[Peace will be here soon]

"Explain how the autobahn is one of the safest roads in the world despite no speed limit at all?"

This is kind of a tricky question. I know it wasn`t directed at me, but I can`t help myself here.

The Autobahn is very well maintained , that in itself makes it a safer road to travel. It is much different than the highways in the U.S.. Most to all Germans who travel it kind of know the rules and follow them fairly well. When you have cars traveling at very high rates of speed coming up behind you, you tend to pay attention. The Autobahn is also well policed and there are stiff penalties for doing the wrong thing.

Unlike our highways, which are crap , and people act like idiots because they do not respect other drivers.

So comparing our highways to the Autobahn is really not a good comparison, IMO.

[rwfromkansas]

some good points

[dc27]

So comparing our highways to the Autobahn is really not a good comparison, IMO.

I drove quite a bit in Germany and never saw a pothole anywhere. The Autobahn is very thick concrete. There is nothing like a Porsche 911 passing you like you were standing still, while you are doing 175kph.

[tfecw]

Toss in the German car inspections compared to the American car "inspections" ;)

"Right blinker work? Tail lights work? Okay you pass"

Also if I remember correctly it's/was a heck of a lot harder/expensive to get a license over there. None of this 30 bucks for 7 years stuff.

I'd be interested in what the average person's top speed is when they are driving. I know some asshats are going to bomb down the road where the limit is what their car can do, and grandma and grandpa will putt along at 40 regardless. I've found myself topping out at 80ish regardless of the speed limit. Even down in Texas when it was 75 i think i may have done 85. I honestly couldn't see myself going any faster than that for any sustained length of time. I wonder what the average driver would do?

[rollin]

The driving qualification tests for most of Western Europe are significantly more difficult that is required for U.S. drivers. That is one of the reasons not often cited why the Western European accident rates are lower than in the U.S.

Also, the penalties for causing an accident are more severe than in the U.S.