Autobahn Fun
10-10-2006, 02:39 PM
#1
4th Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2006
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Posts: 1,268
Autobahn Fun
Back from 11 fun days in Germany.... I hit 132 mph on the autobahn with my rented Merceded C220 Diesel.... going down a long 2 mile grade.... the roads there are fantastic. 90 mph feels like you are parked. NO bumps, no expansion strips, no potholes. MUCH BETTER drivers there, they stay out of the left lane if they are not passing, and they pull over if a faster car comes up.
10-10-2006, 02:53 PM
#2
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location:
Posts: 371
RE: Autobahn Fun
Too bad American (and American visitor) drivers aren't quite as considerate or skilled. Drivers here have a "**** everybody else the road is MINE" mentality. Sharing doesn't seem to be in many people's vocabulary.
10-10-2006, 06:45 PM
#3
MF Administrator
Join Date: May 2005
Location: South Carolina
Posts: 8,191
RE: Autobahn Fun
ORIGINAL: LX200
Back from 11 fun days in Germany.... I hit 132 mph on the autobahn with my rented Merceded C220 Diesel.... going down a long 2 mile grade.... the roads there are fantastic. 90 mph feels like you are parked. NO bumps, no expansion strips, no potholes. MUCH BETTER drivers there, they stay out of the left lane if they are not passing, and they pull over if a faster car comes up.
Back from 11 fun days in Germany.... I hit 132 mph on the autobahn with my rented Merceded C220 Diesel.... going down a long 2 mile grade.... the roads there are fantastic. 90 mph feels like you are parked. NO bumps, no expansion strips, no potholes. MUCH BETTER drivers there, they stay out of the left lane if they are not passing, and they pull over if a faster car comes up.
Glad to hear that you made it back safely. I was concerned that they may stop you at US Customs - they rarely let undesirables back into the country! [8D]
10-10-2006, 07:09 PM
#4
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 205
RE: Autobahn Fun
In America the only traffic law that is enforced is speeding, and running red lights, because both are cash cows. It's about income, not safety.
Nobody gives a crap about weaving, tailgating, lane changing without signals, blocking the passing lane, driving a rickety unsafe piece of crap, doing dumb *** crap like attaching hood scoops and spoilers with sticky tape so they can fly off and hit another car.
Plus we bonehead up the whole fast/slow lane thing by having people merging and unmerging on the left sometimes.
Also, the autobahn's roadbed is 2 or 3 times as thick as the interstates over here, and are better maintained. In our defense, though, we have a whole lot bigger country with a whole lot more roads to maintain.
I've also heard that when a german is ticketed, the fine is relative to his income, so a rich guy might get a 10,000 fine while a poor guy gets 100. So you don't have rich folk who feel they can blow off that fix-it ticket or moving violation. It's also a lot harder to get a license, because you have to actually know how to drive. It's not just "parallel park, know how to activate turn signals, here's your ticket"
I get irked everytime somebody waves me in, when they have right of way. They think they're being polite, but they're being stupid and dangerous.
But I'm a transplanted canadian, when I learned to drive it was a lot more rigorous, and there was a good focus on controlling skids and driving in inclement weather. Every time theres a snowfall in maryland, sure enough there's a 50+ car pile up on one of the local highways. Apparently, people are too stupid to understand that snow and water are slippery, and they should slow down and back off. Nope, 2' off the car in fronts bumper thats all the space you need to stop on ice, right?
Nobody gives a crap about weaving, tailgating, lane changing without signals, blocking the passing lane, driving a rickety unsafe piece of crap, doing dumb *** crap like attaching hood scoops and spoilers with sticky tape so they can fly off and hit another car.
Plus we bonehead up the whole fast/slow lane thing by having people merging and unmerging on the left sometimes.
Also, the autobahn's roadbed is 2 or 3 times as thick as the interstates over here, and are better maintained. In our defense, though, we have a whole lot bigger country with a whole lot more roads to maintain.
I've also heard that when a german is ticketed, the fine is relative to his income, so a rich guy might get a 10,000 fine while a poor guy gets 100. So you don't have rich folk who feel they can blow off that fix-it ticket or moving violation. It's also a lot harder to get a license, because you have to actually know how to drive. It's not just "parallel park, know how to activate turn signals, here's your ticket"
I get irked everytime somebody waves me in, when they have right of way. They think they're being polite, but they're being stupid and dangerous.
But I'm a transplanted canadian, when I learned to drive it was a lot more rigorous, and there was a good focus on controlling skids and driving in inclement weather. Every time theres a snowfall in maryland, sure enough there's a 50+ car pile up on one of the local highways. Apparently, people are too stupid to understand that snow and water are slippery, and they should slow down and back off. Nope, 2' off the car in fronts bumper thats all the space you need to stop on ice, right?
10-10-2006, 08:18 PM
#5
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location:
Posts: 283
RE: Autobahn Fun
I go to Germany every year to visit freinds/family. The Autobahn is great fun, no speed limits away from towns.
AND YES people know how to drive. They pull over and are courteous and let you go by. Very few accidents there.
Here in California (SF bay area) you have dumb *** Mexicans driving 45-55 IN THE FAST LANE. Oblivious. They could care less. I leave for work early and I'm always having to go around them. Half of them don't have liscenses either. Can't wait to move out of this dump.
AND YES people know how to drive. They pull over and are courteous and let you go by. Very few accidents there.
Here in California (SF bay area) you have dumb *** Mexicans driving 45-55 IN THE FAST LANE. Oblivious. They could care less. I leave for work early and I'm always having to go around them. Half of them don't have liscenses either. Can't wait to move out of this dump.
10-10-2006, 08:27 PM
#6
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
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Posts: 975
RE: Autobahn Fun
ORIGINAL: Thomas Ford
Here in California (SF bay area) you have dumb *** Mexicans driving 45-55 IN THE FAST LANE. Oblivious.
Here in California (SF bay area) you have dumb *** Mexicans driving 45-55 IN THE FAST LANE. Oblivious.
10-10-2006, 08:35 PM
#7
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location:
Posts: 397
RE: Autobahn Fun
Whats worse is the jerkoffs in their 86 BMW's who think they are fast and can cut in front of you and gun it and accelerate fast enough to flow with traffic...
You think you've got it bad in the SF Bay area? Dude! Try the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles...It's worse down here...I think you'd commit murder, god knows If i had a weapon, I would have!
Some people cant drive!
You think you've got it bad in the SF Bay area? Dude! Try the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles...It's worse down here...I think you'd commit murder, god knows If i had a weapon, I would have!
Some people cant drive!
10-11-2006, 01:09 PM
#9
4th Gear Member
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Join Date: Apr 2006
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Posts: 1,268
RE: Autobahn Fun
ORIGINAL: 28hopup
Glad to hear that you made it back safely. I was concerned that they may stop you at US Customs - they rarely let undesirables back into the country! [8D]
Glad to hear that you made it back safely. I was concerned that they may stop you at US Customs - they rarely let undesirables back into the country! [8D]
