The AutoBahn
"Despite the general high speeds, the accident and death rate on the Autobahn is relatively low. Autobahn crashes account for only 10% of national traffic fatalities and, in fact, the fatality rate is lower on the Autobahn than on US Interstates."
We've all heard it before from the police, driver's ed classes, defensive driving classes, government officials, and many more that speed kills and the way to be safe on the road is to have low speed limits. Then tell me why then is the Autobahn, at which traffic averages 120 MPH, the safest highway in the world. In fact, the autobahn goes as far as to have absolutely no speed limit through parts of it. Speed doesn't kill, bad drivers do. Why is the autobahn safer than most US highways when the average speed is twice the legal limit? There are many reasons which will be pointed out in the links below but I'll give you a basic summary. It's highly maintained and always in excellent condition. Passing is only allowed on the left and things such as cellphones and eating while driving are strictly enforced. Drunk driving is not tolerated at all and can result in losing your license forever. This page was created to educate people about the speed limit and how there should be an autobahn in the US. I didn't realize until recently just how safe the autobahn is and I would bet less than 1% of America realizes this. This will probably not be a reality as the government cares more about revenue from speeding tickets than the actual safety of its citizens on the roads. I am by no means saying that you should be going 150 mph on your local highway but if the highway system was redone correctly, we would have less accidents and fatalities while allowing drivers to reach their destinations faster and also helping out the economy. If you have any comments or suggested links please post them here or email me at webmaster@rapidcars.com
Driving in Germany - The Autobahn
