Driving in Germany

When many people think about Germany, they picture driving on the Autobahn and no speed limits. The highways in Germany are essentially the same as in the State, except there are places where there are no speed limits. There are two primary reasons for speed limits on the autobahn, construction zones and urban areas.
The A5 runs past Heidelberg, north to south. The speed limit on the A5 changes from unrestricted to 120 KPH to 100 KPH and then back to unlimited 4 exits later south of town. This is fairly common in urban areas.

The Autobahn is also frequently under construction which creates speed restrictions. The German Gov’t believes in good roads and when you are driving at 200KPH you will appreciate good roads also. This means that road construction can literally start up over night. One day you drive down the Autobahn with no construction then the next day, there is road construction.

Drivers in Germany tend to abide by the rules more. The left lane is for passing only. You will frequently see someone traveling at a high rate of speed go past and then move right across 4 lanes only to move to the left a short time later to pass someone. If there is someone traveling slowly in the left lane and the right lane is open, the faster car will not pass on the right, but will ride the bumper of the slower car until they move to the right.

Where there is no speed restriction you can drive as fast as your car will go. Although, legally and for insurance purposes, if you are involved in an accident and you are driving over 120 KPH (75MPH) you are partially responsible. Other issues affecting your safety at high speeds are other drivers and trucks. Slower drivers in the right lane can be dangerous. If they come upon an even slower vehicle, they may move over to the left lane in front of you and this can be quite harrowing as I believe that many times they do not look in the mirror before doing this.

Trucks. In Germany, trucks can travel at a maximum speed of 100KPH (62MPH) and in many places that speed may be less. Momentum is important for a truck. Any tap on the brake can slow a truck down for a long time. So when a slightly faster truck approaches a slightly slower truck they will move left and pass. There are times when a truck can take many kilometers to pass another truck and if there are hills, even longer. If the Autobahn is two lanes, the trucks will block the whole road, backing up traffic. The Germans have a phrase for this, Elephants Running.

Signage in Germany is different. If you enter I-95 in Philadelphia, you have a choice between North or South and New York or Chester. In Germany when you enter the Autobahn you have a choice between Frankfurt and Basal. There is never a direction indicator on any of the Highways even though the A5 and all the even numbered Autobahns travel North-South and the odd numbered travel East-West. If you don’t know what town/city you are traveling towards you can easily get lost. In Heidelberg it is easy for us, but on the road are we headed towards Kassal or Düsseldorf?

In counter point to the autobahn is driving on the little streets of Germany. We live on a little street and our street is in a neighborhood of little streets. On these little streets traffic moves in both directions, but there is usually not enough room for two cars and many times there are cars parked on one or both sides (legally or illegally). This means that one car has to stop and pull to the side to let the other car pass by. The other interesting aspect of driving on the little streets is that the intersections do not have stop signs. Essentially, each intersection is an all way stop and the car to your right has the right of way.