The Autobahn: Demystifying the Legendary German Roadway
No speed limit—really? The true story of what the Autobahn actually is and whether or not you should care.
What’s in a name?
As with most German words, the word Autobahn has a literal translation that is usually delightful in its blunt simplicity as well as an English equivalent that we use to translate it. To start, let’s unpack these two elements.
Autobahn is a compound word composed of Auto, a noun which means “car,” and Bahn, another noun which can have several different meanings. In an abstract sense, it means “track” or “path,” and without any specific context it usually it refers to a train. But when combined with another noun, Bahn can mean something more specific. For example, Eisenbahn, literally “iron track,” means “railroad” in English. Strassenbahn, literally “street track,” means “tram” in English. And Rennbahn both literally and in its English translation means “racetrack.”
So Autobahn literally means “car track,” but in German, this is simply the word for “highway” or “freeway.” And in practice, that’s all it really means. “The Authobahn,” as we English speakers call it, does not refer to a legendary, devil-may-care stretch of roadway where speed-demon drivers in Porsches, Audis and BMWs are constantly racing from point A to point B; it’s just the German word for “highway.” It’s kind of like the word Luftwaffe, which came to represent the brutal bombers and fighter squadrons of Nazi Germany during World War II. That word, however, literally means “air weapon” and is just the German word for “air force.”
Is there really no speed limit?
There are plenty of speed limits on the Autobahn. The most common is 120 kph (75 mph). If there is a reason to require slower speeds than that — such as a suspension bridge, a tunnel, a sharp turn in the roadway or when passing through an interchange with many on- and off-ramps — then you might find the speed restricted to 100 kph (60 mph) or 80 kph (50 mph). In construction areas where some lanes are closed and traffic flow is redirected from its normal route, it can be as slow as 60 kph (40 mph).
Speed limits are informed by round white signs with a thick red border and a number indicating the maximum speed in kilometers per hour.
But when there’s no construction, no interchanges, no sharp turns and the road ahead is wide, straight and flat, you’ll see a wonderful sign that looks like this.
Any sign without color and diagonal stripes through it means that whatever was being enforced — maximum speed, no passing, or even parking restrictions — is now over. When you see this sign on the Autobahn, feel free to put the pedal to the metal and let ’er rip, cuz’ starting now, there’s no speed limit.
Is it fun?
It probably is for some folks. I have personally not found it that much fun to be on the Autobahn. If I owned or had rented a very fast, modern sports car, then as long as I didn’t crash it, I’m sure I would have a blast. But to be disappointingly honest, I’ve only ever driven an economy car and a motorcycle on the Autobahn: the former was boring and the latter was freakin’ scary.
Anyway, most Germans don’t really own fast cars. Instead, they have cheap, practical, compact cars that can’t even go that fast anyway. Cars like that take a lot of work to squeeze every out ounce of performance in order to get to a cruising speed of just 140 kph (85 mph). And even if you do that, driving fast consumes a lot of fuel, and fuel is expensive.
If you are doing a long trip between cities in Germany, you’ll probably want to save a few bucks as well as save the time of having to stop frequently at gas stations and just drive at a more manageable pace. Due to frequent construction zones and the occasional full-stop traffic jam due to an accident (the kind where everyone gets our of their cars and chats about what the hell might be going on), you might not even get there any sooner with a faster car.
And as far as motorcycles are concerned, I do not see very many on the Autobahn. Germans love motorcycles as much as anywhere else in the world and I see them damn near everywhere in the summer — but rarely on the Autobahn. My bike is a supermoto bike, designed for powerful acceleration at lower speeds and a bit of off-road hijinks. But at high speeds, it becomes unstable and the single-cylinder, 50-horse-power motor has trouble keeping up with large vehicles any faster than 120 kph (75 mph).
The few times I’ve taken it on the Autobahn, I’ve had to stick to the middle lane trying desperately to pass the big, slow truckers like Elephants in the right lane, while also carefully avoiding the occasional Audi SUV like a bat out of hell in the left lane.
And all that risk for what? Just to get to work? Nope: not fun, not worth it. Maybe if I had a sport bike, something made for speed and stability on asphalt, I might enjoy myself, but that’s starting to get suicidally dangerous. And anyway, the Autobahn it’s just a wide, straight, flat road with lots of risk and few thrills to be had in a fast vehicle. It’s made for efficient commuting and definitely not for motor sports, so just go to a track if that’s what you really want.
Can you get a ticket?
Practically speaking, not really. You’d have to make a long-standing habit of conspicuously driving like a maniac before you got into any real trouble. Unlike in the United States where cops are setting speed traps and hiding out in the bushes with their radar guns ready to pull you over and write up a chickenshit ticket, the police in Germany have real problems like terrorism, Russian spies and human trafficking to worry about. I have never seen a single person pulled over for a traffic violation. I’ve mostly only seen the cops in Germany helping people, if you can believe that.
The worst that’ll happen is you get geblitzt—literally “flashed,” which refers to the bright red or white flash from a traffic camera that just caught you running a light or speeding. Sure, you get too many of these and you’ll lose your drivers license, but the fines are only about 20 or 30 euros each time. A similar infraction in the United States will easily cost you five or even ten times as much.
This is much more preferable to the American version of getting a ticket, which requires sitting around in your car while some dumb-fuck cop treats you like he’s God almighty and you’re the scum of the Earth just because you passed some granny in a Buick across a double yellow line and he happened to notice it between big fat mouthfuls coffee and donuts.
Sorry, I’m still pissed off over a few old tickets in the U.S.
Is it worth it?
Ehhh, probably not. For what it would cost to rent a fast car and go somewhere interesting, you could more comfortably and more affordably take a train to get to the same place. You’d arrive just as fast, but you could relax and gaze out the window at the beautiful German countryside — green fields, quaint villages and wind farms as far as the eye can see.
If you really have a bucket-list itch to scratch when it comes to motor sport and you find yourself in Germany, try going to the Nuremberg Ring where you might actually have some fun.
You might also enjoy exploring the countless country roads (Landstrassen) that cut through the millions of acres of farmland connecting one picturesque little village to the next. All Landstrassen have a speed limit of 100 kph (60 mph) and they can get pretty winding and fun, not to mention there’s hardly any sign of cops or traffic cameras. That’s where I do my motorcycle riding and I find it thrilling as can be.
The Autobahn, however, which is little more than a regular highway, really isn’t the legendary attraction that people have built it up to be.
Sorry to burst your bubble!
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