I would appreciate a very slowpaced coaching session "Cyberghost for puppies tutorial" from scratch-level made by you personally for an international audience with no pre-understanding - then I'll use that link! 😀 Promise.
As an Austrian, I would go even a step further, the rear mirror becomes almost an extension of your eyes. I only discovered how much I use the rear mirror unconsciously, while moving apartments a few years ago. The furniture in the back of my car blocked my rearview, and I felt half blind, as if I had suddenly lost half my field of view.
As a German who has lived in the US my experience is somewhat different from yours when it comes to the stress factor. Driving in the US was extremely stressful for me…idiots in huge trucks, that’s about as stressful as it can be! No one follows any rules, you’re constantly slowed down by drivers who are just „chillin‘“ and don’t even get me started on the state of the highway restrooms… I happily pay to pee if it means I can do it in a clean restroom over a sh!thole with a big gap on the side of the door!
@Annie_in_wonderland_123. The non existing TUEV adds up to even more stress in the US. Which is the next vehicle part hitting my car, a bumper ,a loose windshield wiper or an exhaust pipe only? 😂🙄
@tnit7554 That's right. Especially driving at night and regularily over long distances you can basically only dare with a big car like a pick-up and role over it, since you never know what big piece of metal junk you encounter next time on the road.
There are rumours about people starving on the inner circle because they chickened out. The only way is to simply drive in the direction u want and don't care, that usually works 😁
actually, this particular traffic circle is technically not a "roundabout". In a roundabout, you have priority when already in it, wheras on the Place de l'Étoile, priority is from the right, i.e. cars already in the circle must yield to cars entering it. That said, this traffic circle seems to work. Low speed = low accident rate, and when accidents do occur, they seldom involve serious injuries.
German guy here, who drove trough the entire US as well. Driving on US highways (I did Interstate 40 most of the time) and at some points, I was scared to hell. Random items lying on the street, from oil cans to blown tires. Massive trucks and massive urban traffic, especially in the LA area. Some people really drove without caution. Even if driving here in Germany requires more skill and attention, I just felt safer in the end.
@@Andre-mz3eg weird argument. Without witnesses or dashcams there is many situations where you can't prove who did something wrong. For example at intersections.
@@MaximilianSittich compared to the German road signs, the American ones are extremly poor. I found not knowing (without navigation system) wich side to exit on a four-lane highway in time to be extremely frightening! If you consider how long in advance you are told in Germany wich direction the motorway is going in, it’s a blessing! We really missed that in California too. Apart from that, it was a very nice trip.
Maybe on a Sunday, but on every other day you constantly have to overtake the semis which for me is much more stressful than going 200+ km/h in the left lane.
@@SamGamgee8012 This is you stressing yourself out for "being stuck" behind those semis, tho. The feeling of " I have to overtake this truck right away" instead of waiting for a bit (and yes, sometimes that's a minute or two in high traffic areas or times). This is the same mentality as those "Hey, I can make that gap" people pulling out right in front of you and then not even feeling the need to properly accelerate instead of waiting until you're past them (oftentimes as the last car in the line). If everyone just chilled a bit more while on the roads, it would only be half as bad. I personally don't find it stressful at all. And don't get me wrong. I'm not saying I'm not one of these people, at times, as well.
@@manuelwie I always promise myself "today I am going to set my cruise control to 140 km/h and just chill" and it never works. You can't go 130 or 140 on the Autobahn. You're either going to be stuck behind trucks forever at 86 km/h or you're going on the left lane and suddenly you're at 210 - whoops how did that happen?
Population density of Germany? To put it more in perspective, The country Germany is slightly smaller than the state of Montana. Montana has about 1M people and Germany has a population of about 84M. Think about cramming 84M people into Montana!!
What a great video about driving on the Autobahn. In the last few weeks I drove more regularly on the Autobahn and it's exhausting, even only for a couple tens of kilometers. You talked about the high requirements of getting a license to actually be prepared to drive. But you forgot that we also have strict regulations and require regular checks about the state of the cars to ensure the cars don't fall apart at those speeds. Which probably also helps to keep the deaths lower.
American who loves driving on the Autobahn :) I feel safer as other drivers tend to be more predictable. You didn't mention, but good to note variable speed limit signs that can apply to specific lanes. Recently caught in morning Frankfurt traffic with posted speed limit of 60kph (37mph) in all three lanes.
German here....... I fully agree, and "more predictable" is the key word for understanding why some Germans feel extremely stressed out and uncomfortable when driving in the US. "predictable" is our comfort zone, and "even not obiding the few existant rules" drives us nuts! :)
I don't even want to know how bad American drivers are - because a lot of people in Germany aren't good drivers. It's not like everybody around here is a super-aware professional driver. There's a lot of stupid idiots around here who don't use their mirrors or their blinkers.
Not long ago my partner and his brother got their hands on the new Porsche for a weekend. The highway wasn't exactly empty. But if you can go from 80 to 230 in three seconds... you don't care about that. The most shocking thing? It really doesn't take long until 230 feels like a perfectly normal cruise speed. So normal, that breaching 300 isn't even a big deal anymore. (yes, kmh.) I did not enjoy and am glad tht car was just there for a weekend. 😬 --- Cruise speed of 180 though - that's chill.
Yeah some cars are built so good that driving 200 kph (120 mph) with them feels like 100 (60 mph) in your average daily driver. In these cars driving 100 feels like youre crawling. 911 is certainly one of those.
@@invalid8774 was actually the fully decked out Hybrid Panamera Turbo S; The 300-something stretch aside it was actually really comfortable even in the backseat 😂
@@Anakianaj The Panamera Turbo S is quite a fast car, but it takes 8.1 seconds from 100 - 200 Kmh. 80 - 230 in 3 seconds is even hard for a hypercar wit over 1500 HP to get at.
@@JJJT- I don't want to sound mean but you do realise figurative speech is a thing, right? 😅 And just to be on the safe side: The whole comment is a bit tongue in cheek. Of course you take the utmost care if you don't have the highway to yourself and don't just go to 200+ whenever you have enough room to accelerate (regardless of that taking 3 or 13 seconds). And yes, 300 was still a big deal - just not as big a deal as I would have expected (as someone who's not been in a car that went past the 220 prior to that ride). And while 180 is a good cruise speed ... and by comparison chill - it's generally still too fast to be actually chill.
I have a pretty fast car (Mustang Shelby GT500) and anything over 130 or so (way less than what it can do) and I start thinking about the dangers of getting wrapped around a tree. No way would I want to drive 200 mph.
We have a joke here in Germany, if you failed your driving test three times, you'll get a yellow number plate......sorry......🤷😂....btw, I love driving in the Netherlands, their Autobahn System is way better maintained as the one in Germany and with it's Speed Limit it's way more relaxing to drive.
@@miriamreiss i know…. ;-) I use it in my advantage… scaring German drivers out of my lane! 😈 (What good is it to have a yellow plate if you cannot scare a couple of Germans with it! lol) Honestly Dutch roads are boring… just 100km/h. Pfff ;-)
@@miriamreiss What I like about dutch highways is the space and the wider turning circle to go on/off the highway. These are way more condensed in Germany and you have to brake and accelerate harder what makes it more dangerous. In Germany road constructions take months and years while in the netherlands lots of road constructions are done over night or within a few days. But relaxing? The problem are the dutch drivers. They have lost the sense for safety distance. If there's a gap of 10m, someone will cut in. Of course there are some idiots in Germany doing the same, but in the netherlands it's a normal thing.
German driver here who has moved to Sweden. Sweden is quite similar to the US concerning highway driving. I got accustomed to the Swedish relaxed driving style very fast, enjoying the slow, steady pace. Compared to that driving in Germany is stressful and hectic, to say the least. On the other hand one can not ignore that in Germany there exists a high collective ability to steer very precisely and disciplined, almost like in a swarm of birds or in a pack of jet planes. The overall driving ability in Sweden is considerably lower which can sometimes lead to unnecessarily risky situations.
I have the same experience whenever I drive through Switzerland (as a German). It is so relaxing and you can actually use your cruise control for hours. In Germany it's always like you're on a race track. It has it's moments but it can also be really annoying when you just want to get somewhere.
I have it exactly opposite. Driving in US is stressful nonsense and driving in Germany just makes sense. Your highway limit is limit for rural roads in Germany. Common 😂 I drive very comfortably in Germany and don't need to break any law. Everything makes sense. In US? 6 lanes and limit 30mph and you absolutely don't understand why and most people drive 40-45mph. Interstate? Limit 70mph, people drive between 50 and 85 mph. You drive 75, in front of you is someone chilling 50mph and on the right side is huge semi truck overtaking you. And drivers in US so much don't focus. They eat, drink, play with cell phone, almost sleep whatever... And cars are also in quite bad shape...
Sorry, but NO, expectations for drivers are not very intense and there is no bar raising, the bar is the same for evereyone. The state expects you to follow the rules/laws/regulations - that is it. And to be able to to that, you have to learn it. Where? - In a driving school and not from your parents (of course additional training is fine). A driver's licence is a privilage you have to earn, because you will be wielding a ~1,4 ton deadly weapon... It took me a while to understand why i see what i see in american dashcam clips. Multiple generations being "tought" by their parents...(depending on the state) Maybe you are lucky like NALF and have parent(s), who can properly drive. What if not? This is highly disturbing 😞
Um Sascha Fahrnünftig zu zitieren: "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!" oder auch "MEINE FRESSE! WAS IST DENN LOS?! MAAAAAAAAAAAN!" und natürlich mein Liebling: "SAG MA, HAM SIE DIR INS GEHIRN GESCHISSEN?! 😁
@@RobertKorte1 The problem is: there's not really a "rest of traffic" in Germany. I have tried again and again to just chill out at 130 or 140 km/h on a German Autobahn and it never works. At some point I'm going 210 km/h again because it's either that, or being stuck behind trucks at 86 km/h on the right lane.
What's most stressful on the highway are the people who drive slowly in the wrong lane, changing lanes without signaling or looking in the mirror. Above all, many people should practice the zipper process again. It's stuck there. If the zipper on her pants worked like this, the pants would be open all the time.
Das mit den "ewigen Baustellen" stimmt leider. Aber ansonsten kann die Autobahn total entspannt genutzt werden. Bei Regen suche ich mir einen LKW und hänge mich dahinter. Sind dann zwar nur 90km/h ... aber dafür komplett entspannt. Ansonsten fahre ich selten schneller als 140 km/h. Höchstens mal zum "mit-schwimmen". Normal eher zwischen 120 und 130 km/h. Bei drei Spuren dann selten ganz links. Aber wir haben hier eine Richtgeschwindigkeit von 120 km/h. Wenn irgendein Spacko deutlich schneller fährt ... und es zum Unfall kommt ... dann muss der auf seine Kosten nachweisen, dass der Unfall auch passiert wäre, wenn er nur mit 120 km/h unterwegs gewesen wäre. Sonst hängt er mit >=50% drin. Und das kann er wohl selten nachweisen.... Natürlich nützt mir das nix, wenn ich tot bin. Aber es passiert halt auch nicht, weil die Leute das wissen. Bei drei Spuren pro Richtung kann man locker mit 120 bis 140 km/h auf der Mittelspur bleiben, sofern rechts keine Lücke von mindestens 500m entsteht. Da blinkt höchstens mal einer von tausend hektisch mit dem Fernlicht rum ... aber lass ihn ... das ist ein Schwachkopf mit Mini-Schniedel, der tief sitzende Komplexe hat. Solche Menschen sind bemitleidenswert, weil ihre fragwürdigen "Gaspedal ganz runterdrück"-Kenntnisse meistens die einzigen sind, die sie haben. Lass sie. Und lass dich nicht auf "Road-Rage" mit derartigem Bio-Ausschuss ein. Jaaaa.... das war jetzt sehr böse von mir. Und es kommt ja auch nur alle zehn Jahre mal vor, dass ich an so einen gerate. Ich fahre seit über 30 Jahren und ich hatte noch absolut keinen Unfall auf der Autobahn. Eigentlich sowieso nur einen. Und da war ich eigentlich zu 100%, offiziell nur zu 95%, NICHT Schuld. ...ein russischer Militär-LKW hat mir in der Ostzone die Vorfahrt genommen. Ich kannte halt die Regel nicht, dass die grundsätzlich Vorfahrt haben.....selbst wenn ich auf einer "Bundesstraße" bin ... und die von einem Waldweg einbiegen.... lange her....
Richtgeschwindigkeit ist 130km/h du Schleicher. 😉 Nein. Schon richtig. 120-140 km/h ist eine vernünftige Reisegeschwindigkeit. Das mit dem LKW mache ich besonders gerne mit dem Wohnmobil. Man darf zwar schneller aber Spaß macht das nicht. Mit meinem 1er BMW fahre ich auch nur selten mal schneller als 140. Es bringt halt nix. Nur mehr Risiko und höhere Kosten. Was aber trotzdem auch dann nervt sind Leute, die immer in der Mitte fahren obwohl rechts frei ist. Es ist ja auch nicht umsonst verboten. Wir halt nicht so oft geahndet, dass es wen stört.
i will never forget coming home from Austria about 10 years ago. Totally chilled cruising, but the second we crossed the german border the Wild Hunt broke loose.
As an American who just went to Bavaria and Salzburg, the second I crossed the border into Austria, road design (especially signage) and driving styles improved dramatically
As an Australian who spent a couple years in the US and lives in Germany, it is the best place to drive in the world. The only tiring part is traffic when speeds slow to below 130kmh. 250+kmh averages are the calmest driving for me. Just be prepared to pay for it as fuel is used fast 😂😂
You're not going to get 250+km/h averages anywhere in Germany. I mean if your taking an average of the 5 minutes where you actually drive 250+ km/h. But for a trip of one or more hours, your average is probably going to be around 120 km/h at most. Unless maybe you're driving between bumfuck nowhere and backwater town on the 24th of December at 7 p.m.
@@highks496 true, i live in the south and can't speak for the heavily populated areas. Some times its 5kmh average's but people here know an accident has happened and everyone pulls over to give space to allow emergency vehicles though! The OPs post is an outright false premise though. Germany is the best place in the world for driving. Its not stressful driving fast in my expirence. Its more a sign of his lack of expirence then anything. I was probably one of those BMW drivers who flew up behind him 😂😂😂
Where is the big lie here ??? My most stressful experience ever was to drive from LA downtown to Anaheim on this huge eight-lane highway where if lucky I could only drive at 55 mph but most of the time at much lower speed. Yes in Germany there are too many "eternal" Baustellen, yet what a pleasure to push my car up to 250 km/h and my cruise speed at which I feel comfortable with is about 190 km/h. I live in Germany and I always enjoy these free portions of the Autobahn. On the other hand when I drive in France, I am always nervous as there are a lot of radars and mobile controls from the Gendarmerie. Driving on some long, empty autoroute at 130 km/h is boring.
"The big lie" is the US proint of view, because Americans mostly think that this prejudice is true. Germany does not lie, it is the prejudice which is "a lie". And since NALF speaks to his fellow Americans mainly, it is okay to put it like that.
Also, there might be a somebody not used to the BAB ( vulgo American ) who does irrational things and buggers up the flow . I nearly witnessed a lynching the other day, when a car with US Army plates did not do the Rettungsgasse thing . Autobahn only works safely when EVERYONE keeps to the rules 🙂
A couple of weeks ago I took a trip to Oregon that took me from Portland>Hood River>Bend>Corvallis>Newport>Salem>Portland. The driving was wonderful and what I saw was gorgeous! If you go too fast there, you'd miss all scenery! I'd also add that the east coast of the USA can be way more stressful to drive with its denser population. When I was 16, all of my friends and I couldn't wait to get our driver's license. Today it seems like the teens don't care as much about driving.
Indeed, read this recently...only 70% of the germans have a license until the age of 25...and even US has "only" about 85% at this age, which is surprising to me, since you reach almost nothing without a car in US...someone walking by feet is an alien.
I confirm every single one of your sentences about the German autobahn. This - among other things - has meant that I haven't had a car for over 30 years. Germany is a small country and I live in a big city, I can get everywhere without a car and without stress.
The biggest problem is that the right lane is always blocked by trucks at 90 km/h (that's about where their limiter sets in). And of course as soon as there is three lanes, the truck that goes 91 km/h has to overtake all the other trucks going 89 km/h. German Autobahn is a constant switch between "truck lane(s)" and "racing lane(s)". That's what make it most stressfull in my opinion. Without the trucks, everything works out much smoother. I think they should allow trucks to go 120 km/h and everything would be much less stressfull.
and a chilling one as well. although I try to grive long distances at the time of day when I can drive my prefred "Reisegeschwindigkeit" of 220-250 km/h 😉
Driving on the german autobahn is so chill. I only drive irregulary and the worst part is always towns and cities, especially if you have never been there before. Once you are on the autobahn you put your cruisecontrol wherever you want and just drive until you are slowed to 80 and chill some more. And just to add to that. You loterally ahbe to always be compketely focused on the road and traffic and your sourrundings in germany when driving. There is no "laid back driving" where you just cruise and look ahead from time to time. You will fail your driving test the moment your examiner notices that you are not properly looking at everything. A frind of mine failed for not doing a visiual check behind him on the left when turning right on a a crossing in the middle of nowhere. When driving on the autobahn you have to turn your head around as much as possible and turn your body a bit as well otherwise you will fail the exam. When driving in the city it is your duty to be vigilant and notice everything. The theoretical test includes videos showing different scenarios, after each you will be asked wht you need to look out for. One I had showed a motorcicle illigally passing between traffic for less than 1s and if I had missed that i would have instantly failed the test, as those questions, along with questions regarding right of way have a zero mistakes allowed rule. I don't know the current test, but back in 2014 it was 60 questions (20 video, 20 right of way and 20 other) and i could have 3 mistakes in anything but the aforementioned caes. I failed my test because I did not notice that the baby buggy was empty indicating that there is a child hidden behind the parked cars which i need to be aware of with my foot ready to hit the brakes hard. So again. There is no "chilling" in germany when driving. But on the autobahn it is only cars you need to worry about in 99% of cases so it is a lot less stress and actually quite "chill" when compared to the rest.
7:29 these prices for German driving lessons are way outdated. Driving lessons have grown much more expensive. €20 for a 45 minutes driving lessons, that would have been a fair price in the mid 1990s (In fact, I paid DM 44, about €22, per lesson in 1994 and that wasn't a particularly high price back then at all). Nowadays, prices usually range from €50 to €85. And €3,000 is what you usually pay if you pass your driving test on the first attempt.
In June we drove all over Southern Germany - a lot of it on the Autobahn (in a big M5 BMW). Couldn't believe how perfect the road surfaces were. It made driving at 200KPH much, much safer, If they can have such nice roads, with their climate, why can't the USA?
Lmao, I get the points, but in all honesty I'd rather have the lane discipline than what we do here, ESPECIALLY in the DC area. I regularly see people miss their exits, and instead of going a different way to their destination, nope they're REVERSING BACK UP an exit ramp right into oncoming traffic that's usually going 40-50mph. I've seen this way more times than I can count, as well as other abhorrent driving that constantly stresses me out here lol. Also everyone in pickup trucks going 40mph above the speed limit regardless of what road they're on (exaggeration but you get my point lol).
As a german of 60 years i used to drive as fast as I could with my car when I was younger. Today I drive a Ford C-Max with 182hp. It runs well over 200km/h. But I have to tell you that i rarely drive faster than 140km/h on a 2 lane "Autobahn". The faster you go the more dangerous it gets. 200 cuising on the left lane and a "lets say Fiat Panda" on the right lane does not look in the mirror properly and is set to overtake a truck with 100km/h is set to cause a terrible accident. You may be in hospital or at the cemetary. Hi speed in germany exhaust you!
So you have a population density in the US that is considerably lower than in Germany, meaning you have to search for cars to hit… 😅 but you still manage to have so many more accidents. 🤔 To me this sounds like driving in the US is much more scary. 😳 Btw: There is a difference between driving in the north and south of Germany. Roads in the north are flatter and less curvy. And people tend to drive much faster, with less differences in speed between the lanes. As someone from the south myself, I feel it‘s more fun to drive in the north. 😅
Very accurate description. But I prefer our high vigilance driving more than driving e.g. in Austria or Netherlands. Because I can judge the dynamic here, but I cannot always get easily used with the rythm in our neighbour countries.
I find it interesting not only the age difference at which you can learn to drive, but also the fact that in Germany you are allowed to drink 2 years before you can have a drivers license. While in the US you are only allowed to drink 5 years after you can have the license. Perhaps that also helps, new drivers in germany are already somewhat experienced in drinkin, American drivers are not at all. Is there a statistic on drunk driving in the US compared to Germany? Or, "over the legal limit" drunk driving to be precise.
A side note, regarding the topic of "no speed limit". Yes, it is true, there is no real "speed limit" on those sections of the Autobahn. But and this is a huge one: You should always remind yourself that, the faster you drive, the sharper your senses need to be (and of course, that no technical malfunctions are happening or your tires go "pop"). If you drive 180, 200, 250+ or 300+ km/h on the Autobahn and an incident/accident is happening: Well.. 1. I hope you have super human reaction time 2. I hope your breaks are godly 3. I hope you have enough space to break Otherwise, I dont want to switch places with you or other people, that are involved. So, if you want to drive fast, be mindful of the consequences it can lead to.
Cars that can drive that fast have the corresponding breaks, tires, chassis to be able to handle the forces, which makes the handling at 200 the same as at 100. If your car isn't build for it, though, you're in very dangerous territory.
@@maskharat Your statement is partially true. Why only partially? 1. A car needs a driver with a brain. Everyone is different when it comes to reaction speed. 2. A lot of cars can go 200, 250 km/h. They are not top modern cars, that are released today. They are older cars and cars, that are heavily tuned (still street legal in Germany). Even if you drive a brand new one. Driving very fast needs highly sharp senses.
There's also a legal caveat for going fast on the Autobahn. If you're going above the "Richtgeschwindigkeit" (recommended speed) of 130 km/h, you are probably going to be liable for any kind of accident at least to a certain percentage. If you're going above 250 km/h, as far as I know you are always going to be liable 100% for any kind of accident and your insurance might have a reason to pull out and not pay.
Its not just the higher pop density. Germany is the drive through for everyone and their mother with the central location in Europe. Add to that the toll free roads (for some reason). It also makes no sense that a country with miles and miles of large empty roads has a lower speedlimit.
Strange, I myself feel much more tired and not really safe when going 100s of miles straight with 75mph maximum on a 8 line highway without anyone respecting the rules to drive right when possible - in Germany I easily drive from Munich to Berlin without any problems.
I think it might be because driving in the US is just tiring... You don't change your speed a lot, just set your speedometer and let it ride. And try not to fall asleep in the process :D While in Germany, as he said, its much more exhilerating and time seems to pass faster because you are a lot more concentrated. I prefer Germany too, but don't have too much experience outside of Germany I have to add
In Germany there are building regulations that prevents straight roads from being too long, so that the driver does not switch off their heads. Sometimes roads in the USA can go forever straight. It is possible to get tired or microsleep
Actually I think you under quoted the US limited access highways. You gave the length for interstates but of course many of the limited access highways in the US are not interstates. Total mileage is just under 100,000 MI.
THANK YOU! ♥ I have been waiting for a video like this for years and years, because this prejudice of "unlimited freedom on the Autobahn" is wrecking my nerves steadily. And now you are the one who made it. I love you for doing so and I hope it will go viral. This f*ing Autobahn-tourism has to finally come to an end, because it isn't only dangerous for those tourists but for everybody around their imaginary "free-flght-zones".
Even though NALF probably checked the statistics on Autobahn in Germany without speed limits, that doesn't match my experience! I drove 1200 kilometers on German Autobahn last week. I was on the A61, A65, A6, A8, A7, A71, A4, A3. There were long repairs on all of these tracks. There were very long stretches on all of these tracks with speed limits of 120 or 130 km/h. Only a very few sections had no speed limit. I only drove a total distance of 10 kilometers over 200 km/h! (Don't tell me that I was harming the environment by doing so) That is the big lie: The “no speed limit” in Germany only exists on paper and in the minds of dogmatic politicians who are trapped by their own narratives - but not in reality.
The "ADAC" offers driving lessons for extreme situations, called "Fahrsicherheitstraining". Like having your car spin out of control and how to get it back, etc. I *strongly* recommend those. It will give you alot of reassurance. All kinds of people are taking these lessons. I am sure, you will find videos of those, here on YT. --- Personally, I love driving on the Autobahn. And I love driving fast. I loved that as a child, already. Driving with my parents on the Autobahn. Ahhh..^^ I guess, that is a big difference. Germans grow up with high speeds and get more used to those, over the years. However, driving skills are important, too. Not everyone has the same skills in riding a bike. Same goes for cars. Most of it is just training. And knowing your limits.. Btw: Less than 10% of all fatal accidents happen on the Autobahn. More than 90% happen on countryroads and inside city limits..
Yeah I’m a Brit loving here in Germany for decades! Yes, it is great with the no speed limit, and yes, those opportunities to actually use it where driving so fast will get you to your destination so much quicker than pottering along at 130kph, are few and far between. Road works, stubborn drivers with the cruise set at 120kph tailing over a truck when they see you coming like a bullet, but still won’t be hurried… oh yes. They just ain’t gonna be hassled. So to get the best of the unrestricted speed limit, you want to be driving between midnight and 6am. Other than that, enjoy potting your foot down for a burnout now and then, but for long haul, 130-140kph and chill.
Hey man! No line on the Autobahn is for chilling! Stay concentrated for 100% all the time - regardless how fast you drive and drive a quality car. Crashing with 120km/h is an experience you don’t want to have. I know what I’m speaking about! I once had a rollover at that „snail-pace“. The car was scrap, but thank god and to the BMW engineers my boy and I survived with no injuries.
When I drove around in the US (back in 1996) and watched all those really bad drivers (and had to drive some really bad rental cars (Ford and Oldsmobile)), I honestly thought about settling there and opening a 'European Driving School'. Might have been a valid business case :)
The high maintenance standards are only reality in Bavaria. This is based on the fact of 12 years „Verkehrsminister“ out of the CSU, during the reign of Mrs. Merkel. Check it out, if you are driving in direction of Frankfurt, right behind the border after Aschaffenburg, you will find the reality, espacally in NRW, the Bundesland with the highest population and the badass standards of all the Autobahnen.
I'm sorry to have to disagree with you. I'm German and I lived in DC for a while. One day I wanted to go to a special store that was in in northern VA. It was like 4h round-trip away. I've never been that stressed out in my live than on that day. Traffic was insane there. When I came home I was so exhausted that I slept 2h straight. Until today this has never happened again. Not even on the A100 in Berlin which in my opinion is the NBA Finals of driving (to continue your analogy)
I am from Austria and drvie on the german Autobahn regularly. Why would that be stressful? First of all you should check your rear view mirror every few seconds, no matter which road. And you should check it additionally when going to overtake, which means change lanes. Next thing: the people going like a cruise missle only do so when traffic is very low. If it is more denser, they will not go more than 200 kph... That means the closing speed is not so high that you would not see them in time. And with even more traffic, they wont go any faster than everyone else. You only have to realize that lookking 50 yards back is not enough. Make that 2-3 football fields and you should be good. And keep up the regular rear view mirror check after the lane switch. Try watching videos where they are going 300+ kph (200 mph). You will see there is almost no traffic at all... Mostly early sunday morning. And they will lift the throttle if they even think that a car in front might overtake someone. Tu summarize: if you want to prepare yourselves for the german Autobahn, get used to check the mirror every 3-5 seconds. You will recognize any faster car immediately. That will increase your driving skills on all roads. Oh, and keep on the right if you are not passing someone.
I completely agree with you! If there were no traffic or construction, driving in Germany could be quite relaxing. Unfortunately, as you said, it often ends up being stop and go. However, similar to Germany, I remember how stressful driving on the I-95, the major north/south artery on the East Coast, could be, especially knowing that you can get overtaken from the right.
I'm a travelling computer field engineer working for the same company for 37 years and spent most of my days on the road. Did about 4 million so far. My annual roadbook is around 90 - 100.000 kilometers for the job and - believe it or not - I prefer driving on the Autobahn rather than in city traffic or on small and winding country roads. Except there are total jams. Autobahn-driving requires attention and situational awareness. An eye in the mirror and a far out look out on how the traffic developes. I my years since I got a driving license (in 1978) I was involved in *one* accident on the autobahn - where I stopped at the end of a jam ... but the guy behind me didn't. The other incidents happened on parking lots, at a very narrow country road (where a tractor and trailer scratched my car) and one at a red light in the middle of a city (where the guy in the Honda behind me obviously never guessed I would really stop at a red light ...). The rather complicated process to get a driving license and the awareness of the dangers *and* the "pass on the left only" rule contributes to relative road safety on Autobahns.
Great vid, thanks! I've spent time driving in Germany and honestly, I found it much more relaxing, mainly because people drive better there and their roads are simply better. Granted, I live in Southern California where our Freeways are very messy and stressful. Plus, we have many driving that don't even have drivers licenses and insurance. California.. ;D
you don't fall asleep when going 200km/h...because you need to pay attention to everything. vs boring driving in a straight line forever going 60mph, it gets tireing easy...
Hi Nick! With all those YT videos fascinated about having no speed limit on the Autobahn that's a very good video putting things in a bit more context. I think that was long overdue and you're doing a really good job at that. Regarding drivers coming from behind at high speed: if you're driving at the allowed maximum speed or above the recommended maximum speed of 130 km/h nobody can expect you to make way immediately. Nobody can expect you to take a risk of causing an accident by abruptly switching lanes which BTW could make you the main cause of the accident. If somebody's driving very fast it's essentially his obligation to take care for the safety of others and himself. That said, drivers are supposed to conduct overtaking of slower vehicles in a reasonably short time. Also when switching lanes a driver has the main duty to do it safely. And setting an indicator does not entitle a driver to switch a lane - he's just obliged to inform other drivers about his intention to switch lanes reasonably early. It's just courtesy to clear a lane for a very fast driver and I do that only if I can do it without much effort and without annoying other drivers. It's quite the same thing with acceleration or deceleration strips - allowing others to switch lanes to access or leave the Autobahn, driving instructors and testers are disapproving that practice.
Wholly disagree with most of this perspective. I visit Germany for about a month each year, and I find the experience to be far far less stressful if you follow the basic rules of the road that technically apply in both countries (Left lane is for passing). If you camp in the left lane, then yes, driving in Germany will be stressful when you have a beamer running up your butt. The solution to far less stressful experience is too simply cruise in the right lane at the posted speed limit and then you'll find your trip to be safe and enjoyable. And if you want to drive faster you don't have to deal with all the fools in the states who choose the left lane for their leisure driving. On an additional note, Germany has far fewer traffic lights at intersections (Right before left is the rule) and therefore you don't have to come to a full stop or wait nearly as often for lights to change. This allows you to travel at a much more natural pace without artificial interuptions. The one primary aspect that is more stressful in Germany is non-highway driving, where you need to be much more alert for pedestrians, bicycles, scooters on roads that are much more narrow.
Many things you mention apply to all of europe.. driving lessons, driving on the right, age for driving lessons etc. although here in the netherlands they have started to start driving lessons earlier which I don't think is smart. Most of them haven't even finished puberty yet and cause major accidents or don't look at all because they are (usually) busy with their phone. 2x in 1 year I was hit on my motorcycle by novice drivers, 1 of 19 and 1 of 21 (with 2 friends in it) ... yes those are novice drivers here until they are 25. so starting earlier is in my opinion too young because they are not mature at all. and driving on the German autobahn requires more attention than in the USA, that's true, but you are more alert
You explained how lane discipline in Germany is supposed to be, not how it actually is. Too many people chilling on the middle lane, which causes everyone to drive on the left lane, and ultimately cause Stau.
@@dertypderhalt außerdem lernt man in der Fahrschule den Überholvorgang zügig abzuschließen und nicht fast einzuschlafen. Leider leben wir heutzutage im -alles ist egal -Land
Germans: Our infrastructure is crumbling and requires billions in investments to fix Government: Okay. We fix it. Germans: :o CONSTRUCTION SITES?! >:O HOW CAN IT BE?!
Every construction company *loves* government contracts because they can stretch them out for infinity. That's the reason why the construction sites on the Autobahn are there forever. Because it's profitable and nobody in government is really accountable anymore. Accountability has gone out the window. If stuff doesn't get done in time and costs 5x more than planned - well that's just what it is!
German Autobahn Driver here (of course in a BMW). For me it is more relaxing to drive 200km/h or 125mph because you only have to look forward. Driving 130km/h or 80mph makes me almost fall asleep on an empty Road, on a crowded Autobahn it is horrible because you have to look 360° all the time. On the other hand, when we were in Houston for three weeks driving 85mph was totally fine for me, I did not have the urge to go faster.
In Germany it's either being stuck at 85 km/h behind trucks on the right lane, or going 200 on the left. That's the two most reasonable ways to drive. So often I tried to set my cruise control to 140 km/h and just chill, but it doesn't work. That speed is so in-between that you're always either too fast or too slow.
"These are Elite drivers" me thinking about the octogenarian Frau Schulz from Bad Somewhere-heim driving her Polo behind a truck at 80 kmh, and wondering if she's ever been an elite driver
I am German but I think Germany has way too many fast and aggressive drivers. It's totally unnecessary. 130 kmh on the Autobahn is plenty fast. Any more and your nerves will pay for it. And I think many drivers overestimate their reaction time. It's one thing to drive fast by yourself but with your whole family and friends in the car - that is reckless.
Everything would work much smoother on the German Autobahn if the right lane was not constantiy blocked by trucks at 85 km/h. If they allowed trucks to go 120 km/h I think everything would be much nicer because a lot of people (including myself) would often just chill on the "truck lane" at 120. But when the right lane is only 85 km/h because of trucks, everybody has to overtake them and block the left lane, where some people want to go faster. That's what makes it really stressfull - trucks at 85 vs. cars at 220
Hey guys, I think you get it wrong, this video is not meant to offend German drivers, it’s meant to bring the right perspective of what to expect of driving on German Autobahns to tourists who think the Autobahns are a fun park. What I missed in this video was a more detailed explanation about how skilled the drivers are because of the driving schools, not just letting your parents teach you how to drive (no front against your Mom, don’t get me wrong!), taking some “lessons” at high school and then having an “exam” in whatever car you come with to get your drivers license. You get a totally different driving training here in Germany. And yes, you need it. But you also can be sure all other drivers get the same driving training. So the basic skills are comparable (that doesn’t make every driver in traffic around you a good driver, but it’s a big difference to driving in the US though, imo) Good video to scare away some “let’s go to Germany and have fun EVERYWHERE driving with no speed limit”-tourists, Nick! 👍
@@claudiaberger9639 I think that's a myth - at least the 10 km/h. At least at around 50 km/h my current and most of my previous cars were pretty precisely indicating my speed. However, the speed indicator is supposed to show at least the speed your driving or more - never less though.
In 2023, there were approximately 44,450 deaths in the U.S. due to motor vehicle accidents. In terms of injuries, traffic crashes in 2023 caused an estimated 2.57 million injuries. In 2023, 2,839 people died in road traffic accidents in Germany.. The number of injured people rose slightly in 2023 compared to the previous year, by 1.5 percent to just over 366,557 people. The USA has four times more inhabitants than Germany.
Clickbaiting makes a big fuss about not so special things all the time. THE BIG LIE! SO DRAMATIC! But first some boring facts you already know if you click this video. And then - the BIG LIE: the roads are full and its stressful. The end.
If you want a really chill driving experience with high-skilled drivers and perfect roads: go to Switzerland! They have a speed limit of 120 km/h on all highways and their fines for speeding are so extremely high that nobody dares to drive more than 125 km/h. I mean I have to admit I like to drive 230 km/h from time to time and it has its moments, but driving through Switzerland is so relaxing! If you just have to get from A to B, the Swiss driving experience is way better than the German driving experience.
Nowadays, according statistics, only 3.200 km of the 13.000 km highways in Germany are without a speed limit. Especially in the west part, almost all highways have a speed limit. As we now have one out of 40 cars being a EV, these cars usually only drive around 100 km/h to save „energy“ … If you want to know the real „average“ possible, check out giggle maps, insert a route (I.e. Hamburg - Munich). Use only highways and you will be below 100km/h on average for the tour! For EV you have to basically calculate a 20 min break for recharge for every hour driven. (My friend has a Tesla s85D and that’s from him!) And the most important: there is a recommended speed of 130 km/h. If you go faster (on a no limit stretch) and have a code t, you have to prove that it could’ve NOT been avoided going the recommended 130 or below! Else, you can be partially or even fully responsible for the accident. Further, there is a new law active since 2 years: racing. This can even be applied by police on yourself, when going fast ALONE! So, if you want to go an average of 130km/h, you should go to France or Poland. 😂
Let's us use Numbers: Traffic fatalities in US 2022 42795; in Germany 2023 2839. In the german Road traffic Act Book is a list from which US state the driver licence is acknowledged and from which not.
I'm a German living in Canada, and without hesitation, I’d choose the Canadian highway over the German Autobahn any day. I have two sons-one studying in Germany, the other in Canada. When we visit Germany, we stay at my sister’s place for the first few nights since it's closer to the airport. Here's the crazy part: The distance from my sister's place in Germany to my son's place is 251 km. The distance from our home in Canada to my other son's place is 231 km. As much as I enjoy the thrill of driving fast in Germany, the travel time is almost identical. Despite the Autobahn’s reputation, I’ve never made it to my son's place in less than three hours, thanks to traffic jams and endless construction zones.
On a trip to Gelsenkirchen, you only have one state without a state-wide speed limit, Baden-Württemberg. The other two have a 120 and 130km/h limit. And even on the A9 from Bayreuth to Berlin, where there are straight stretches without a speed limit, nowadays most cars only go 120-140km/h. There still are a few black Kombis going 240, but they are dying out since most companies made their employees pay for gas themselves. One can do the trip from Schwäbisch Hall to Berlin with a bit more thah half a tank of gas or close to two. Time saved is maybe 15 minutes, because you loose most at the gas station again. And you are definietly exhausted after going full speed all the time for 5 hours. Can be fun, did it a few times. Now I drive a BEV and actually enjoy this thing just cruising along at 120-130 mostly by itself. You just arrive much more relaxed. And so apparently see it most people nowadays. The times when everybody was throwing you from the left lane when you were already going 160 are over.
I'm German. We were recently on holiday in Denmark - that's around 600km from us with about half of it in Germany on the motorway. The outward journey was relaxed: I drove between 120 and 140km/h. No traffic jams. So you can drive relaxed in Germany. The return journey took almost 2 hours longer: lots of traffic jams and traffic. However, there were sections where I could drive at 240km/h. However, this really requires a lot of concentration. And if you're not used to that (or have never done it before), then it's total stress because you can neither correctly assess the speeds of others nor constantly pay attention to the traffic situation around you. Because at 240km/h you are driving in at least 3 cars: the car in front of you, your own car, and the vehicle behind you. In reality, there are at least 5-6 cars: those in the next lane, the cars that are approaching and also the ones at large far ahead (i.e. in the distance) are just as important. You have to learn this and approach it carefully over time. Otherwise the accident is only a matter of time. So yes: it's not always nice on the German motorway, but being able to drive well over 200km/h is still just incredibly fun. And I love it (like most Germans)...😊🤙
I have 16 years of driving history in Germany and also did some road trips in the US (roughly maybe 5000 miles), as well as some driving in Greece, Ireland, Czech Republic, Austria and a few other European countries. I actually prefer the US driving style, because I can use cruise control at longer times. Here in Germany, you are constantly switching lanes, because on the right lane are all the slow trucks (with speed limiters), on the left lane are the race drivers who like to do full speed, no matter the traffic situation and the middle lane is constantly merging between both. If you want to drive a constant speed with cruise control, you are adjusting all the time (or your car does adjust automatically) because you either have slower cars in front of you or someone chasing and annoying you from behind. As soon as you want to overtake somebody, people magically gain speed and you also have to speed up. It's a mess and sometimes really annoying. Of course it's more relaxed when the roads are empty, but thats not often the case. In the US, people seem to respect your security zone more and in my experience, do less tailgating and drive less agressively than in Germany. Because the speed is limited, the speed differences between lanes are not that big and you don't need to adjust and switch lanes that often... and I actually like passing on the right lane, when it's safe. Really annoying, when someone is driving slow and refusing to leave the middle lane in Germany, even though the right lane is free... you can't just pass on right. So all in all, I find driving in Germany on a busy Autobahn way more stressful than in most other countries with speed limits. And despite our intense driver training, most people think they can handle fast speeds when they don't actually know what they're doing. I did two driver safety trainings with the ADAC and learned how cars would behave in emergency situations... I think everybody should do that... it gives you a whole different perspective, how losing control about your car feels. When you drive 200 km/h on a road you can barely see whats coming up front, where side winds can happen or people can behave unforseen, it is everything but safe... but thats a whole different story.
According to ChatGPT, approximately 30 percent of German autobahns have no speed restrictions; probably alot less when considering construction/road repairs. At the end of the day, the German autobahn is safer and better maintained. In return, more stressful. As an American living in Germany, I often find this stress when returning from neighboring countries, which have speed limits . Wir meckern auf Höhen Niveau!
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In Germany on the autobahn, the rear mirror isn't your friend. You are married to the rear mirror.
I drive with the mirrors folded, so it's quicker on the Autobahn.
If you are female, rear mirror is an unknown concept to you.
@@Capt.-Nemo ROTFL
As an Austrian, I would go even a step further, the rear mirror becomes almost an extension of your eyes. I only discovered how much I use the rear mirror unconsciously, while moving apartments a few years ago. The furniture in the back of my car blocked my rearview, and I felt half blind, as if I had suddenly lost half my field of view.
As a German who has lived in the US my experience is somewhat different from yours when it comes to the stress factor. Driving in the US was extremely stressful for me…idiots in huge trucks, that’s about as stressful as it can be! No one follows any rules, you’re constantly slowed down by drivers who are just „chillin‘“ and don’t even get me started on the state of the highway restrooms… I happily pay to pee if it means I can do it in a clean restroom over a sh!thole with a big gap on the side of the door!
Agree. Same experience
As someone who has lived and worked in Germany I totally agree! In Germany you pretty much know what other drivers are going to do.
As long as you actually get a clean restroom after paying. My last few experiences taught me to hop the barrier next time...
@Annie_in_wonderland_123. The non existing TUEV adds up to even more stress in the US. Which is the next vehicle part hitting my car, a bumper ,a loose windshield wiper or an exhaust pipe only? 😂🙄
@tnit7554
That's right. Especially driving at night and regularily over long distances you can basically only dare with a big car like a pick-up and role over it, since you never know what big piece of metal junk you encounter next time on the road.
German Autobahn: Controlled Chaos
American Highway: Chaos
you think driving on the autobahn is stressfull? take a drive to the 8 lane roundabout in paris/france arround the "Arc de Triomphe". 😆
There are rumours about people starving on the inner circle because they chickened out.
The only way is to simply drive in the direction u want and don't care, that usually works 😁
@@quelandil5738 anyone saw "National Lampoon’s European Vacation"? they stuck there a whole day..hahaha
Yes, I love that. Always a nice challenge🤣
actually, this particular traffic circle is technically not a "roundabout". In a roundabout, you have priority when already in it, wheras on the Place de l'Étoile, priority is from the right, i.e. cars already in the circle must yield to cars entering it.
That said, this traffic circle seems to work. Low speed = low accident rate, and when accidents do occur, they seldom involve serious injuries.
@@Gr8Buccaneer Just wanted to write the same😃
German guy here, who drove trough the entire US as well.
Driving on US highways (I did Interstate 40 most of the time) and at some points, I was scared to hell. Random items lying on the street, from oil cans to blown tires. Massive trucks and massive urban traffic, especially in the LA area. Some people really drove without caution. Even if driving here in Germany requires more skill and attention, I just felt safer in the end.
Not to mention those silly "four way stops" (vs. right before left). Good luck "proofing", that you did stop first, after an accident...
@@Andre-mz3eg weird argument. Without witnesses or dashcams there is many situations where you can't prove who did something wrong. For example at intersections.
@@MaximilianSittich compared to the German road signs, the American ones are extremly poor. I found not knowing (without navigation system) wich side to exit on a four-lane highway in time to be extremely frightening! If you consider how long in advance you are told in Germany wich direction the motorway is going in, it’s a blessing! We really missed that in California too. Apart from that, it was a very nice trip.
@@doloresmey at least, an exit or change of motorways is announced 2 km up front in germany
Remembering the days when driving in an empty German car park would stress out NALF.
its true with the focus on the autobahn, but you can cruise at 120-130 kmh in the right lane without stressing out
Or 100
Maybe on a Sunday, but on every other day you constantly have to overtake the semis which for me is much more stressful than going 200+ km/h in the left lane.
@@SamGamgee8012 I mean you don't 'have' to overtake the semis. Can just cruise at 84km/h and chill and you'll still get to your destination just fine.
@@SamGamgee8012 This is you stressing yourself out for "being stuck" behind those semis, tho. The feeling of " I have to overtake this truck right away" instead of waiting for a bit (and yes, sometimes that's a minute or two in high traffic areas or times). This is the same mentality as those "Hey, I can make that gap" people pulling out right in front of you and then not even feeling the need to properly accelerate instead of waiting until you're past them (oftentimes as the last car in the line). If everyone just chilled a bit more while on the roads, it would only be half as bad. I personally don't find it stressful at all.
And don't get me wrong. I'm not saying I'm not one of these people, at times, as well.
@@manuelwie I always promise myself "today I am going to set my cruise control to 140 km/h and just chill" and it never works. You can't go 130 or 140 on the Autobahn. You're either going to be stuck behind trucks forever at 86 km/h or you're going on the left lane and suddenly you're at 210 - whoops how did that happen?
Population density of Germany? To put it more in perspective, The country Germany is slightly smaller than the state of Montana. Montana has about 1M people and Germany has a population of about 84M. Think about cramming 84M people into Montana!!
What a great video about driving on the Autobahn. In the last few weeks I drove more regularly on the Autobahn and it's exhausting, even only for a couple tens of kilometers.
You talked about the high requirements of getting a license to actually be prepared to drive. But you forgot that we also have strict regulations and require regular checks about the state of the cars to ensure the cars don't fall apart at those speeds. Which probably also helps to keep the deaths lower.
American who loves driving on the Autobahn :) I feel safer as other drivers tend to be more predictable. You didn't mention, but good to note variable speed limit signs that can apply to specific lanes. Recently caught in morning Frankfurt traffic with posted speed limit of 60kph (37mph) in all three lanes.
German here....... I fully agree, and "more predictable" is the key word for understanding why some Germans feel extremely stressed out and uncomfortable when driving in the US. "predictable" is our comfort zone, and "even not obiding the few existant rules" drives us nuts! :)
I don't even want to know how bad American drivers are - because a lot of people in Germany aren't good drivers. It's not like everybody around here is a super-aware professional driver. There's a lot of stupid idiots around here who don't use their mirrors or their blinkers.
Not long ago my partner and his brother got their hands on the new Porsche for a weekend. The highway wasn't exactly empty. But if you can go from 80 to 230 in three seconds... you don't care about that. The most shocking thing? It really doesn't take long until 230 feels like a perfectly normal cruise speed. So normal, that breaching 300 isn't even a big deal anymore. (yes, kmh.) I did not enjoy and am glad tht car was just there for a weekend. 😬 --- Cruise speed of 180 though - that's chill.
Yeah some cars are built so good that driving 200 kph (120 mph) with them feels like 100 (60 mph) in your average daily driver. In these cars driving 100 feels like youre crawling. 911 is certainly one of those.
@@invalid8774 was actually the fully decked out Hybrid Panamera Turbo S; The 300-something stretch aside it was actually really comfortable even in the backseat 😂
@@Anakianaj The Panamera Turbo S is quite a fast car, but it takes 8.1 seconds from 100 - 200 Kmh. 80 - 230 in 3 seconds is even hard for a hypercar wit over 1500 HP to get at.
@@JJJT- I don't want to sound mean but you do realise figurative speech is a thing, right? 😅 And just to be on the safe side: The whole comment is a bit tongue in cheek. Of course you take the utmost care if you don't have the highway to yourself and don't just go to 200+ whenever you have enough room to accelerate (regardless of that taking 3 or 13 seconds). And yes, 300 was still a big deal - just not as big a deal as I would have expected (as someone who's not been in a car that went past the 220 prior to that ride). And while 180 is a good cruise speed ... and by comparison chill - it's generally still too fast to be actually chill.
I have a pretty fast car (Mustang Shelby GT500) and anything over 130 or so (way less than what it can do) and I start thinking about the dangers of getting wrapped around a tree. No way would I want to drive 200 mph.
As a Dutch guy not living in NL. I miss my yellow number plate… NL = Nur links 😂
We have a joke here in Germany, if you failed your driving test three times, you'll get a yellow number plate......sorry......🤷😂....btw, I love driving in the Netherlands, their Autobahn System is way better maintained as the one in Germany and with it's Speed Limit it's way more relaxing to drive.
@@miriamreiss i know…. ;-) I use it in my advantage… scaring German drivers out of my lane! 😈
(What good is it to have a yellow plate if you cannot scare a couple of Germans with it! lol)
Honestly Dutch roads are boring… just 100km/h. Pfff ;-)
@@miriamreiss What I like about dutch highways is the space and the wider turning circle to go on/off the highway. These are way more condensed in Germany and you have to brake and accelerate harder what makes it more dangerous. In Germany road constructions take months and years while in the netherlands lots of road constructions are done over night or within a few days.
But relaxing? The problem are the dutch drivers. They have lost the sense for safety distance. If there's a gap of 10m, someone will cut in. Of course there are some idiots in Germany doing the same, but in the netherlands it's a normal thing.
German driver here who has moved to Sweden. Sweden is quite similar to the US concerning highway driving. I got accustomed to the Swedish relaxed driving style very fast, enjoying the slow, steady pace. Compared to that driving in Germany is stressful and hectic, to say the least. On the other hand one can not ignore that in Germany there exists a high collective ability to steer very precisely and disciplined, almost like in a swarm of birds or in a pack of jet planes. The overall driving ability in Sweden is considerably lower which can sometimes lead to unnecessarily risky situations.
I have the same experience whenever I drive through Switzerland (as a German). It is so relaxing and you can actually use your cruise control for hours. In Germany it's always like you're on a race track. It has it's moments but it can also be really annoying when you just want to get somewhere.
remember: we pay for the whole speedometer, were gonna use the whole speedometer
Würde mich mal interessieren wie groß der Anteil der Leute ist, die auf englisch kommentieren aber auch deutsch sind.
Warum?
Die meisten, weil die Zuschauer international sind.
The Chanel owner makes his content in english , so I ,as a German, message in English.
@@c.b.4270Stick to german.
this is not the yellow from the egg.
I have it exactly opposite. Driving in US is stressful nonsense and driving in Germany just makes sense. Your highway limit is limit for rural roads in Germany. Common 😂 I drive very comfortably in Germany and don't need to break any law. Everything makes sense. In US? 6 lanes and limit 30mph and you absolutely don't understand why and most people drive 40-45mph. Interstate? Limit 70mph, people drive between 50 and 85 mph. You drive 75, in front of you is someone chilling 50mph and on the right side is huge semi truck overtaking you. And drivers in US so much don't focus. They eat, drink, play with cell phone, almost sleep whatever... And cars are also in quite bad shape...
Sorry, but NO, expectations for drivers are not very intense and there is no bar raising, the bar is the same for evereyone. The state expects you to follow the rules/laws/regulations - that is it. And to be able to to that, you have to learn it. Where? - In a driving school and not from your parents (of course additional training is fine). A driver's licence is a privilage you have to earn, because you will be wielding a ~1,4 ton deadly weapon... It took me a while to understand why i see what i see in american dashcam clips. Multiple generations being "tought" by their parents...(depending on the state) Maybe you are lucky like NALF and have parent(s), who can properly drive. What if not? This is highly disturbing 😞
Our highway (Autobahn) in Germany is stressful, people are stressed and aggressive 😬. At night it's OK 🤣
Um Sascha Fahrnünftig zu zitieren: "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!" oder auch "MEINE FRESSE! WAS IST DENN LOS?! MAAAAAAAAAAAN!" und natürlich mein Liebling: "SAG MA, HAM SIE DIR INS GEHIRN GESCHISSEN?! 😁
Thats due to the density, lets invest more into public transit so only the car enthusiasts will drive. ;)
@@Anthyrion Mittelspurschleicher!!!
if you are in temper to be stressed at all, relax and drive with the rest of traffic....
@@RobertKorte1 The problem is: there's not really a "rest of traffic" in Germany. I have tried again and again to just chill out at 130 or 140 km/h on a German Autobahn and it never works. At some point I'm going 210 km/h again because it's either that, or being stuck behind trucks at 86 km/h on the right lane.
What's most stressful on the highway are the people who drive slowly in the wrong lane, changing lanes without signaling or looking in the mirror.
Above all, many people should practice the zipper process again. It's stuck there. If the zipper on her pants worked like this, the pants would be open all the time.
Das mit den "ewigen Baustellen" stimmt leider. Aber ansonsten kann die Autobahn total entspannt genutzt werden.
Bei Regen suche ich mir einen LKW und hänge mich dahinter. Sind dann zwar nur 90km/h ... aber dafür komplett entspannt.
Ansonsten fahre ich selten schneller als 140 km/h. Höchstens mal zum "mit-schwimmen". Normal eher zwischen 120 und 130 km/h. Bei drei Spuren dann selten ganz links.
Aber wir haben hier eine Richtgeschwindigkeit von 120 km/h. Wenn irgendein Spacko deutlich schneller fährt ... und es zum Unfall kommt ... dann muss der auf seine Kosten nachweisen, dass der Unfall auch passiert wäre, wenn er nur mit 120 km/h unterwegs gewesen wäre. Sonst hängt er mit >=50% drin. Und das kann er wohl selten nachweisen.... Natürlich nützt mir das nix, wenn ich tot bin. Aber es passiert halt auch nicht, weil die Leute das wissen.
Bei drei Spuren pro Richtung kann man locker mit 120 bis 140 km/h auf der Mittelspur bleiben, sofern rechts keine Lücke von mindestens 500m entsteht. Da blinkt höchstens mal einer von tausend hektisch mit dem Fernlicht rum ... aber lass ihn ... das ist ein Schwachkopf mit Mini-Schniedel, der tief sitzende Komplexe hat.
Solche Menschen sind bemitleidenswert, weil ihre fragwürdigen "Gaspedal ganz runterdrück"-Kenntnisse meistens die einzigen sind, die sie haben.
Lass sie. Und lass dich nicht auf "Road-Rage" mit derartigem Bio-Ausschuss ein.
Jaaaa.... das war jetzt sehr böse von mir. Und es kommt ja auch nur alle zehn Jahre mal vor, dass ich an so einen gerate.
Ich fahre seit über 30 Jahren und ich hatte noch absolut keinen Unfall auf der Autobahn. Eigentlich sowieso nur einen.
Und da war ich eigentlich zu 100%, offiziell nur zu 95%, NICHT Schuld. ...ein russischer Militär-LKW hat mir in der Ostzone die Vorfahrt genommen. Ich kannte halt die Regel nicht, dass die grundsätzlich Vorfahrt haben.....selbst wenn ich auf einer "Bundesstraße" bin ... und die von einem Waldweg einbiegen.... lange her....
Richtgeschwindigkeit ist 130km/h du Schleicher. 😉
Nein. Schon richtig. 120-140 km/h ist eine vernünftige Reisegeschwindigkeit. Das mit dem LKW mache ich besonders gerne mit dem Wohnmobil. Man darf zwar schneller aber Spaß macht das nicht.
Mit meinem 1er BMW fahre ich auch nur selten mal schneller als 140. Es bringt halt nix. Nur mehr Risiko und höhere Kosten.
Was aber trotzdem auch dann nervt sind Leute, die immer in der Mitte fahren obwohl rechts frei ist. Es ist ja auch nicht umsonst verboten. Wir halt nicht so oft geahndet, dass es wen stört.
i will never forget coming home from Austria about 10 years ago. Totally chilled cruising, but the second we crossed the german border the Wild Hunt broke loose.
As an American who just went to Bavaria and Salzburg, the second I crossed the border into Austria, road design (especially signage) and driving styles improved dramatically
As an Australian who spent a couple years in the US and lives in Germany, it is the best place to drive in the world. The only tiring part is traffic when speeds slow to below 130kmh. 250+kmh averages are the calmest driving for me. Just be prepared to pay for it as fuel is used fast 😂😂
You're not going to get 250+km/h averages anywhere in Germany. I mean if your taking an average of the 5 minutes where you actually drive 250+ km/h. But for a trip of one or more hours, your average is probably going to be around 120 km/h at most. Unless maybe you're driving between bumfuck nowhere and backwater town on the 24th of December at 7 p.m.
@@highks496 true, i live in the south and can't speak for the heavily populated areas. Some times its 5kmh average's but people here know an accident has happened and everyone pulls over to give space to allow emergency vehicles though! The OPs post is an outright false premise though. Germany is the best place in the world for driving. Its not stressful driving fast in my expirence. Its more a sign of his lack of expirence then anything. I was probably one of those BMW drivers who flew up behind him 😂😂😂
Die Fahrlehrer sagen auch, dass man die Hände am Lenkrad halten soll 😬☺️🌸
Moment mal... heißt das, mit den Beinen zu lenken ist falsch?!
@@Anthyrion 😏
… wenn du nicht gerade im Trecker auf‘m Acker unterwegs bist…
Where is the big lie here ??? My most stressful experience ever was to drive from LA downtown to Anaheim on this huge eight-lane highway where if lucky I could only drive at 55 mph but most of the time at much lower speed. Yes in Germany there are too many "eternal" Baustellen, yet what a pleasure to push my car up to 250 km/h and my cruise speed at which I feel comfortable with is about 190 km/h. I live in Germany and I always enjoy these free portions of the Autobahn. On the other hand when I drive in France, I am always nervous as there are a lot of radars and mobile controls from the Gendarmerie. Driving on some long, empty autoroute at 130 km/h is boring.
"The big lie" is the US proint of view, because Americans mostly think that this prejudice is true. Germany does not lie, it is the prejudice which is "a lie". And since NALF speaks to his fellow Americans mainly, it is okay to put it like that.
I drive mostly in eastern Germany and it's not as crowded😊
Let me tell you, those drivers license prices are way outdated. It's very common to pay around 3k and minimum 2k for a drivers licence in germany
Yep.
The introduction to the issue is presented is serious like a Hollywood movie 😅
Also, there might be a somebody not used to the BAB ( vulgo American ) who does irrational things and buggers up the flow . I nearly witnessed a lynching the other day, when a car with US Army plates did not do the Rettungsgasse thing . Autobahn only works safely when EVERYONE keeps to the rules 🙂
A couple of weeks ago I took a trip to Oregon that took me from Portland>Hood River>Bend>Corvallis>Newport>Salem>Portland. The driving was wonderful and what I saw was gorgeous! If you go too fast there, you'd miss all scenery! I'd also add that the east coast of the USA can be way more stressful to drive with its denser population.
When I was 16, all of my friends and I couldn't wait to get our driver's license. Today it seems like the teens don't care as much about driving.
Indeed, read this recently...only 70% of the germans have a license until the age of 25...and even US has "only" about 85% at this age, which is surprising to me, since you reach almost nothing without a car in US...someone walking by feet is an alien.
I confirm every single one of your sentences about the German autobahn. This - among other things - has meant that I haven't had a car for over 30 years. Germany is a small country and I live in a big city, I can get everywhere without a car and without stress.
4:20 All lanes that aren’t the rightmost lane are only for passing! Don’t drive slow on the middle lane!!!
98 % of the drivers do not have the ability to understand that and never ever won‘t
@@astara5802 like the dutch 3 lane roundabouts
The biggest problem is that the right lane is always blocked by trucks at 90 km/h (that's about where their limiter sets in). And of course as soon as there is three lanes, the truck that goes 91 km/h has to overtake all the other trucks going 89 km/h.
German Autobahn is a constant switch between "truck lane(s)" and "racing lane(s)". That's what make it most stressfull in my opinion.
Without the trucks, everything works out much smoother. I think they should allow trucks to go 120 km/h and everything would be much less stressfull.
@@highks496 this is called Elefantenrennen but they love to do it on two lane Autobahnen even more
180 kmh = ganz normale Reisegeschwindigkeit 😅
and a chilling one as well. although I try to grive long distances at the time of day when I can drive my prefred "Reisegeschwindigkeit" of 220-250 km/h 😉
Driving on the german autobahn is so chill.
I only drive irregulary and the worst part is always towns and cities, especially if you have never been there before.
Once you are on the autobahn you put your cruisecontrol wherever you want and just drive until you are slowed to 80 and chill some more.
And just to add to that.
You loterally ahbe to always be compketely focused on the road and traffic and your sourrundings in germany when driving. There is no "laid back driving" where you just cruise and look ahead from time to time.
You will fail your driving test the moment your examiner notices that you are not properly looking at everything.
A frind of mine failed for not doing a visiual check behind him on the left when turning right on a a crossing in the middle of nowhere.
When driving on the autobahn you have to turn your head around as much as possible and turn your body a bit as well otherwise you will fail the exam.
When driving in the city it is your duty to be vigilant and notice everything.
The theoretical test includes videos showing different scenarios, after each you will be asked wht you need to look out for. One I had showed a motorcicle illigally passing between traffic for less than 1s and if I had missed that i would have instantly failed the test, as those questions, along with questions regarding right of way have a zero mistakes allowed rule.
I don't know the current test, but back in 2014 it was 60 questions (20 video, 20 right of way and 20 other) and i could have 3 mistakes in anything but the aforementioned caes. I failed my test because I did not notice that the baby buggy was empty indicating that there is a child hidden behind the parked cars which i need to be aware of with my foot ready to hit the brakes hard.
So again. There is no "chilling" in germany when driving. But on the autobahn it is only cars you need to worry about in 99% of cases so it is a lot less stress and actually quite "chill" when compared to the rest.
7:29 these prices for German driving lessons are way outdated. Driving lessons have grown much more expensive. €20 for a 45 minutes driving lessons, that would have been a fair price in the mid 1990s (In fact, I paid DM 44, about €22, per lesson in 1994 and that wasn't a particularly high price back then at all). Nowadays, prices usually range from €50 to €85. And €3,000 is what you usually pay if you pass your driving test on the first attempt.
In June we drove all over Southern Germany - a lot of it on the Autobahn (in a big M5 BMW). Couldn't believe how perfect the road surfaces were. It made driving at 200KPH much, much safer, If they can have such nice roads, with their climate, why can't the USA?
Lmao, I get the points, but in all honesty I'd rather have the lane discipline than what we do here, ESPECIALLY in the DC area. I regularly see people miss their exits, and instead of going a different way to their destination, nope they're REVERSING BACK UP an exit ramp right into oncoming traffic that's usually going 40-50mph. I've seen this way more times than I can count, as well as other abhorrent driving that constantly stresses me out here lol. Also everyone in pickup trucks going 40mph above the speed limit regardless of what road they're on (exaggeration but you get my point lol).
As a german of 60 years i used to drive as fast as I could with my car when I was younger. Today I drive a Ford C-Max with 182hp. It runs well over 200km/h. But I have to tell you that i rarely drive faster than 140km/h on a 2 lane "Autobahn". The faster you go the more dangerous it gets. 200 cuising on the left lane and a "lets say Fiat Panda" on the right lane does not look in the mirror properly and is set to overtake a truck with 100km/h is set to cause a terrible accident. You may be in hospital or at the cemetary. Hi speed in germany exhaust you!
So you have a population density in the US that is considerably lower than in Germany, meaning you have to search for cars to hit… 😅 but you still manage to have so many more accidents. 🤔
To me this sounds like driving in the US is much more scary. 😳
Btw: There is a difference between driving in the north and south of Germany. Roads in the north are flatter and less curvy. And people tend to drive much faster, with less differences in speed between the lanes. As someone from the south myself, I feel it‘s more fun to drive in the north. 😅
Very accurate description.
But I prefer our high vigilance driving more than driving e.g. in Austria or Netherlands. Because I can judge the dynamic here, but I cannot always get easily used with the rythm in our neighbour countries.
I find it interesting not only the age difference at which you can learn to drive, but also the fact that in Germany you are allowed to drink 2 years before you can have a drivers license. While in the US you are only allowed to drink 5 years after you can have the license.
Perhaps that also helps, new drivers in germany are already somewhat experienced in drinkin, American drivers are not at all. Is there a statistic on drunk driving in the US compared to Germany? Or, "over the legal limit" drunk driving to be precise.
1:20 wait 5 1/2 h gor 300 Km? It should normally not being longer than 2,5 - 3 hours catiously driving😂
A side note, regarding the topic of "no speed limit".
Yes, it is true, there is no real "speed limit" on those sections of the Autobahn. But and this is a huge one: You should always remind yourself that, the faster you drive, the sharper your senses need to be (and of course, that no technical malfunctions are happening or your tires go "pop"). If you drive 180, 200, 250+ or 300+ km/h on the Autobahn and an incident/accident is happening: Well..
1. I hope you have super human reaction time
2. I hope your breaks are godly
3. I hope you have enough space to break
Otherwise, I dont want to switch places with you or other people, that are involved.
So, if you want to drive fast, be mindful of the consequences it can lead to.
Cars that can drive that fast have the corresponding breaks, tires, chassis to be able to handle the forces, which makes the handling at 200 the same as at 100. If your car isn't build for it, though, you're in very dangerous territory.
@@maskharat Your statement is partially true. Why only partially?
1. A car needs a driver with a brain. Everyone is different when it comes to reaction speed.
2. A lot of cars can go 200, 250 km/h. They are not top modern cars, that are released today. They are older cars and cars, that are heavily tuned (still street legal in Germany).
Even if you drive a brand new one. Driving very fast needs highly sharp senses.
There's also a legal caveat for going fast on the Autobahn. If you're going above the "Richtgeschwindigkeit" (recommended speed) of 130 km/h, you are probably going to be liable for any kind of accident at least to a certain percentage. If you're going above 250 km/h, as far as I know you are always going to be liable 100% for any kind of accident and your insurance might have a reason to pull out and not pay.
Its not just the higher pop density.
Germany is the drive through for everyone and their mother with the central location in Europe.
Add to that the toll free roads (for some reason).
It also makes no sense that a country with miles and miles of large empty roads has a lower speedlimit.
Strange, I myself feel much more tired and not really safe when going 100s of miles straight with 75mph maximum on a 8 line highway without anyone respecting the rules to drive right when possible - in Germany I easily drive from Munich to Berlin without any problems.
Totally agree - I am getting already stressed when seeing those yellow license plates from the Netherlands...😵💫
I think it might be because driving in the US is just tiring... You don't change your speed a lot, just set your speedometer and let it ride. And try not to fall asleep in the process :D
While in Germany, as he said, its much more exhilerating and time seems to pass faster because you are a lot more concentrated. I prefer Germany too, but don't have too much experience outside of Germany I have to add
I also fully agree.
In Germany there are building regulations that prevents straight roads from being too long, so that the driver does not switch off their heads. Sometimes roads in the USA can go forever straight. It is possible to get tired or microsleep
@@SupplyOfShorts please excuse my correction. But you probably meant to say exhausting instead of exhilarating - or maybe I'm wrong?
Naaa. Getting a driving license costs you around 4500 dollars.
That's right. I can confirm that. My daughter just turned 18 and got her driver's licence some months ago.
Nice... So who again lied about Germany?
Best Video in a long time! LG from the BMW driver❤
Not saying any before were bad though
Didn‘t see that coming.
Actually I think you under quoted the US limited access highways. You gave the length for interstates but of course many of the limited access highways in the US are not interstates. Total mileage is just under 100,000 MI.
THANK YOU! ♥ I have been waiting for a video like this for years and years, because this prejudice of "unlimited freedom on the Autobahn" is wrecking my nerves steadily.
And now you are the one who made it. I love you for doing so and I hope it will go viral.
This f*ing Autobahn-tourism has to finally come to an end, because it isn't only dangerous for those tourists but for everybody around their imaginary "free-flght-zones".
Even though NALF probably checked the statistics on Autobahn in Germany without speed limits, that doesn't match my experience!
I drove 1200 kilometers on German Autobahn last week. I was on the A61, A65, A6, A8, A7, A71, A4, A3. There were long repairs on all of these tracks. There were very long stretches on all of these tracks with speed limits of 120 or 130 km/h. Only a very few sections had no speed limit. I only drove a total distance of 10 kilometers over 200 km/h! (Don't tell me that I was harming the environment by doing so)
That is the big lie: The “no speed limit” in Germany only exists on paper and in the minds of dogmatic politicians who are trapped by their own narratives - but not in reality.
The "ADAC" offers driving lessons for extreme situations, called "Fahrsicherheitstraining". Like having your car spin out of control and how to get it back, etc. I *strongly* recommend those. It will give you alot of reassurance. All kinds of people are taking these lessons. I am sure, you will find videos of those, here on YT.
---
Personally, I love driving on the Autobahn. And I love driving fast. I loved that as a child, already. Driving with my parents on the Autobahn. Ahhh..^^
I guess, that is a big difference. Germans grow up with high speeds and get more used to those, over the years.
However, driving skills are important, too. Not everyone has the same skills in riding a bike. Same goes for cars. Most of it is just training. And knowing your limits..
Btw: Less than 10% of all fatal accidents happen on the Autobahn. More than 90% happen on countryroads and inside city limits..
Yeah I’m a Brit loving here in Germany for decades! Yes, it is great with the no speed limit, and yes, those opportunities to actually use it where driving so fast will get you to your destination so much quicker than pottering along at 130kph, are few and far between. Road works, stubborn drivers with the cruise set at 120kph tailing over a truck when they see you coming like a bullet, but still won’t be hurried… oh yes. They just ain’t gonna be hassled. So to get the best of the unrestricted speed limit, you want to be driving between midnight and 6am. Other than that, enjoy potting your foot down for a burnout now and then, but for long haul, 130-140kph and chill.
Hey man! No line on the Autobahn is for chilling! Stay concentrated for 100% all the time - regardless how fast you drive and drive a quality car.
Crashing with 120km/h is an experience you don’t want to have. I know what I’m speaking about! I once had a rollover at that „snail-pace“. The car was scrap, but thank god and to the BMW engineers my boy and I survived with no injuries.
When I drove around in the US (back in 1996) and watched all those really bad drivers (and had to drive some really bad rental cars (Ford and Oldsmobile)), I honestly thought about settling there and opening a 'European Driving School'. Might have been a valid business case :)
The high maintenance standards are only reality in Bavaria. This is based on the fact of 12 years „Verkehrsminister“ out of the CSU, during the reign of Mrs. Merkel.
Check it out, if you are driving in direction of Frankfurt, right behind the border after Aschaffenburg, you will find the reality, espacally in NRW, the Bundesland with the highest population and the badass standards of all the Autobahnen.
I'm sorry to have to disagree with you. I'm German and I lived in DC for a while. One day I wanted to go to a special store that was in in northern VA. It was like 4h round-trip away. I've never been that stressed out in my live than on that day. Traffic was insane there. When I came home I was so exhausted that I slept 2h straight.
Until today this has never happened again. Not even on the A100 in Berlin which in my opinion is the NBA Finals of driving (to continue your analogy)
I am from Austria and drvie on the german Autobahn regularly. Why would that be stressful?
First of all you should check your rear view mirror every few seconds, no matter which road. And you should check it additionally when going to overtake, which means change lanes.
Next thing: the people going like a cruise missle only do so when traffic is very low. If it is more denser, they will not go more than 200 kph... That means the closing speed is not so high that you would not see them in time. And with even more traffic, they wont go any faster than everyone else. You only have to realize that lookking 50 yards back is not enough. Make that 2-3 football fields and you should be good. And keep up the regular rear view mirror check after the lane switch.
Try watching videos where they are going 300+ kph (200 mph). You will see there is almost no traffic at all... Mostly early sunday morning. And they will lift the throttle if they even think that a car in front might overtake someone.
Tu summarize: if you want to prepare yourselves for the german Autobahn, get used to check the mirror every 3-5 seconds. You will recognize any faster car immediately. That will increase your driving skills on all roads. Oh, and keep on the right if you are not passing someone.
I completely agree with you! If there were no traffic or construction, driving in Germany could be quite relaxing. Unfortunately, as you said, it often ends up being stop and go. However, similar to Germany, I remember how stressful driving on the I-95, the major north/south artery on the East Coast, could be, especially knowing that you can get overtaken from the right.
I like the thesis of this video: driving on the Autobahn is quite stressful-> that works in favour of taking the train! 🚂 😅
You better don't know what is going with Deutsche Bahn
I'm a travelling computer field engineer working for the same company for 37 years and spent most of my days on the road. Did about 4 million so far. My annual roadbook is around 90 - 100.000 kilometers for the job and - believe it or not - I prefer driving on the Autobahn rather than in city traffic or on small and winding country roads. Except there are total jams. Autobahn-driving requires attention and situational awareness. An eye in the mirror and a far out look out on how the traffic developes. I my years since I got a driving license (in 1978) I was involved in *one* accident on the autobahn - where I stopped at the end of a jam ... but the guy behind me didn't. The other incidents happened on parking lots, at a very narrow country road (where a tractor and trailer scratched my car) and one at a red light in the middle of a city (where the guy in the Honda behind me obviously never guessed I would really stop at a red light ...). The rather complicated process to get a driving license and the awareness of the dangers *and* the "pass on the left only" rule contributes to relative road safety on Autobahns.
Great vid, thanks! I've spent time driving in Germany and honestly, I found it much more relaxing, mainly because people drive better there and their roads are simply better. Granted, I live in Southern California where our Freeways are very messy and stressful. Plus, we have many driving that don't even have drivers licenses and insurance. California.. ;D
you don't fall asleep when going 200km/h...because you need to pay attention to everything.
vs boring driving in a straight line forever going 60mph, it gets tireing easy...
Hi Nick! With all those YT videos fascinated about having no speed limit on the Autobahn that's a very good video putting things in a bit more context. I think that was long overdue and you're doing a really good job at that.
Regarding drivers coming from behind at high speed: if you're driving at the allowed maximum speed or above the recommended maximum speed of 130 km/h nobody can expect you to make way immediately. Nobody can expect you to take a risk of causing an accident by abruptly switching lanes which BTW could make you the main cause of the accident. If somebody's driving very fast it's essentially his obligation to take care for the safety of others and himself.
That said, drivers are supposed to conduct overtaking of slower vehicles in a reasonably short time. Also when switching lanes a driver has the main duty to do it safely. And setting an indicator does not entitle a driver to switch a lane - he's just obliged to inform other drivers about his intention to switch lanes reasonably early.
It's just courtesy to clear a lane for a very fast driver and I do that only if I can do it without much effort and without annoying other drivers. It's quite the same thing with acceleration or deceleration strips - allowing others to switch lanes to access or leave the Autobahn, driving instructors and testers are disapproving that practice.
Sorry, but have you ever driven in France or Romania? I feel relaxed here in Germany compared with those two countries.
Wholly disagree with most of this perspective. I visit Germany for about a month each year, and I find the experience to be far far less stressful if you follow the basic rules of the road that technically apply in both countries (Left lane is for passing). If you camp in the left lane, then yes, driving in Germany will be stressful when you have a beamer running up your butt. The solution to far less stressful experience is too simply cruise in the right lane at the posted speed limit and then you'll find your trip to be safe and enjoyable. And if you want to drive faster you don't have to deal with all the fools in the states who choose the left lane for their leisure driving.
On an additional note, Germany has far fewer traffic lights at intersections (Right before left is the rule) and therefore you don't have to come to a full stop or wait nearly as often for lights to change. This allows you to travel at a much more natural pace without artificial interuptions.
The one primary aspect that is more stressful in Germany is non-highway driving, where you need to be much more alert for pedestrians, bicycles, scooters on roads that are much more narrow.
First world problems
No, it has to do with traffic safety which affects most of us.
Many things you mention apply to all of europe.. driving lessons, driving on the right, age for driving lessons etc. although here in the netherlands they have started to start driving lessons earlier which I don't think is smart. Most of them haven't even finished puberty yet and cause major accidents or don't look at all because they are (usually) busy with their phone. 2x in 1 year I was hit on my motorcycle by novice drivers, 1 of 19 and 1 of 21 (with 2 friends in it) ... yes those are novice drivers here until they are 25. so starting earlier is in my opinion too young because they are not mature at all. and driving on the German autobahn requires more attention than in the USA, that's true, but you are more alert
You explained how lane discipline in Germany is supposed to be, not how it actually is. Too many people chilling on the middle lane, which causes everyone to drive on the left lane, and ultimately cause Stau.
Luv you Nalf! How is Laura? When is the Wedding? ❤️ from the ❤️of 🇨🇦.
101 for stressless passing of construction zones: engage the speed automatic and stay in the right lane. Its boring as hell.
Oh, if they flash their lights at you from behind that's Nötigung and really no fucking joke.
Ne das gehört dazu wenn einer schläft
@@dertypderhalt außerdem lernt man in der Fahrschule den Überholvorgang zügig abzuschließen und nicht fast einzuschlafen. Leider leben wir heutzutage im -alles ist egal -Land
Wow! I'm glad I'm not the only one that gets stressed out driving in Europe!
Oops, a stressed American, not fit for German Autobahn
Germans: Our infrastructure is crumbling and requires billions in investments to fix
Government: Okay. We fix it.
Germans: :o CONSTRUCTION SITES?! >:O HOW CAN IT BE?!
Every construction company *loves* government contracts because they can stretch them out for infinity. That's the reason why the construction sites on the Autobahn are there forever. Because it's profitable and nobody in government is really accountable anymore. Accountability has gone out the window. If stuff doesn't get done in time and costs 5x more than planned - well that's just what it is!
German Autobahn Driver here (of course in a BMW). For me it is more relaxing to drive 200km/h or 125mph because you only have to look forward. Driving 130km/h or 80mph makes me almost fall asleep on an empty Road, on a crowded Autobahn it is horrible because you have to look 360° all the time. On the other hand, when we were in Houston for three weeks driving 85mph was totally fine for me, I did not have the urge to go faster.
In Germany it's either being stuck at 85 km/h behind trucks on the right lane, or going 200 on the left. That's the two most reasonable ways to drive. So often I tried to set my cruise control to 140 km/h and just chill, but it doesn't work. That speed is so in-between that you're always either too fast or too slow.
"These are Elite drivers" me thinking about the octogenarian Frau Schulz from Bad Somewhere-heim driving her Polo behind a truck at 80 kmh, and wondering if she's ever been an elite driver
🤣
I am German but I think Germany has way too many fast and aggressive drivers. It's totally unnecessary. 130 kmh on the Autobahn is plenty fast. Any more and your nerves will pay for it. And I think many drivers overestimate their reaction time. It's one thing to drive fast by yourself but with your whole family and friends in the car - that is reckless.
Everything would work much smoother on the German Autobahn if the right lane was not constantiy blocked by trucks at 85 km/h. If they allowed trucks to go 120 km/h I think everything would be much nicer because a lot of people (including myself) would often just chill on the "truck lane" at 120.
But when the right lane is only 85 km/h because of trucks, everybody has to overtake them and block the left lane, where some people want to go faster. That's what makes it really stressfull - trucks at 85 vs. cars at 220
I guess the mandatory test of cars also makes it safer.
Try driving on the Dan Ryan in Chicago.
Ask Laura for „Mittelspurschleicher“😊
this is a clickbait. I regret watching.
that's a fair point but I prefer it this way ;)
Hey guys, I think you get it wrong, this video is not meant to offend German drivers, it’s meant to bring the right perspective of what to expect of driving on German Autobahns to tourists who think the Autobahns are a fun park.
What I missed in this video was a more detailed explanation about how skilled the drivers are because of the driving schools, not just letting your parents teach you how to drive (no front against your Mom, don’t get me wrong!), taking some “lessons” at high school and then having an “exam” in whatever car you come with to get your drivers license.
You get a totally different driving training here in Germany. And yes, you need it. But you also can be sure all other drivers get the same driving training. So the basic skills are comparable (that doesn’t make every driver in traffic around you a good driver, but it’s a big difference to driving in the US though, imo)
Good video to scare away some “let’s go to Germany and have fun EVERYWHERE driving with no speed limit”-tourists, Nick! 👍
Baustelle und Stau Republik Deutschland.
Okay, but where is the "lie"?
2:45 I live in Austria. The speed limit on motorways is 130 km/h. But I usually drive 150 km/h on the motorway. 😱
The speedometer in your car always shows 10 km/h more than you are actually driving. This is because the speedometers in cars are not calibrated.
@@claudiaberger9639 I think that's a myth - at least the 10 km/h. At least at around 50 km/h my current and most of my previous cars were pretty precisely indicating my speed. However, the speed indicator is supposed to show at least the speed your driving or more - never less though.
if you compare german autobahn to swiss autobahn it so obvious, why a speed limit would be beneficial
wich "autobahn"
Jo, nur die Schweizer sind hier immer die schnellsten....
@@kevinschone1789 can you Explain yoUr rEply pls? i dONt get It
@@cast1450 ...und sie halten keinen Sicherheitsabstand der zu ihrer Geschwindigkeit passt, sondern zu100kmh...
@@cast1450 Du sagst es zuhause einen auf oberpingelig machen und ich kenne keine Nation die auf der Autobahn derart assi fährt.
In 2023, there were approximately 44,450 deaths in the U.S. due to motor vehicle accidents.
In terms of injuries, traffic crashes in 2023 caused an estimated 2.57 million injuries.
In 2023, 2,839 people died in road traffic accidents in Germany..
The number of injured people rose slightly in 2023 compared to the previous year, by 1.5 percent to just over 366,557 people.
The USA has four times more inhabitants than Germany.
Clickbaiting makes a big fuss about not so special things all the time.
THE BIG LIE! SO DRAMATIC!
But first some boring facts you already know if you click this video.
And then - the BIG LIE: the roads are full and its stressful. The end.
If you want a really chill driving experience with high-skilled drivers and perfect roads: go to Switzerland! They have a speed limit of 120 km/h on all highways and their fines for speeding are so extremely high that nobody dares to drive more than 125 km/h.
I mean I have to admit I like to drive 230 km/h from time to time and it has its moments, but driving through Switzerland is so relaxing! If you just have to get from A to B, the Swiss driving experience is way better than the German driving experience.
you nailed it.
Nowadays, according statistics, only 3.200 km of the 13.000 km highways in Germany are without a speed limit. Especially in the west part, almost all highways have a speed limit. As we now have one out of 40 cars being a EV, these cars usually only drive around 100 km/h to save „energy“ …
If you want to know the real „average“ possible, check out giggle maps, insert a route (I.e. Hamburg - Munich). Use only highways and you will be below 100km/h on average for the tour! For EV you have to basically calculate a 20 min break for recharge for every hour driven. (My friend has a Tesla s85D and that’s from him!)
And the most important: there is a recommended speed of 130 km/h. If you go faster (on a no limit stretch) and have a code t, you have to prove that it could’ve NOT been avoided going the recommended 130 or below! Else, you can be partially or even fully responsible for the accident.
Further, there is a new law active since 2 years: racing. This can even be applied by police on yourself, when going fast ALONE!
So, if you want to go an average of 130km/h, you should go to France or Poland. 😂
Let's us use Numbers: Traffic fatalities in US 2022 42795; in Germany 2023 2839.
In the german Road traffic Act Book is a list from which US state the driver licence is acknowledged and from which not.
I'm a German living in Canada, and without hesitation, I’d choose the Canadian highway over the German Autobahn any day.
I have two sons-one studying in Germany, the other in Canada. When we visit Germany, we stay at my sister’s place for the first few nights since it's closer to the airport. Here's the crazy part:
The distance from my sister's place in Germany to my son's place is 251 km.
The distance from our home in Canada to my other son's place is 231 km.
As much as I enjoy the thrill of driving fast in Germany, the travel time is almost identical. Despite the Autobahn’s reputation, I’ve never made it to my son's place in less than three hours, thanks to traffic jams and endless construction zones.
On a trip to Gelsenkirchen, you only have one state without a state-wide speed limit, Baden-Württemberg. The other two have a 120 and 130km/h limit.
And even on the A9 from Bayreuth to Berlin, where there are straight stretches without a speed limit, nowadays most cars only go 120-140km/h. There still are a few black Kombis going 240, but they are dying out since most companies made their employees pay for gas themselves. One can do the trip from Schwäbisch Hall to Berlin with a bit more thah half a tank of gas or close to two. Time saved is maybe 15 minutes, because you loose most at the gas station again. And you are definietly exhausted after going full speed all the time for 5 hours. Can be fun, did it a few times.
Now I drive a BEV and actually enjoy this thing just cruising along at 120-130 mostly by itself. You just arrive much more relaxed.
And so apparently see it most people nowadays. The times when everybody was throwing you from the left lane when you were already going 160 are over.
Germany: follow strict rules and drive as fast as you can -> SAFETY
USA: drive slow but watch Netflix at the same time and play on you phone
I'm German. We were recently on holiday in Denmark - that's around 600km from us with about half of it in Germany on the motorway. The outward journey was relaxed: I drove between 120 and 140km/h. No traffic jams. So you can drive relaxed in Germany. The return journey took almost 2 hours longer: lots of traffic jams and traffic. However, there were sections where I could drive at 240km/h. However, this really requires a lot of concentration. And if you're not used to that (or have never done it before), then it's total stress because you can neither correctly assess the speeds of others nor constantly pay attention to the traffic situation around you. Because at 240km/h you are driving in at least 3 cars: the car in front of you, your own car, and the vehicle behind you. In reality, there are at least 5-6 cars: those in the next lane, the cars that are approaching and also the ones at large far ahead (i.e. in the distance) are just as important. You have to learn this and approach it carefully over time. Otherwise the accident is only a matter of time. So yes: it's not always nice on the German motorway, but being able to drive well over 200km/h is still just incredibly fun. And I love it (like most Germans)...😊🤙
I have 16 years of driving history in Germany and also did some road trips in the US (roughly maybe 5000 miles), as well as some driving in Greece, Ireland, Czech Republic, Austria and a few other European countries. I actually prefer the US driving style, because I can use cruise control at longer times. Here in Germany, you are constantly switching lanes, because on the right lane are all the slow trucks (with speed limiters), on the left lane are the race drivers who like to do full speed, no matter the traffic situation and the middle lane is constantly merging between both. If you want to drive a constant speed with cruise control, you are adjusting all the time (or your car does adjust automatically) because you either have slower cars in front of you or someone chasing and annoying you from behind. As soon as you want to overtake somebody, people magically gain speed and you also have to speed up. It's a mess and sometimes really annoying. Of course it's more relaxed when the roads are empty, but thats not often the case. In the US, people seem to respect your security zone more and in my experience, do less tailgating and drive less agressively than in Germany. Because the speed is limited, the speed differences between lanes are not that big and you don't need to adjust and switch lanes that often... and I actually like passing on the right lane, when it's safe. Really annoying, when someone is driving slow and refusing to leave the middle lane in Germany, even though the right lane is free... you can't just pass on right. So all in all, I find driving in Germany on a busy Autobahn way more stressful than in most other countries with speed limits. And despite our intense driver training, most people think they can handle fast speeds when they don't actually know what they're doing. I did two driver safety trainings with the ADAC and learned how cars would behave in emergency situations... I think everybody should do that... it gives you a whole different perspective, how losing control about your car feels. When you drive 200 km/h on a road you can barely see whats coming up front, where side winds can happen or people can behave unforseen, it is everything but safe... but thats a whole different story.
According to ChatGPT, approximately 30 percent of German autobahns have no speed restrictions; probably alot less when considering construction/road repairs. At the end of the day, the German autobahn is safer and better maintained. In return, more stressful. As an American living in Germany, I often find this stress when returning from neighboring countries, which have speed limits . Wir meckern auf Höhen Niveau!