pass a car and theres no car behind you that closing the gap. Fourth Rule: Drive always on the rightes lane, unless you want to pass car and you are much faster. Fifth Rule: Look periodical on your mirrors when you drive on the left lane, someone is always faster as you, 200 Km/h is nothing.
The differences in speed on an unlimited section of the Autobahn require special attention when switching lanes. If you are not used to the speeds you'll be in trouble. Imagine you are at 100 km/h and another car approaches with 240 km/h. This is nearly 67 m/s, or nearly 1000 m in 3.5 seconds. If you do not pay attention the other driver is forced to drop an anchor or your rear bumper gets pushed to the glove box. So you'd better monitor the mirrors closely before switching lanes. Or put a sticker onto the mirror glass "Objects in the mirror may be loosing", push the padal to the metal
and drive as hell! 😉
Greetings from Mainz!
@@saxonian Very true. One typo you had was 1000m in 3.5 seconds. The math doesn't add up. Cheers.
@@saxonian true. But also don't annoy the people on the left lame that are in the process of overtaking other cars with getting too close and flashilghting.... some people aren't comfortable with driving faster than 140 kmh or simply can't with their cars so really... what's the point in being so aggressive?
Half a minute watching and my brain is already screaming "LOOK AT THE ROAD GIRL!!!".
Thats how americans drive ;)
@@bremer1701 Well, I don't want to judge it on American roads, but especially on the German Autobahn you have to be attentive.
That's usually the cause of a crash btw, not high speed, but missing attention and situational awareness of some drivers.
@@bremer1701
Thats true!
Particially everybody drives with his Smartphone in handy on highway
@@bremer1701 And that's how they crash
She's not driving, she's on the left side of the car and the steering wheel is on the right.
Sorry, but every state in Germany has a sign on the border. Some have a motto ... like "Sachsen- Anhalt / Land der Frühaufsteher" :)
... or Bavaria "Schleicht´s eich Saupreissn". ;-)
NRW...."Bazi go home "
😂😂
Berlin doesn't. They just have the yellow Ortseingangsschild
@@szoszk Berlins motto is "Payed by Bavaria"
If the USA would spend less money on the military there would be enough funds to keep the highways clean. This applies to country roads and cities, too. It's just a matter of preference.
Geniuses like you and I think alike.
Well, thy could reduce atleast a bit, investing more in healthcare (which is mostly private in the US and state organized in europe) and reads.
Usually keeping roads clean is up to the State budget for city streets and State highways and not Federal budget. Interstates and possibly toll roads (I'm not sure about this) are kept up by the Federal government. So if they lowered how much the military was using it would only go to the Interstate and toll roads. It wouldn't keep up city streets or State highways.
I also would rather the money go to University education and healthcare. The US has a hell a lot more miles of Federal roads to take care of than Germany.
Also the spending on military has dropped since 2010. In 2010 the US spent $721 billion. In 2017 the Congressional Budget Office reported spending $590 billion for military defense. Now how accurate are the numbers I have no idea. I trust that the government is reporting real numbers. Ok I can't say that without laughing.
In 2019 Trump wants to increase the spending to almost the amount that was spent in 2010.
*Edit you have to remember the military budget helps with natural disasters in the US and sometimes in the world. After hurricane Katrina Marines and Navy helped out with the disaster. Dutch Navy, Mexican Marines, Mexican Marines, Mexican Army, Canadian Navy and Canadian Coastguard, and German Airforce helped out a tremendous amount also.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_the_United_States
Thanks for the link → en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_the_United_States & there it looks as if the amount spent is about the same each year. In the 2000s it went up to 20% and now it is back to 16% where it was in the years before 2001 [when the ridiculous 'war on terror' started that can't be won].
Another source would be to tax those 1% of richest people instead of giving them tax breaks .... just think about what could be done with all that money: health insurance for all, tuition free college, a decent old age pension ....
Your *edit*:
It is also true that the USA illegally kills people around the world with drones. Not to speak of support for dictators who wage war on their neighbours like SaudiArabia - how come these muslims are "good muslims"?
First difference in germany we are shocked about people that look into a camera while driving and think its ok to risc to kill childrens for youtube videos. Maybe thats why we can drive faster in germany and have less accidents. the 2nd video is that somebody should really explain you the autobahnsystem. Maybe watch a youtube video
The most dirturbing thing was when i realized in america is a speedlimit. A pretty low speedlimit.
They need it over there. Can you imagine what it would be like without?
You obviously never had a real speed violation in Germany....those 30-50€ tickets you got were just warnings ("Verwarnung"), which you get if you were within 20kmph above the limit....if you get caught speeding significantly higher than that, you get a real ticket ("Bußgeld") which costs at least 130€ and often more plus points off your license in Flensburg.
In the US, you may get stopped by police if you're just a little over the limit, and get just a verbal warning...no such thing in Germany.
Interesting situation I had getting pulled over for speeding on Rt 15 in New York state near Binghamton....this is a limited access road like an interstate with speed limit 55mph, and I was doing 75. The cop gave me a citation, which is not just a ticket requiring me to pay a fine, but a court date in front of a judge. I even explained to the cop that I would be back in Germany on that given date....he just shrugged and said if I missed the date and ever got caught speeding again, I would get arrested and put in jail. Since I don't spend more than a few weeks a year in the US, this didn't affect me much, so I actually got out of what probably would have been a pretty expensive fine.
yes, i definitely did not get any tickets like that in germany. i didn't talk about these higher ones because i dont know much about them and I feel that they aren't as common. but the severity of the fines rise dramatically in the US as well. For example, in some states, if you're 30mph over, you're getting your license taken away, you're getting a felony, and you're going to jail.
@@Kellydoesherthing they are common, trust me, they happen every day. In germany a lot of drivers seemingly don't care about speed limits. Driving 140 at 100 is on Autobahn is normal and it does not so much depend on which brand the car is from. In the past they were especially BMW, Mercedes, and Audi doing this. Now its absolutely common.
The truth is once you get a ticket where you get points on your license you have to be very careful because youre only allowed to have 8 points on your license.
You can loose your license directly when what you've done was way beyond what was allowed (driving 100 at 30, 30 speed limits is in areas where there is a school or a "Kindergarten" because obviously there are little children crossing the road and you gotta be extra careful at such areas)
€130. Omg don't make me get out my tiny violin.
Fines in Australia.
up to 10 km/h - $119
10-20 km/h - $275
20-30 km/h - $472
30-45 km/h - $903 3 months suspension (minimum)
45+ km/h - $2,435 6 months suspension (minimum)
@@Kellydoesherthing other states 20 over is reckless.
@@arrgghh1555 Fines in Germany are cheap compared to other countries. However, whereas in the US you can pretty much always buy yourself out of points (from what I have witnessed), in Germany that is not possible. You did this and this many km more than the speed limit inside urban/outside urban areas and it is this many points. You get more than 2(?) points more than twice in 6 months? Congrats - you just lost your license for a month (happened to my dad).
White on Blue has the highest contrast ratio for our eyes and brain - yes. Even higher than white/black. This is the simple reason for making as much signs as possible in white on blue :).
When I (german native) was in California on a vacation I noticed some more differences:
* the vehicles of workers (like trucks) may drive faster than you (as seen in your video: you overtaken by a truck)
* you can overtake on every lane, on the contrary in Germany you must not overtake on the right lane and have to use the lane on the left of the slower vehicle.
* you can take the lane you like. In Germany you have to drive on the right lane if possible. The right lane is not "the slow lane", and driving on the middle lane all the time is not allowed if the right lane is empty.
* California is such a HUGE country. You can drive for half an hour to the next exit. In tiny Germany there is an exit every five minutes. :-)
The distance between exits in Germany is often way more than five minutes - especially that one time you miss your exit :)
You are right. I meant it not literally five minutes. I wanted to express the different experiences on a highway in sparsely inhabited California vs. densely populated Germany.
What we are taught and the laws in the US aren't as different as it might seem. But the stay right except passing laws are not highly enforced. Some states allow and some do not allow passing on the right but it has little impact on people's behavior. It's always considered bad technique but it basically is a bad technique in response to somebody else's bad technique of hanging out in the left lane so it seems like a tough thing to change. Still, there are signs every few miles on most Interstates saying Slower Traffic keep right or whatever and they are black and white meaning there is a law or regulation behind it as opposed to yellow advisory signs which are not directly backed up by a law such as curve speed advisories.
Das mit der Ausfahrt "alle fünf Minuten" belegst du mir dann wenn ich mal wieder ganz dringend strullen muss!
not entirely because of a smaller country for the more frequent exits, germany has no mileage toll on the autobahn so there's no need for expensive toll collect facilities.
Every exit on German motorways is marked with the number in two places - on the sign 300m before the exit, and again on the actual sign saying "Ausfahrt" (exit) itself. You can't miss them if you know where to look for them. The numbers are never on the signs that tell you which towns are nearby, though.
"Don't text and drive" taken to a whole new level -.-
Well this "no-speed-limit-thing" is actually a bit more complicated. If there is no limit the recommended speed is 130 km/h. It is not forbidden to go faster. But if you have an accident then you have a big problem. Even if it clearly was not your fault you can be blamed for it then. It is like "You may drive as fast as you want as long as you are carefully".
Great Video! Left a sub:)
In other words, where there is no speed limit it is not against the law to drive faster, but you do so at your own risk.
According to Wikipedia, "Virginia is for Lovers" has been the slogan of Virginia since 1969. The state hired a company called Martin and Woltz Inc who also came up with "Virginia is for _history_ lovers," "Virginia is for _beach_ lovers," and "Virginia is for _mountain_ lovers," but these were all ultimately voted down in favor of the much simpler, and more discussion-provoking "Virginia is for lovers."
Ohhhhhh! Nice! And provoke discussion it indeed did haha
@@Kellydoesherthing the Virginia state moto is "Sic semper tyrannis" in English "thus always to tyrants"
Originally, the history/beach/mountain , etc was part of the original ad campaign for the "lovers" slogan. Was available on license plates for a while.
State motto since the state was founded, goes with the picture of the roman guys (they have historical name, not gonna look it up), one killing a tyrant. The advertising slogan...lovers... is just that from the state bureau of tourism.
"Virginia is for Lovers" - and yet it's illegal in Virginia to have oral or anal sex plus sex in general before you are married
There is a toll on German streets, but just for trucks. The colum in your video was probably a toll collect colum, cause there are no paying stations like in France. Speeding cameras, are usually small cubes on a pole.
Noooo way! Wow, I just thought there were different styles of cameras because when I got to Germany, I was told that those were speed cameras. Thank you for telling me!
The toll collect columns are blue and black where speed camera columns can be coloured grey-black or yellow-black. Those cube shaped speed cameras (greyish green) are the old technique but still very common.
The colum is a speed camera, there are both sorts, colums and cubes as speed cameras in germany! The toll collect system for trucks in Germany is a large array of scanners placed over each lane of the Autobahn!
@@WildFitzWFC I think he meant the new columns on the rural roads (Landstrassen) which are blue and black. These are for truck tolls.
And while I don't know about Germany, over here in Belgium the old static camera's are losing importance and are slowly replaced by average speed check zones.
Thanks for a new addition to my English vocabulary in the form of the word "rubberneckers" :-) In Germany, those would be called "Gaffer" (from "gaffen", to gawk at something), and officials (police, firefighters who clear up accidents on the Autobahn, and politicians) have been complaining about them for years. They increasingly use mobile sight barriers to be erected at the sites of large accidents (Unfallsichtschutzwand), thus making gawking impossible.
I got a kick out of this. My husband is German and looked at me like I had to heads when I used this term. We sometimes forget not everyone knows our slang.
Rubberneckers in the UK too
i'm glad i could teach you a new word :) in some regions of the US, people will also use the term "Looky Lucy" instead of rubberneck lol
Out here in Southern California we have "rubberneckers" "lookie-loos" and my favorite "spectator traffic".
‘Rubbernekken’ in Dutch is used for a person who is starting to fall asleep whilst sitting or standing. That moment your head starts falling down and then you ‘wake up’ and your head goes back up. People who look at a accident are called ‘ramptoeristen’ (disaster tourist).
Imagine the speed ticket depending on your income. So it can be anything from 150 euro to 100 000 e +. That's the way it's done in Finland.
The same in switzerland. I heard of a fine of about 30.000€ for just a few kmh too fast, but the guy was rich as hell, so he had to pay up a real big amount :D
What if you are a tourist?
@@nsbioy I think if you get a personal ticket from a police officer, you will have to pay before leaving the country, if they spot you at the border. If it's a ticket from a speed camera, you probably won't have to pay.
I think in general you're pulled over in Germany if the cops see you driving really recklessly. Not just speeding but pressuring other drivers through driving up too closely, or overtaking on the right (which is verboten), or worse. "Just" the "normal" speeding isn't something that warrants all that attention (and it's a known fact that "hot pursuit" is in itself dangerous, so why do it if not absolutely necessary?).
Widespread use of radar/cameras in Germany. They mail the ticket to you. Reckless driving is a tremendous fine/loss of license first time.
U.S. traffic enforcement catches drug runners. Can't do that with "Points in Flensburg."
Lady, please don't look into the camera while having your "dialog", watch what is going on on the street. Stay focused!
Especially what I saw and heard about the driving skills of aMuricans. No one of us wanna see you having an accident while doing a VLOG. OK? OK.
I am fairly confident that I handled this vlog the same way I would’ve handled having a conversation with someone in my car. If you watch my eyes, you see them constantly looking at the road and my surroundings, and I’m completely hands free of my camera. I appreciate the concern, but there was no danger here beyond the distractions a driver would have by engaging in normal conversation :) I’ve seen you comment on my channel before which I appreciate but I gotta say I’m a little disappointed for you to use the term “aMuricans” given the connotation I know it has. Anyway, have a good weekend!
Lol. I've done vlogs on the road before and it looks like I'm looking into the camera due to its position, but I'm not. I'm checking my mirrors like you're supposed to do every so often. I learned a very expensive lesson by not checking my rear view mirror. I had police behind me for about 1 mile. He just had his lights on and not his siren. Police don't always use their sirens all the time in Florida and Tennessee, and you are still expected to pull over even though they don't have sirens on.
I don't know if it's the same with Kelly, but it could be.
Jessica Ely yeah exactly. I barely looked at the camera the whole time I was driving. I was nervous I wouldn’t even be in the frame at some points because I was paying so little attention to it
Yup, I was looking at her eyes the whole time and she kept her eyes on the road. Honest!🤞
knowyourmeme.com/memes/murica
There's this German saying "Getroffener Hund bellt!" Wenn es also auf dich nicht zutrifft, solltest du dich auch nicht angesprochen fühlen ;o)
Biggest difference, we stay on the right when not overtaking
Not everybody. You allways have the "midlane sleepers" on 3 lane Highways. Like my aunt...
When I moved to Texas, frontage roads didn’t bother me because I had seen them in rural states, especially states west of the Mississippi River. One thing I like about the Texas interstate system are the turnarounds, where you have a dedicated lane that you can do a u-turn without having to wait for a signal. They are starting to show up in other states where they are called Texas turnarounds or turnabouts.
I love all the discussions on this video, I really do but I am a bit surprised by the lack of understanding so many people are having about what I said regarding the exits on the Autobahn. I actually just watched it again to make sure that I didn't black out on what I actually said haha. What I'm trying to get at is that the actual exits themselves on the Autobahn are not clearly numbered whereas in the US they are very clearly (and consistently!!) marked. I'm not saying that there aren't any numbered exits in Germany...I'm saying that the signage between the US and Germany is different. If you're watching my videos to see what an American's perspective of Germany is then that's great! That's what my channel is for :) and so then please, try to listen and understand what I'm saying and think about why I'm saying it instead of being so quick to correct me because then that sort of negates the whole purpose of you watching my video and the intent of my videos.
That is simply incorrect - as many other things you said in your video. Nearly every exit as well as any interchange has a number (there can be exceptions if the road is still under construction). You can find them on the first announcing signs like this one: www.autobahn-bilder.de/images/A9%20Ri%20Berlin/M-Hof2010/IMG_9099.JPG or this one www.autobahn-bilder.de/images/A9%20Ri%20Berlin/M-Hof2010/IMG_9388.JPG (also telling you how far away the exit actually is) and then there is another sign 300m away from the actual exit telling you the same number again. You won't find a road or even a Autobahn that isn't well signed - actually in most cases there are too many signs that may confuse you but therefore we have to pass a hard training (consisting of a theoretical and a practical test) before we are allowed to drive.
Speed tickets can also be very expensive. You talked about so called "Ordnungswidrigkeiten" - that means you were a BIT to fast (maximum +20 kph). If you exceed the speedlimit by more than 20 kph you first of all (and most important) gain a "point" in a registry data in Flensburg. You can collect up to 8 of them and if you reach this magic number you'll have to do an expensive course to make sure you are still allowed to drive - not mentioning the months you may have to walk until you passed it. And it takes at least 2 years until a point is deleted. So 8 times exceeding the speedlimit by 21 kph within 2 years can make you walk for another year and cost you 1000+€.
Next wrong statement: Toll roads. ALL Autobahnen, as well as federal roads are toll roads for trucks and in nearby future there may be a toll for cars, too. The difference is that the toll is collected electronically as you simply can't make the traffic stop while you are allowed to go above 300kph if possible. The jams would be out of this world (shockwave-effect).
Last but not least you missed one very important detail about German Autobahnen that Americans obviously never heard about: the "Rechtsfahrgebot" it means once you passed by a car and there is enough space on the right lane you go as right as you can to make sure faster cars can pass you by safely.
Sorry in advance for possible spelling/tiping mistakes I made.
you're still misinterpreting my point. i really dont know how else to word it. please take a moment...breathe...don't get defensive...and think about how our exits are marked compared to yours. then you will most likely understand what i'm trying to say. your examples are great but they are still not addressing my point.
toll roads - why would i suddenly talk about truckers in my video when i hadn't mentioned them once? there are so many more differences between the autobahn and highway as it relates to truckers. for example, yours can't go the full speed limit, and ours can.
tickets - i got it. i was talking about the most common tickets...the lower tickets...because those are the ones i have experience with. we also have very harsh punishments for going in excess over the speed limit as well. it's really not unique to your country or mine.
and last but not least - we have this exact same law too. many americans just dont follow it. we have signs all over our highways that say things like "keep right except to pass" etc etc. it's not a difference in laws, it's a difference in driving habits.
Kelly, all german exits are numbered. After getting my license I did some very long road trips. This was before the age of the SatNav. What I did before I hit the road, was look up the correct number of the autobahn and the right exit numbers. On the road the only thing I needed was my list of numbers, e.g. A7->15-> A76->24... I always ended up where I wanted to go.
Hi Kelly, is it not easier to bring up the drivers not to throw garbage out of the car? It´so unnecessary to bring other people in dangerous situatios only because some people are to lazy to collect their garbage for the next service area or home. I would never do this. I don´t want to support the laziness of other peoples.
It´s only a question of education...in my opinion.
There are huge fines for littering and states even have slogans about it (don’t mess with Texas means don’t litter) but I guess people still don’t care and are willing to take the risk that there isn’t a cop to see it. I saw someone actively litter for the first time in my life yesterday while driving in the highway toward Seattle. I was shocked.
I see, the US need some Blitzer at their highways to catch the polluters ;-)
And as a punishment they should pick up their own dirt at the highway :-D
E-x-a-c-t-l-y !!! There are no costs if people wouldn't act like their role model president who scrapped a huge number of environmental restrictions for no plausible reason (making their industries less environmental friendly will make them and their products less competitional. Good job!). Well, management leads by example.
@@october65-h6e Drive on the Interstate through any large city in the US, like Detroit, you will find lawn chairs, wheel covers, cushions, tires, deer carcasses decaying for weeks, racoons, and finally food garbage flung against the concrete divider and no body in his right mind will get out of the car to clean up, not even the highway maintenance. The Adopt-A-Highway Kelly mentioned is something that's done on secondary roads by civilian volunteers. You should visit the US some time and not only use the Interstate highway system but the secondary roads as well. You will see things you will never ever see on Germany's Autobahns or highways.
@@ursulaba1 Not through "any large city". I've never seen them on the west coast except in homeless encampments around the freeway, and those are less than 1% of the freeway's length and only in cities. There are Adopt-A-Highways around but I've never seen the volunteers. I assume they go out as a group a few times a year and the police close a lane for them, and they're picking up paper and cans and plastic bags, not furniture. The US has more private charities than Europe and less toleration for taxes, so the government doesn't pick up litter as much. And many of those organizations are volunteering to get their name on the sign, a kind of advertisement. It's illegal for pedestrians to be on US freeways too.
Most of the highways and infrastructure in the US was built in the mid 20th century, and the current generation of politicians and voters is more interested in keeping taxes low than in maintaining that infrastructure, so they're living on borrowed time and it will eventually fall apart, as some bridges already have. When they do build something they like to build a shiny new thing with a ribbon-cutting ceremony rather than doing boring maintenance on existing infrastructure.
One big difference we noticed travelling AZ, CA, UT, HI, NV was that compared to Switzerland/Europe the US signs mostly contain words/sentences which you have to read if you don't know what it is about.
Whereas in the EU the signs mostly contain just one single symbol/icon showing you what you are (or aren't) allowed to do which you can easily see at a glance without reading 1-2 sentences.
Soooo true!! I was actually going to include that but ended up not but this is a big difference
Yes, that's also done to lessen the language barrier. Remember that we're talking about Europe, a region with dozens of (often very) different languages - with the pictograms (and also standardized sign shapes) people from all over the continent will understand more than 90% of the signs in a fraction of a second
The Autobahn sign when you enter Saxony-Anhalt says "Willkommen im Land der Frühaufsteher" (Roughly "Welcome to the land of the morning people")
Kelly, when I first drove on the Autobahn, I experienced the same feeling of "direction confusion" that you mentioned. As an American, I grew up with "North-South-East-West" for orientation. After about a year in Germany, I got a feel for the locations of the larger cities relative to each other. That made navigation on the Autobahn quite simple. (I think the difference in navigation preference has something to do with the sizes of the two countries when compared to each other.)
In general, I prefer Germany's Autobahn over America's freeways for several reasons. But the two things I miss most about the Autobahn:
1. ROAD SURFACE QUALITY -- Overall, the quality of a typical stretch of Freeway can't compare to the typical stretch of Autobahn. A typical stretch of freeway reminds me of the stretch of Autobahn near Berlin in 1991.
2. DRIVING IN THE RIGHT LANE -- Especially on 2-lane stretches, using the left lane for passing only. When I drive between Los Angeles and San Francisco on I-5 I still drive in the right lane and use the left for passing.
(I lived and worked in Kassel from 1991-1999.)
I wonder whether the city-based system comes from the fact that Germany has been existing for much longer.
In the old times all long streets would go from city to city while crossing tons of other towns and villages. And I guess when the Autobahnen were built many of them followed older main roads.
In the US they had vast stretches of uninhabitated land so they could plan the highways in a kind of grid, just like your cities.
It seems to me the Autobahnen are less grid-like.
Just look at this web: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobahn#/media/File:Europe_Completed_Motorways_Dec_2012.png
... although I admit the eastern part of the US also looks like that. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_System#/media/File:Map_of_current_Interstates.svg
Interstate Route Numbering. ... Major Interstate routes are designated by one- or two-digit numbers. Routes with odd numbers run north and south, while even numbered run east and west. For north-south routes, the lowest numbers begin in the west, while the lowest numbered east-west routes are in the south."
Maybe a little late, but our speeding tickets aren’t always that cheap.
First of, it depends if you are speeding in a city compared to speeding on the autobahn. And secondly, it will only stay so “cheap” as long as you don’t drive more than 20 km/h over the limit. As soon as you cross that line it will get a lot more expensive and you’ll get a point, meaning there is a maximum of points u are aloud to get before they take ur license away and as soon as you cross the +40 km/h (at least on the autobahn) it will not only get hella expensive, but you will get more points on top of having to give up your license at least a month but up to forever and you’ll have to do a test, like going to meetings, doing a test drive and so on, which will cost u another few hundred euros.
So it can get really expensive if you don’t pay attention, especially if there are sections on the autobahn which are undergoing maintenance where the speed limit is drastically lower.
I talked to a police officer who works at the Autoban-Polizei and he said the main reasons for stopping a driver are "driving too fast", "overtaking on the right side" and "driving too close to the person in front of them".
Basically 'dangerous driving', not only speed.
Bahhh, all three reasons are pure fun, during a rainstorm when all other cars drove like in slow motion , poor visibility and heavy rain, i chased a 5er BMW on the left lane, he was 3 meters in front of me with nearly 180Km/h, it was pure fun and adrenaline, no speed limit at this part of the A7 Autobahn but far too close ;)
I was never stopped at the Autobahn by Police but several times when i drove extreme slow during night in the City limits.
In Canada specifically in Ontario we use a big mixture of both Blue and Green signs and in some highways in Ontario the Exit signs are also not numbered like Europe. But the rest of the provinces in Canada (except a few in the East coast) mainly uses Green signs and uses Exit signs which are numbered like the US.
In Germany we have the "Rettungsgasse". If there is a traffic jam the left lane pulls over to the left and all other lanes pull over to the right. Emergency vehicles can drive trough the traffic jam. Unfortunately in the northern states only a few drivers are pulling over. And yes, we have somewhere where you can drive as fast as you want. But be careful! In the law is written that 130km/h is recommended. If there is an accident and you were driving much more than the recommended 130km/h you will be responsible for the accident, most times for 40% or 50%.
Das ist ein wichtiger Punkt, den nicht einmal die meisten Deutschen kennen. Ich muss trotzdem ein wenig korrigieren: Mitschuld bekommt man nicht automatisch bei Geschwindigkeiten über 130 km/h, sondern nur, wenn der Unfall bei maximal 130 noch zu verhindern gewesen wäre! Dies muss ein Gutachter klären...
The exit numbering system on US limited access (interstate) highways has been recently standardized. The exit 'number' is defined as the number of statute MILES from the 'beginning' of highway *within each state* (usually starting, in sequence, from the west or south ... in whatever *STATE* you are traveling).
Currently, this still does not apply to many interstates in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. They have not yet been standardized.
Things that you might have missed:
There are less car break downs on german autobahns, because there is a pretty high fine on that.
EDIT: This one is apparently wrong, but there is a fine for running out of gas.
There are different types of speed cameras, there are the static ones (often installed in autobahn tunnels for example), but there are also the "mobile" ones. Like police officers would park a van on the side of the road and the speed camera is hidden behind a tinted window.
Also, the autobahn has the so called "obligation to drive on the right" which means you are not allowed to pass cars on the right and therefore the left lane is mostly free for (legal) speeders. That also explains why there is no need to have HOV lanes, since slower traffic is supposed to be on the right lane anyway.
About that A8 North or South? The sign will always display the city in which that autobahn ends, so as a german you don't remember "I need to go A8 north", but instead just know "I need to go A8 to Stuttgart", which basically does the same thing...
there's no fine for breaking down on the German highway, but there's a fine for running out of gas on the highway;
Apart from that every single exit is numbered!
@@EnjoyFirefighting just looked it up, you're right, must have confused those two things
You still absolutely don't want to break down on the Autobahn. Only certain state certified businesses are allowed to tow you off the Autobahn and so they're expensive as hell. I got hit by a truck tyre once and the towing alone was like €650, and after that you're still stuck at some workshop in the middle of nowhere and have to get home somehow. Of course, the truck drivers insurance ended up paying for everything in my case, but you don't want to be stuck with those costs.
there are numerous towing services and as long as you have an insurance or/and are a member of an automobile service, technical assistance and towing is free
What most people forget once they break down, no matter if it's on an urban road or on the highway, is to warn other drivers and make themselves and the car visible ...
Also in germany there is TÜV. Cars have to be checked by an mechanic (which is officialy alowed to give TÜV-Stamps) and are given a stamp that they are save and important thinks like brakes work propperly. Driving a car without valid TÜV can be quite pricy and they will have you towed. So since cars are regularly locked at there are less braking down due to unknown defects.
Edit: just a friendly little reminder that in no way should you watch this video as a tutorial for driving on the highways in the US or Germany. I’m not an expert and never claimed to be ;) and that is surely not the intent of my video. this video (and nearly ALL of my videos) are me sharing my perceptions which might be unique to me or maybe have some commonalities with other Americans. Just take it as it is and like I said, do not look to this video for any legal guidance because that would just be silly :)
Hey guys!! I hope ya'll don't mind me posting a day early :) I'm out of town for the weekend and want to make sure I get this video up for you guys while I can! (Don't mind the fact that it is 0337 where I am right now so "when I can" is a bit of a stretch haha) I hope you enjoy it!
Keine problem!:)
Here is a compilation of signs, the circle with the number in it is the number of exit, connection, the square in blue with number in it is the autobahn that u drive on or the exit is leading to, the square with the number in it is the bundesstraße, its more like your highways, just smaller.
Sometimes u can see little signs on top of autobahnsigns or exit signs, thats a detour, if there is a blocked part follow the U and number and it will lead you.
You can also see little blue signs with numbers on it besides the autobahn, these are used to precisely tell where you are, for example when your car broke, that means this is km number ... of the autobahn.
You can use it when you have to call police or ambulance or the ADAC(something like fast car support) tell them the autobahn number, the direction and autobahn kilometer and they know exactly where to go.
We also have police cars looking for fast cars, but they are civil cars, called Provida, they follow fast drivers and record them by camera for some kilometers and the they overtake and pull them over, normally they ask to follow to the next parking, then they check id, papers and offer to watch the video, when you are german they let you go if it was not too much, but you get a letter and you get the ticket, when you are an non german, then you have to pay the ticket right now and its a higher price, because germans get points.
Sei endlich still mit deinem amerikanischen Gelaaber!
Danke fur das ♡!
It _is_ extremely dangerous to pull vehicles over on the side of a highway, and a number of law enforcement officers get smashed every year in the US by idiots who aren't paying enough attention. =(
You forgot the biggest difference: In Germany, you are supposed to drive on the right as far as possible, the left lanes are only for passing slower vehicles. Especially, you are not allowed to pass a vehicle on the right, you always have to be on the left when passing (this is to avoid people changing lanes while they have someone in their blind spot). In the US, it is more like "choose a lane and stay in it if possible", so you can pass (and be passed) on both sites, changing lanes is thus a lot more dangerous because you can't simply assume that everything to the left is faster and everything to the right is slower than you.
well, it's actually not a difference in terms of the law but rather in terms of driving habits. i plan to do a video talking about US driving habits haha but it is our law too that you have to stay to the right unless you're passing. there are signs all up and down our highways that say "Keep Right Except to Pass" but yet...people just completely ignore this. i cut out my little rant from this video haha but along with me saying that i like how germany relies more on speed cameras than police officers, i went on to say that if we did that, our police officers could perhaps focus more time and energy on correcting other poor driving habits like tailgating, passing on the right, sitting in the left lane, improper merging, etc...all of these things are a constant on our highways and cause so much traffic and many accidents.
Even on the speed limitless parts of german Autobahn there is a so called "Richtgeschwindigkeit", which means something like recommended maximum speed. This would be 130 km/h. But like I said, it's just a recommendation, it's your own choice. There are also speed limits for Semi Trucks, everything over 7.5 tons of weight falls under that limit if it's a Truck , which is 80 km/h, at times 60 km/h. Busses and Coaches are allowed to drive 100 km/h. There are a lot more different rules and regulations and limits for all kind of vehicles and road conditions over here in Germany. Another important one is that only vehicles are allowed to drive on the Autobahn that at least have a minimum speed capability of 60 km/h, which is the slowest you are allowed to drive there.
When I got my first Moped (a Simson S50; I just assume you're German by your knowledge) I was REALLY disappointed I couldn't drive on the Autobahn with it.
@@robpiy91 Yep, although the good old Simson is capable of going officially 65 km/h. :D
The interstates are the only through road in some areas, so in rural areas you sometimes have farmers driving tractors slowly in the right lane.
About the rubbernecking-thing: In driving school (in The Netherlands for me) we learn to try and divide our attention in those situations with the idea that other people might not and pull of some kind of weird trick because of getting scared about the situation next to their lane (people slamming on the brakes because first and foremost they think it is a mobile speedcamera while it might just be the police arriving at a car that has broken down in a spot considered unsafe and to avoid a possible accident assess the situation there and maybe call the highway authority to let them cross-off (red matrix-sign above the road) a part of the highway so there is at least one lane relatively free of traffic in order for a towing truck to safely pass and work there, for instance).
Speeding control in Germany is as well done with camera systems included into the blue direction signs, most common in the northern part of Hessen (although some systems take care of the toll control of trucks). Traffic control by the police on the autobahn is to 90% done by the Autobahn-Polizei, which uses cars that from the outside look like Joe Averages BMW/Audi/Mercedes/VW, they don’t wear uniforms, but have a full measurement equipment with regards to speed and distance (to the car in front of a subject) built into the car. If they pick someone, they don’t stop them on the Autobahn but e.g. at the next exit or gas station, to both prevent rubbernecking and for their own safety as well.
We have a few speed cameras in Sweden too, but since it's only legal to fine the actual driver of the vehicle and not the owner, if someone else than the owner is driving no ticket can be issued. (They compare the photo against the driver's license of the owner)
its the same in germany but cameras are getting quite good but yes one way to get out of a speeding ticket is saying someone else drove the car.
Tobias Kirsch
They are not stupid. In that case they will force you to have a driver’s logbook.
mrcvry If you do it at least twice. First time you will likely get away. And I find it funny, how many germans are here debating with each other using english...
One note on traffic signs, though: There is a pattern in the shapes and the general meaning of road signs that can be applied.
Circle - States a rule (white symbol on blue background: Requirement - Red border, white background and black symbol: Interdiction or limit). Gray on a white background with diagonal bars cancels an interdiction or limit, blue with white symbol and a diagonal red bar cancels a requirement. Rules can be made more specific by arranging additional signs below it.
Equilateral triangle pointing upward - Hazard (exception: Triangle with an arrow pointing upward that has a horizontal bar through it, because that's an individual right of way). These can be combined with a rule, that is, as soon as the hazard is gone, the rule is automatically cancelled.
Equilateral triangle pointing downward - Yield
The stop sign is similar to the one in the U. S.
Rectangular or five-pointed, pointing either left or right - Advisory signs
Square with white border and yellow center and edges set diagonally - Road has right of way (must be repeated at every junction until it is cancelled). Exception: The plate that denotes a city limit. This is not advisory, but instead enforces a reduced speed limit of 50 km/h.
One note on the basic rule concerning right of way in Germany, though: If you arrive at a junction that shows absolutely NO SIGN that indicates how the right of way would be, right goes before left, that is, if you have someone coming from your right, you have to give way to that driver. You may only go first if you do not interfere in any way with that person (i. e. he is sufficiently far away).
An other way to enforce speed limits is to scan all licences plates at two points on the same road. The time difference is calculated and so can be established of you have been speeding. That way you need to watch your speed all the time and not only at a checkpoint. But at the same time you can safely , briefly, go to fast and not get fined. In Belgium, actually Flanders, there are a lot of those setups.
Walter Vermeir At the moment these kind of speed traps are not allowed in Germany because of privacy/data security reasons since the licence plates need not only to be filmed but all the information gathered needs to be processed by a computer system. The argument is about what the operater is able to do with the data gathered (individual movement profiles etc.).
In Austria we also have numerous of them. They are called section control in our country, only mounted on dangerous sections.
80kph = 50mph
100kph = 62mph
130kph = 80 mph
Also, keep in mind, in America it’s *expected* that one go about 5-10 mph over the speed limit (going at or below the speed limit is frowned upon by other drivers).
On the highways though, it’s a free for all. Generally the “speed limit” is the speed of other traffic around you. So if it’s a 55mph zone, but everyone is going 75, you go 75 or move to the slow, right lane.
In rural Illinois, the speed limit is 70 mph (if I can remember correctly) but people usually go 80-90 (if not higher)
3:52 Every exit is numbered… just look at the 300m sign.
yes, but what i'm trying to get at is that it isn't clearly numbered or consistent like it is in the US. Even the sign I have on my thumbnail demonstrates the difference I’m talking about. In Germany, you don’t tell someone to “take exit 4” and you often don’t see the number of the exit at the actual exit and aside from the small little signs at 1000m and 300m, you don’t normally see it before. In the US, you constantly see the exit number announced before it and at the actual exit. This is what I’m talking about in this video. It’s not that I’m wrong, it’s just that I didn’t explain it clearly enough for people who cannot (or will not) full in the context for themselves.
The thing with the toll rows is that in Germany, highway maintenance is done by the federal government and paid for through taxes, while in France, the highways are privately owned by companies who then get their money for the maintenance from those toll rows. (which is also why there are so many, because if a different company owns the next piece of road, the one maintaining the current one wants to get your money before you leave their piece of road)
With regards to the speed limit and the conditional speedlimit. The sign you´ve showed (80 - Bei Nässe) indicates that the max allowed speed is 80km/h if it´s wet. If it´s not wet normal given speed on that road is applied. On an Autobahn it is minimum 60km/h and max 120/130km/h. Only if you see a white round sign with black stripes going diagonal through it and nothing else on that sign, it is allowed to go as fast as you want...but even here are rules applied. Still with minumum of 60km/h and you have to apply a minimum distance to the car in front. If you don´t do that, you will get a huge fine. It is not that simple :). In addition...:). In Germany there is a rule to drive on the right hand side of the road and use the right hand lane whenever possible. Furthermoe it´s not allowed to take over on the right hand side. Passing someone is only allowed on the left hand side. Something the US should introduce to enhance the traffic flow.
Highways are toll roads in Germany but it´s only applied for trucks. However they are thinking about to apply toll for cars.
You know shit. There is no minimum. Your vehicle only has to be able to drive at least 60kmh but that doesnt mean that you have to drive minimum of 60kmh. As long as you are not a danger to anyone you can drive at 10 kmh if yo like.
And there is no maximum either. You can drive as fast as you want unless there are signs for speed limit. 130 kmh is only the "recommended" speed but not the maximum speed.
If you cannot drive at least 60km/h, you have to leave highway next exit.
Well. Your car has to be able to drive at least 60. Technically. But that doesnt mean that you have to drive at least 60 kmh. Its totally fine to drive 40kmh as long as you are not a danger to other cars.
Nope Thomas, 60 is the minumum speed your car has to be able to go. If not possible you have to leave the highway. Thank you xsc1000. In addition, if there is a round "red" sign with 130, this is the maximum speed you are allowed to drive. Guess why the police fines you if you go over.
It has to be able to physically go 60. That means, the car papers must state a "maximum speed" of 60+. That doesn't mean you need to leave the autobahn in case of a traffic jam. Either your car can drive 60+, then there is no need to leave the autobahn, or it can't, then you aren't even allowed to enter. There is no situation - except from maybe "your car breaks" - that would make you leave the highway because of a too low speed.
In Germany we have Toll Roads, too. But ist only for Trucks, all Autobahns and some Federalroads have an Automatic Toll System, it's via GPS and have some Checkpoints (thay are look like Signbriges on the Autobahn without any Sign and like Blue/Green Speedtraps on Federalroads) for Trucks.
there are also some toll roads where ALL kinds of vehicles have to pay toll...
If I'm not mistaken Virginia's motto is actually "Sic semper tyrannis" while "Virginia is for Lovers" is the slogan of their tourist board since the 70s.
In Miami, we have express lanes that you pay to use, and the fee is based on how crowded the road is. At peak hours, it's the most expensive. At other times, it's a token fee. There are also lanes in US cities that change direction depending on the commuting congestion.
John Labus on the Kennedy (99/94) in Chicago there’s the express lanes that switch directions throughout the day. I think IDOT (Illinois department of transportation) is looking to make them I-pass only (electronic toll)
The lack of directions (like North or South) is a real weakness of the Autobahn, and it's everywhere in Europe. The secondary roads (the B roads) in Germany have green sign, as do other European primary roads, like the Italian Autostrade.
An important difference is the general ban on billboards on the Autobahn, because they are considered a dangerous distraction. The autobahn is usually flanked by berms or other sound and visual barriers, and they don't mow, except near the road itself, so it often feels like you are driving through a forest. This cuts noise, wind and dust, but it also helps focus the driver on the road. The idea of a "scenic parkway" is not at all supported in Germany.
yessss! the lack of directions really did drive me crazy and I'm really surprised that it isn't incorporated into the signs. The billboards are another noticeable difference but I hadn't really thought too much about why. Your provided reason makes perfect sense. Thank you for sharing!
The B road signs aren't green, those are yellow.
Sorry to correct you, Bernard Finucane... B-Roads or Bundesstraßen have yellow signs.
And because very few Autobahnen are leading along the compass, there is no sense in telling north or south than rather list the cities your driving to.
@kellydoesherthing: The exits are all numbered once at the 300m-sign in front of the exit.
The Numbers day whether you Drive to the north/South or to the West/East. Even number = West/East
Uneven number = north/south
Haha of course you're right about the colors.
But the direction thing is just pedantry. Nobody expects them to run exactly north south, that's just stupid. Roughly speaking the odd numbered road run north south, and the even numbered ones run east west.
In Portugal (and a lot of the EU):
Blue signs are for Highways/Motorways
White signs are for secondary ("normal") roads
Green signs are for Expressways/Primary Roads
I‘m familiar with the American highway system. I play GTA.
As mentioned before, the exits are all numbered. The number is (as far as I know) always written on the 300 meter to exit sign. This point I also hate, because
Google Maps uses mostly the numbering system and if you don't pay enough attention, espacially on the Autobahnen in and near the big cities, then you miss the exit very easy.
exactly my frustration :)
Austria has tollroads.
yes, it's obligatory toll sticker.
Vignette
Here is Wisconsin we don't have any toll roads. We just have Interstates and highways. On the Interstate here you can easily get away with doing 75Mph. (120 Kph) And yeah the Interstate system here is vastly larger than the Autobahn network. When you get on the Autobahn, your typically not on it for very long.
I've no experience of Germany, the UK motorways don't always run north south or east west. To navigate a route you mostly aim for a city.
In the U.K. each road has an ID whereas in the US you follow a route so sometimes a road may have multiple routes.
In U.K. Motorways all exits are numbered. Also all exits (except one on the M25) are from the near side lane.
Sry, but I have to dislike a video that is filmed while drifting.
nervige Anmeldung What is the difference between talking to a camera and talking to another passenger whilst driving?
@@joshbostock4371 I just thought you had used rather rude wording to describe their comment, but then I realized it's their username. Lol.
"nervige Anmeldung" means something like "annoying announcement" (depending on context).
Johanna Geisel Haha!
Josh Bostock
You should also look at the road all the time while talking with somebody tf
In San Francisco / Bay Area are 3-person HOV lanes, too. But in Germany the concept of HOV lanes would clash with our imperative to drive the most right hand lane possible and only change to the next lane when overtaking a slower car.
One of the most striking differences for me were, however, all the words and texts on U.S. signs. In Germany are a lot of defaults (default speed limits, default right of way) and most other signs have symbols, e.g., when overtaking or u-turns are forbidden. In the US you constantly have to read all signs on the road and then decide which are important directions or just hints or even commercials.
All automatics are 'disabled' cars
Exits and junctions are numbered in Germany (by this time they should all be), because the relevant rules have ben passed at the end of the Eighties or the beginning of the Nineties.
You have those numbers on the preannouncement signs (which normally are placed 1000 m ahead for regular exits and 2000 m ahead for junctions) and repeated on the 300 m post. They aren't repeated, though, when you reach the actual exit.
In Belgium, Highway signes are green, however, signs like (direction signes) in non-highway streets are blue.
Signs are pretty much standardized across all countries that signed 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic and Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals from the same year.
In Germany there is Something like adopt a highway too. They call it taxes and with the sum i paid already at least 3,5km of the A24 are mine.
Some EU countries (Ital,y Slovenia, Croatia, off the top of my head) also have green highway signs. Blue is reserved for secondary roads, and white or yellow for local roads. The rest of the signage also looks more like that in the US (except for direction in the sense of cardinal points). We in Croatia also have welcome signs when you cross a county border.
regarding Autobahn junctions, I doubt that in the US the same highway in the other direction has a different number, or does it?
I mean when cou cross another highway you could go on it in either direction, and which you need is marked by the cities showing which direction
So i got my license 2 years ago, and we have this thing called Probezeit, where if you violate the traffic laws severely, you can lose your license or have to go to a 300 euro course on safety, which will prolong your trial time by another 2 years. Theres A violations, which will mean you have to go to the course immediately, and B violations, basically a strike, where only after the second time you have to visit that course. So i got into this speed trap with only 1 month of trial time left, going 90 in a 70 zone (it wasnt the autobahn, but something similar), and i managed to hit the exact border between B and A violations. 1 kph more amd id have had to pay almost 400 euros, but now, i paid 30.
Tall roads over here are basically truck only, and only that is only a fairly recent development (since 2006). There are some discussions about adding a toll for other cars, but that hasn't been realized so far.
Another speed limit I often see is 120 kmh (~75 mph), more than 80 or 130. But since the country roads are 70 kmh (~45 mph) already that wouldn' be really necessary. Also some parts got electronic speed signs that can change depending on the circumstances (weather, traffic, etc)
Cities go with 50 kmh (~30 mph) and some smaller roads with 30 kmh (~18 mph)
Dang, girl. I don´t know how you do it. 😃 You are so much more eloquent, focussed, and structured when explaining the differences between Germany and U.S. than I am. 😎 I need way more practise! Love the video! Great job at explaining. Thank you so much for sharing. 👍
Thanks Sabine!! It's difficult for sure haha and I always forget something or could've explained/elaborated on something better. I appreciate the comment :) thank you so much
Well in germany we newly have a toll-system, but for now its just for trucks. You have to buy a little device and place it in your car. When driving on the autobahn, there are "boxes" on the sign-bridges that comunicate with your box and know where you are driving. So they know how far you was driving and they let you pay for the driven distance.
If you look at it on a national level we really don't have that many tolled-highways. For the most part the ones that do exist are east of the Mississippi and pre-date the Interstate System and were grandfathered into the system. Go west of the Mississippi and apart from a smattering of short distance bypasses around a few cities you'll be hard-pressed to find a toll road. Even then, tolled roads are usually state or local government projects. Federal funding from the gas tax for the Interstates pretty much eliminated the need to construct a large scale system of tolled highways (like in France).
When driving on US highway I80 (as a passenger) I was surprised that there was no indication of the timezone change. It would be nice to put up a big clock that shows the time in the timezone you're entering, to avoid confusion.
For speed cameras, Austria has section control. In Germany that is only tested in a few areas.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPECS_(speed_camera)
Numbers are only easy if you know the exit beforehand... You could just figure out where you are going instead. Also, most places there is no use for adopt-a-highway since it's actually kept clean.
About the disabled cars on the side of the road: We have something called "TÜV" here in Germany, where every car owner has to have their vehicle checked every 3 years. They are very strict and if there's anything broken that might even remotely endanger the security, that car is taken out of service (by not getting its license renewed). I'm not sure they have such a system in the US, but that might be a reason why you see less broken cars here in Germany than in the US.
Used to have mandatory inspections but there was a lot of corruption. Pay off a mechanic instead of having a problem fixed or problems found that didn't exist.
Jede Anschlussstelle hat eine Nummer. Verkehrszeichen 448 (Ankündigungstafel) zeigt die Nummer der Ausfahrt mit einem Kreis herum. Anschließend wird die Nummer durch das Verkehrszeichen 406 (Knotenpunkte der Autobahnen) nochmal 300m vor der Ausfahrt wiederholt, direkt über Verkehrszeichen 450
(Ankündigungsbake dreistreifig).
Have you noticed the Rettungsgasse when there is a jam on the Autobahn? The vehicles on the left side must move left and all the other vehicles must move right as far as they can in order to give enough space to emergency vehicles to go through the jam and reach the accident. How do the emergencies behave in a jam in the US?
The emergency vehicle drives on the shoulder or grass median
In europe it depends on the country if and how you have to pay for the autobahn.
Austria: There is a pass (Vignette) which can be bought for different time spans, and toll is reserved for mountain roads and such where extra personell must be hired to clean.
Germany: the autobahn is maintained by the governmant and you pay for it by paying taxes
Fance: their autobahn belongs to differnet companies and you pay a toll for certain strips you use (most of it actually)
About 1:40 Re: exits - In Germany (and in UK and likely all Western Europe) the exits are standard with a 300 yard (meter) deceleration lane, same for on-ramps, marked with 3 successive markers denoting 300, 200 and 100 yd.s to the beginning of the deceleration lane This is much safer than the extremely dangerous exits to be found on US freeways, particularly the older freeways, whee one might have only 50 yards to decelerate on an exit from freeway speed to 25 mpg before an extremely sharp turn. This requires traffic in the slow lane in US do decelerate on the freeway, contributing to traffic jams and accidents as crazy drivers pass a line of slow cars and force their way into the right lane at the last minute.
Autobahn = Freeway (at least in CA) = Motorway (UK) with very specific rules, e,g, no pedestrians, animals, bicycles, etc., and no cross traffic.
Not mentioned: the excellent condition of the surface of autobahns in Germany compared to the horrific conditions to be found on US freeways. This is what permits safe high speed driving in Germany, and also reduces damage to vehicles from potholes, irregular surfaces and the like.
Re: directions: I learned at an early age to look over my route beforehand and make a route card in large print with road number changes on the route, with the names of prominent cities in the direction I wished to go. I do like the UK additional geographic directions on junction signs e.g going Midlands to Cornwall passing Bristol "THE WEST"
I would much rather drive the autobahns than US freeways. (I live in US)
As a former trucker, I can tell you a few things about American highways you might not have known:
1) Which side of the highway the green exit sign is on tells you which side the exit itself is on. Most are on the right but some are on the left - especially in big cities.
2) The exit number on the green sign tells you how many miles you are from the state line. Mile markers do the same thing. For example, if you pass Exit # 150, that means you are 150 miles from the state line (or from wherever that highway originated).
3) Exits are almost always one mile apart from each other. If they are further apart, the exit # will correspond. For example, if you pass Exit #23 and the next exit is 5 miles away, the next Exit number will be #28.
4) There are 800 exits (which means 800 miles) east-to-west in Texas and north-to-south in California. So CA is as long as TX is wide.
5) When you see street numbers on green signs on interstates, this tells you how many blocks you are away from the downtown area of the nearest city. The designation (E, W, N, S, NE, NW, SW, SE) tells you what geographic area surrounding that city the street is. For example, "112th St SW" tells you that the address is 112 blocks SW of the nearest city.
6) "Turn it into money" - in order to find a specific address, You take the house or business address and turn it into money. For example, with "5370 112th St. SW", you turn the 5370 into 53.70, which means the address is a little past the cross (on a grid) of the 53rd block of 112th Street in the SW section of the city.
7) There are several different kinds of highways in the US:
a) Interstates - as the name suggests, these highways run between states, have multiple lanes, and are marked in blue on maps and are identified by a shield with a number. Odd numbers run north-south, even numbers run east-west.
b) US highways - 2-lane highways that also run between states. Marked in white on maps and identified by a white shield with a number. For example, US-2 or US-95. Again, E/W are even, N/S are odd.
c) state highways - These run only within the states. Every state has a different symbol containing a number to mark state highways, usually according to something the state is known for. WA has a silhouette of George Washington; Utah has a beehive; Pennsylvania has a keystone. Some symbols are just the shape of the state.
d) county roads - smaller roads marked on the map by a rectangle with a number.
e) tribal roads - small roads marked by an arrowhead with a number, only found on reservations.
f) Spurs and Loops - A spur is a short highway that changes into a smaller road at some point, and is marked on the map by an oval containing a 3-digit number where the first digit is odd. A loop circles a city and is marked by an oval containing a 3-digit number where the first number is even. In both cases, the last two digits are the number of the parent highway. This also explains why there is more than one "I-405" on the west coast. It is a loop that begins and ends at I-5.
8 ) The little white squares you see along an interstate on a map represent exits.
9) When an Interstate passes into a new state, the exit #'s start again from 1.
10) Highway numbers for interstates and US highways range from low-to-high from the west to the east and from the south to the north.
11) highways marked purple on the map are toll highways, so you need to pay to drive on them.
7)b wrong. US highways can be any number of lanes. US 50 in Ohio between downtown Cincinnati and Indiana is 4 lane undivided (except for Cleves, where it is divided). From the state line to the I-275 interchange it is 4 lane divided. From there to the light for Hollywood Casino it is 3 lanes eastbound, 3 lanes westbound, plus a turn lane. Then to Aurora it is 5 lane (2E, 2W, T) where it becomes 4 lane divided until IN-101, where it narrows to 2 lanes. Trivia : I-275 is the only circle expressway that runs through 3 states (IN, KY, and OH).
Regarding the tickets: the bills may be less than in the US. But, there is another regulation instrument in Germany: one can loose his/her driver licence for long time. There is a system of receiving/accumulating points within a central register when being trapped by violating ANY regulation. If one exceeds a limit of those points, he/she will loose the driver licence for usually 1 - 3 months or up to one year. Cases are known where a person is no longer allowed to drive for the rest of life.
We have this too :)
I talk a bit about it in this video ruclips.net/video/n5FiwE5wY4U/видео.html
Wow, that was quick response. I love that. Will see the link...
There are a few toll roads in Germany one example the Autobahn A19 tunnel beneath the warno river near rostock. But you are right most roads are "free" of charge as you have to pay form them as car owner/user with you yearly car tax and with mineral oil taxes when you refuel your vehicle.
What I'm used to from Europe is that all signs guiding drivers are usually pictograms, including ones showing rest stops, gas stations, etc. The only text is for town/place names. Which prompted my joke the last time I was driving up I-5: "California sure has a lot of places named Gas Food". ;-)
2:39 Highway signs are not standardized in Europe... there are also many European countries with green signs, for example Italy, Switzerland, Czechia, Russia and all the Balkan states.
Re signs that list destinations available on highways/motorways. In the U.K. The most distant is 1st followed by the other destinations with the nearest last. In Canada is was the opposite way round.
How does that compare to the US or Germany?
Hey Kelly, maybe I haven't recognized that you mentioned it, but aside of the German Autobahn you can find a lot more signs. There are brown signs with hints for sightseeing tourists. And you can find some advertising for careful driving with changing themes and slogans like: Don't drive to fast or to close. Drive concentrated. Don't play with the smartphone. Do it for your husband/wife/children and so on.
And at almost every bridge since a year you can see instruction to build the rescue lane in case of a traffic jam.
And the guys at rest places without measuring speeds are sometimes Police but often from BAG -Bundesamt für Güterverkehr - or from the customs department. In most cases they are controlling trucks regarding their cargo and the safety of the trucks too. Often they find illegally imported cigarettes from Poland or trucks with old tires, to heavy or not enough fixed cargo. And of course they also find drugs.
And close to Switzerland they are looking for suspicious cars maybe transporting cash illegally.
13:20 It is illegal to stand still on the german highway. You can read the law at §12 StVO: "Jedes Halten ist auf Autobahnen und Kraftfahrtstraßen (auch Seitenstreifen) verboten." Even if the police is going to pull you out, they will pass you and light a sign "Please follow" and they will lead you to the next exit or a service area (gas stations, restaurants... ). So the only cars you will see parking on the highway are broken cars.
10:36 Please note that some of these pillars are marked in blue and are for truck tolls, nothing to do with speed.
Since two weeks I know that there exist at least one toll road in Germany. It was around Berchtesgaden and the purpose is touristic, but you had to pay to get up a mountain with your vehicle. Therefore there are many spots with beautiful views to the valley and surrounding mountains.
ALL German Autobahn exits are numbered. It's the number in the circle (check at time code 2:43).
Autobahn destinations are withe on blue. OFF-Autobahn destination within the city limits of your exit are black on white, outside city limits are black on yellow. Landmarks, tourist attractions etc. are white on brown.
The amount of traffic tickets in Germany depends on the speed whether 10 or 30 above the upper limit.
It is even possible that one gets his driver's license denied, this varies from a few months to permanent.
Hey, what do you think about the german way of keeping in the right lane on the Autobahn unless you want to overtake another car?
So I plan to do a video talking about driving habits. So many Germans are commenting to insinuate that this is a law that exists in Germany and not the US but this isn’t true. It is very much a law in the US, it’s just that people don’t follow it. So more to come!
@@Kellydoesherthing i'm from Germany and the People have very much critic
Exits to e.g. refuel stops aren't numbered by default, since you enter the Highway afterwards again.
Only exits, that really are exits from the Highway in general have numbers on germany, although the big, arrow shaped "Ausfahrt"-Exit Sign don't have numbers, since they're standardized and always just tell "Ausfahrt".
The Exit-Signs themselves are not standardized along through Europe, so German Numbers end at the border and the when you enter the neighboring nation, their number system starts.
Basically, the german signing system isn't bad, the only thing, it could improve on in my opinion, is, that they post the compass directions, North (Norden), South (Süden), East (Osten) and West (Westen) onto the signs like they do in the US.
As someone else pointed and (and interestingly that is similar to the US System), odd numbered Highways go North South and even numbered ones West East, but it is not that rememberable like if you print e.g. "Norden" as general compass orientation on signs.