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Debunking common myths about the Autobahn

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Re: Debunking common myths about the Autobahn

#5

Just like the gun debate in the US, the speed limit debate in Germany has at its core nothing to do with rational arguments. It is about perceived restriction, limiting personal freedom, and potentially taking away a right people are used to.

Those sound like rational concerns to me.

Re: Debunking common myths about the Autobahn

#6

Just like the gun debate in the US, the speed limit debate in Germany has at its core nothing to do with rational arguments. It is about perceived restriction, limiting personal freedom, and potentially taking away a right people are used to.

Regarding the article, nothing I was going to say involved "perceived restriction, limiting personal freedom, and potentially taking away a right people are used to."

I guess you know best, "just like the gun debate".

Re: Debunking common myths about the Autobahn

#7
Eco arguments are what they are. Regarding accidents, making speeders drive slower will not make general population improve their driving. I wonder how many accidents happened because the driver of the slower car didn’t even bother to check their mirrors when changing the lane.

Re: Debunking common myths about the Autobahn

#9
Proponents of unlimited speed Autobahn could argue: 1. The tourism value: I anecdotally know people visit Germany just for the Autobahn. (See Nürburgring, which is technically an Autobahn) 2. Sale of performance cars: The high actual minimum speed (from my experience you need to drive at around 150km/h in the middle lane, and 180-200km/h to pass on the left lane). Almost anywhere else in the world, the top speed of cars is irrelevant. In Germany, however, high performance cars (inevitably, German brand ones) can be desired for their better handling at speeds at or above 200km/h. 3. Germans collectively have excellent driving mannerisms and skills which were a result of unlimited speed. It is probably true that enforcing a speed limit today would decrease deaths, but the next generation would then regress to the mean. I would be interested to see someone quantify the above points and compare them with the economic costs discussed in the OP article.

Re: Debunking common myths about the Autobahn

#10
post #8

The problem with the Autobahn are the 120 km/h speed limits that are there on a sizeable portion of it for no reason. They should remove all the speed limits, not add more.

Most of those limits are for noise levels and surface conditions.
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