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  #1  
Old 31 Jul 2008
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German speed limits
Is there a list of German Autobahns which have no speed limit? When we went to the German HU meet we just kind of followed the speeds of the locals. We may have been breaking the speed limits or maybe not.
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  #2  
Old 1 Aug 2008
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A round, white sign with 4 gray lines running across it --> go as fast as you like.

You´ll actually see few Germans going very fast, if there is a limit present, and cops will fine offenders heavily.
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Old 1 Aug 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JimOD View Post
Is there a list of German Autobahns which have no speed limit?
No. You just have to watch out for the usual signposting as everywhere else.

Quote:
Originally Posted by JimOD View Post
When we went to the German HU meet we just kind of followed the speeds of the locals. We may have been breaking the speed limits or maybe not.
Although it is always good to flow with the traffic, being as fast as all the others would not exclude you from getting a ticket and/or being fined if the locals are going to fast.
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  #4  
Old 1 Aug 2008
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There is NO speed limit on German Autobahns, except if otherwise posted.

Typical restrictions signposted are 130 or 120 or 100 km/h.

In case of construction work this could be as low as 80 or 60 km/h.

This is the sign for a restriction (120 km/h max.):



This is the sign, when a restriction (here 70 km/h) is finished and you can go full throttle again.




Breaking the speed limit gets expensive (plus you lose your licence) if you are more than 40 km/h above the speed limit. You will see many Germans on the Autobahn making use of that rule and navigating just below that mark. that means at a restriction of 120 km/h you will probably go with the flow at 150 km/h.

Otherwise, remember that many German cars drive above 250 km/h, sometimes even 300 km/h, so do not block the left lane.
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Old 3 Aug 2008
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As has been said before, there is no speed limit at all, unless there's a sign telling you how fast you're allowed to go.

Also:
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Originally Posted by Travelbug View Post
Otherwise, remember that many German cars drive above 250 km/h, sometimes even 300 km/h, so do not block the left lane.
This is probably the most important piece of advice anyone can ever give. German drivers tend to be very impatient and come really close if they have the feeling you're not supposed to be in their lane. Thus, if you're inexperienced with cars and motorcycles going above 250 km/h try to keep to the right and only use the left lane if necessary. And always make sure to check your mirrors twice before changing lanes - a car that seems far and distant one second can be right behind you the next second.

If you follow this advice and don't exaggerate you'll be fine. Also: If you have a foreign (aka non-German) driver's license the police is not allowed to take it away. They will however double the fines for speeding, so be careful if you don't want to spend 500€ for unneccesary speeding
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Old 4 Aug 2008
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I agree. I still remember a long time ago driving my parents' Merc at 200 km/h down an almost empty motorway. About 500 or 600 m in front of us a truck put on it's indicators and just changed lanes. I only just managed to slow the car down to the truck's 90km/h over that distance. Remember: stopping distance increases with the square of the speed.

Even if the police can't keep your papers, in any country foreign vehicles will be impounded if the driver fails to pay a fine on the spot. The Italians routinely escort them to the nearest ATM, as seen on German TV.
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Old 4 Aug 2008
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Even if the police can't keep your papers, in any country foreign vehicles will be impounded if the driver fails to pay a fine on the spot. The Italians routinely escort them to the nearest ATM, as seen on German TV.
That is, indeed, correct. They cannot take away your license but they will impound your car/motorcycle if you cannot pay the fine either on the spot or within a reasonable amount of time, meaning you're allowed to cross the street in order to get to an ATM but you're not allowed to drive away in order to do so - it has to be within walkable distance. Thus, make sure to either always observe the speed limit (especially on construction sites, they're very anal about that) or carry a proper amount of cash with you at all times.

Needless to say that I strongly suggest observing the speed limit, it's there for a reason and not just for fun.
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