Can someone describe this for me?

[Sam Fisher]

The Autobahn. Anybody who has driven on it, please describe what it's like. Thanks!

 

[Vanilla Bear]

Huh? You have Freeways over there. That's your Autobahn.

 

[PirateKing]

It's a place you can cross on foot. Don't mind the cars speeding by, those are just....holograms.

 

[Kingfisher]

It's a specialized "freeway", where you need a special drivers license in order to exceed certain speeds. During certain times of the day speed limits can be restricted or unlimited to certain extents. It isn't grab the nearest Porsche and speed along like everyone thinks it is.

 

[luis1972]

Highway

 

[lurkingdirk]

Lots of good info here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_autobahns

A hard limit is imposed on some vehicles:
60 km/h

Buses carrying standing passengers
Motorcycles pulling trailers

80 km/h

Vehicles with maximum allowed weight exceeding 3.5 t (except passenger cars)
Passenger cars and trucks with trailers
Buses

100 km/h

Passenger cars pulling trailers certified for 100 km/h
Buses certified for 100 km/h not pulling trailers

The German autobahns are famous for being some of the few public roads in the world without blanket speed limits for cars and motorcycles.

Speed limits do apply at junctions and other danger points, like sections under construction or in need of repair. Speed limits at non-construction sites are generally 100 km/h, 120 km/h, or even 130 km/h; construction sites have a usual speed limit of 80 km/h but may be as low as 60 km/h, or in very rare cases, even 40 km/h. Certain stretches have separate, and lower, speed limits used in cases of wet lanes or in order to reduce noise pollution during overnight hours (usually 10pm – 6am).

 

[cindy CD/TV]

Huh? You have Freeways over there. That's your Autobahn.

Hi maley-boo! :kiss: Many of U.S. highways are cracked and bumpy --- not well maintained at all. It's my understanding that the Autobahn is a VERY well maintained road: if a crack or pothole appears, it gets fixed right away. Here, it may take weeks, or months, for problems to be fixed. And we have speed limits. Generally our speeds are restricted to 55 mph, but nearly everyone exceed it and risk getting stopped by police.

 

[Red Spyder]

^ Not only that, the higher speed limits are at about 65 mph or 70 mph in some places AND speed traps just about everywhere, especially when going through smaller towns.

 

[Roald]

certain parts are still fun. Like 300+ km/hour fun

 

[cindy CD/TV]

^^^ 300 kph ... is that about 180 mph or so? (I'm terrible with the metric system ) The fastest I have ever traveled in a car was about 125 mph -- I was a passenger, totally drunk, laying on the backseat. I screamed for my life. If I ever had a man card, that would've been the moment I lost it forever. Shame. :anonymous:

 

[Death-Proof-69]

^^^ 300 kph ... is that about 180 mph or so? (I'm terrible with the metric system ) The fastest I have ever traveled in a car was about 125 mph -- I was a passenger, totally drunk, laying on the backseat. I screamed for my life. If I ever had a man card, that would've been the moment I lost it forever. Shame. :anonymous:

you should never ride passenger with me then...just sayin

 

[Supafly]

Here's Tom Hanks explaining it to Dave Letterman

 

[Supafly]

As stated before, not every part of the Autobahn is without speedlimits. But I think most parts of it are. I have traveled many times on it, as a passenger, as I have no driver's permit. And of course, the best times were when we were, like, the early morning hours, around five in the morning, and in a well-powered Mercedes Benz rental car that my colleague who drove it, got up to 210 km/h (60 miles per hour are 100 kilometers per hour, you do the math )

Of course, he brought along a burnt CD with speed meatal tracks. That was one occasion I enjoyed metal!

And yes, the german autobahn is in a condition like runways, partially because they were planned as backup runways in case of war, for the allied forces back in the day.

 

[Opatagio]

Beware of the overpowered Vespas tho! Driving middle lane when a dude in left lane passed me on his Vespa wearing a helmet with no visir, scarf, jacket, and shorts. I held about 90-95km/h speed when I saw that one... real scary !

 

[PierreDK]

100 km/h is 62,14 mph

1m = 1/1000km is defined as "the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1 ⁄ 299,792,458 of a second"
Originally one ten-millionth of the distance from the Earth's equator to the North Pole at sea level.