charlie hebdoYou make self-serving assumptions. You say I have been to Germany "a few or several times" but the number is closer to 20. Most of my stays have been a month, some as long as a year. Yes, actually living there. I have friends and family all over, north, south the Rhineland and former DDR. I speak German and am quite aware of a large number of dialects but Hochdeutsch is universally used. Political differences are not as simple as your comment suggests. I majored in Central European history as an undergrad and have remained a lifelong reader of the same. I am glad you developed a lifelong interest in Germany and also hopefully its history and culture, seemingly far moreso than most guys stationed there did. Tschuss!!
.......Okay good to know that. Up until now you only mentioned a few trips. I am online with Europeans frequently.
I play the internet game "Conflict of Nations". Last week was allied with a Father-Son team from the Netherlands, some guy from France and another from Algeria. In a new game now starting to form a new alliance. So far this game I have Japan, both Koreas, Phillipines, moving into Vietnam/Cambodia. Nobody in the world seems to know Airmobile doctrine so I usually win (like taking candy from a baby.....they always do the "whack a mole" against my airmobile units but can never do much damage because they move so quick) but am surprised every once in a while and run into an opponent that is a challenge. Getting bored with it and will probably move on in a bit.
You make self-serving assumptions. You say I have been to Germany "a few or several times" but the number is closer to 20. Most of my stays have been a month, some as long as a year. Yes, actually living there. I have friends and family all over, north, south the Rhineland and former DDR. I speak German and am quite aware of a large number of dialects but Hochdeutsch is universally used. Political differences are not as simple as your comment suggests. I majored in Central European history as an undergrad and have remained a lifelong reader of the same. I am glad you developed a lifelong interest in Germany and also hopefully its history and culture, seemingly far moreso than most guys stationed there did. Tschuss!!
charlie hebdoI ask simply because your observations are dated. You wouldn't pay much heed to observations of conditions here from someone who was last present 30+ years ago. I have personally seen the changes over the past ~50 years, especially since reunification.
Well not exactly, I pay attention to anyone on this forum that speaks honestly or makes a decent attempt to. The ones I have issue with are those that try to be someone they are not or inflate their professional background to a level well beyond what it was. I understand you have been to Germany several times. Thats fine but you also need to recognize Southern Germany is not the same as Northern Germany so just as a starting point our experiences are going to be different and viewed differently because we are using two different lenses for the same country to start. In fact there are segments of the Language in personal greetings and other verbal exchanges that are different between North and South. The Politics of the North are far more left-wing than those of the South, etc, etc.
Beyond that I play the "Conflict of Nations" game pretty regularly with folks from Germany, France and the Netherlands (go NATO!!). :) Some in military, some kids, others just regular adults. One of my players this last week was telling me he went in for a COVID-19 shot in the Netherlands and caught COVID-19 while waiting for the shot in the waiting room (nice -eh?). He just got released from the Hospital. People criticize the United States and then you hear about a story like that and realize the Europeans are even more screwed up than we are. So I do have contact regularly with German Nationals just via this game but also via other apps.
Anyways just a sample, most of the above isn't that relevant either because you can Google and come across this page link below. Note the blue overlay on the German autobahns, the blue is created from autobahn drivers reporting back to the website that there is really no upper speed limit on the blue sections.
http://autobahnspeedhunter.com/
There are other apps on the internet probably more accurate and I am sure there is even a German National Road Map with speed limits annotated on the autobahn. So while I understand you have been to Germany a few times. Is it really relevant to the conversational points?
I ask simply because your observations are dated. You wouldn't pay much heed to observations of conditions here from someone who was last present 30+ years ago. I have personally seen the changes over the past ~50 years, especially since reunification.
charlie hebdoConditions change over time. A lot more areas with congestion. When was the last time you were there?
You always say that.
THe congested areas might have expanded a little but not much. You still have large rural areas across Germany. Been all over the country by train and car both. Germans do not move around a lot nor do they tend to sprawl from metro areas into new suburban areas as happens in the United States. Hell I can buy a decent house in rural Germany cheaper than I can in most areas of North Dallas. They even have fixer up Castles for sale for less than $3 million.
charlie hebdoOM: And Autobahne and other roads in Germany have had lane cameras issuing tickets by mail for years.
In some but not all areas.
They have them where I live for red lights. The State of Texas had them all turned off. Massive investment made in them in the suburbs around me. Seemed just about every intersection had one at one point.
They are very random, not perfect and would routinely fine the innocent (liberals loved the revenue stream regardless). When they were on, I ran more than my share of red lights by mistake and never got a ticket......plenty of flashes though from the cameras. Enough other drivers noticed this over time and pressured the state legislature to shut them down. You can ask Germans that live there if they feel the cameras are perfect and you will get varying answers......probably a matter of time before Germany shuts them down as well. Though more difficult to achieve with a Federal vs Local police force (local LEO's more likely to advocate for civil liberties than Federal LEO's) but over time I feel the Germans will vote them turned off.
OvermodI have no trouble reading a license plate as I let someone go by, and see that a vehicle has a rental barcode sticker.
OK have you been passed by someone doing well over 100 mph on the autobahn? I have. If you think you can read all those digits and commit to memory that fast then fine.....of course we have no way to test that here.
charlie hebdo OM: And Autobahne and other roads in Germany have had lane cameras issuing tickets by mail for years.
OM: And Autobahne and other roads in Germany have had lane cameras issuing tickets by mail for years.
We of course had a battle over 'red-light cameras' in Tennessee which contained a remarkable number of 'shortened yellows' when the new enforcement... by private groups with State ticket enforcement... was installed. The straw that broke the camel's back was at the intersection of Farm Road and Walnut Grove (55mph westbound, 45 east) which was changed overnight to less than half the legal delay -- resulting promptly in a rash of rear-end collisions as people long accustomed to the delay reacted to the unexpected high-dollar reds. Now we have legislation making those cameras almost impossible to install... and incidentally greatly complicating any effort to do photo enforcement of railroad crossings, a far more important potential use of the technology.
Minimum speed means minimum speed -- comparable to the 40mph restriction on Interstates. The left-lane minimum restriction is higher because, as here, there is a hard restriction that slower traffic keep to the right and that no passing on the right is permissible, so dawdling in the left lane is verboten -- as it probably should be, far more often, here.
Any convoy or heavy transport that can't maintain 37mph, just as traffic on Interstates that can't maintain 40, would require special permission and oerhaps special escort and probably be restricted to less trafficked times of day... that's just common sense.
None of this applies to the high-speed driving above 'recommended' 130km/h that was being discussed, though.
I have no trouble reading a license plate as I let someone go by, and see that a vehicle has a rental barcode sticker. The polizei I call will have no more trouble identifying the vehicle when they see it a few miles further along.
I am reasonably sure that once they have pulled it over, they will have ways to scan the code if they or the rental company need to.
In Memphis we have had highway units for years and years with high-resolution robotic cameras on their roofs, which can easily resolve data down to small size when both vehicles are moving at high speed on rough pavement in any visibility conducive to high speed. Presumably that technology is no less available in jurisdictions either here or 'overseas' that might have a use for it.
CMStPnP charlie hebdo On Autobahne, the minimum speed is 60 kmh (37 mph) in the right lane. In the far left lane, it's 110 kmh (68 mph). Minimum speed is for individual drivers with exceptions. No Max speed beyond a recommended speed in rural areas. It was that way when I was there and is still that way. Military convoys, construction equipment, oversized loads, etc are all exempt from min speed or it is not enforced.
charlie hebdo On Autobahne, the minimum speed is 60 kmh (37 mph) in the right lane. In the far left lane, it's 110 kmh (68 mph).
Minimum speed is for individual drivers with exceptions. No Max speed beyond a recommended speed in rural areas. It was that way when I was there and is still that way. Military convoys, construction equipment, oversized loads, etc are all exempt from min speed or it is not enforced.
Conditions change over time. A lot more areas with congestion. When was the last time you were there?
OvermodIt was my understanding that other drivers can, and do, rat out any driver they perceive as driving too fast for their skill or training. This particularly applies to tourists. Rental Mercedes S-class have plates and bar code stickers, etc. that clearly identify them as rentals, so even if the car has no internal tattletale event recording it may not be long at "150mph" before the party is brought to a premature end.
Blink your eye. You have a little less time than that to record all that info. Now if your Steve Austin with bionic hands and eyes you can probably do it.
GrampAre there any autobahn top speed limits now?
Only in urbanized areas and on some stretches they lower it further via electronic means via rush hours. In rural areas it is still unlimited. I think they tried a National Speed Limit and the measure failed.
charlie hebdoOn Autobahne, the minimum speed is 60 kmh (37 mph) in the right lane. In the far left lane, it's 110 kmh (68 mph).
A great deal of Autobahn mileage is restricted to 130km/h or below. Only when you see this sign
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Zeichen_282_-_Ende_s%C3%A4mtlicher_Streckenverbote,_StVO_1970.svg
can you travel faster than that. I suspect it is only a matter of time, probably driven by zero-carbon resolution, before some kind of uniform national restriction is imposed, but as of earlier this year that had not taken place.
It was my understanding that other drivers can, and do, rat out any driver they perceive as driving too fast for their skill or training. This particularly applies to tourists. Rental Mercedes S-class have plates and bar code stickers, etc. that clearly identify them as rentals, so even if the car has no internal tattletale event recording it may not be long at "150mph" before the party is brought to a premature end.
I certainly agree that it is better to go 300km/h in a train rather than in a car if you are going to have a beer (warm or not) in your hand.
Are there any autobahn top speed limits now? I remember in the early 70's there were none. Memories of being in an Opel straining to pass a slower vehicle going up a hill, and having those Mercedes flash their headlights as they rocketed up from behind.
CMStPnP 54light15 I've traveled a lot on the ICE and never had a bad meal or a warm beer. I look forward to the day when I can do it again. it would never occur to me to drive a car in Germany when they have such an amazing rail system. But that's just me. Heh, if he is renting a Mercedes S Class and talking about speeds of around 150 mph, he is obviously a car ethusiast. I can tell you that most American Drivers do not drive 150 mph even if they can, most of them their top speed is 90-100 mph. The biggest reason is the faster you go the more hyper sensitive the car is to correction via steering wheel and a lot of Americans grew up on cars with play in the wheel so to speak vs a precise steering wheel. So unless you have practice driving high speed........I would not recommend it. It's a lesson you learn quick on the autobahn...........that and of course there are vehicles just a lane or two over driving as slow as 30-35 mph.
54light15 I've traveled a lot on the ICE and never had a bad meal or a warm beer. I look forward to the day when I can do it again. it would never occur to me to drive a car in Germany when they have such an amazing rail system. But that's just me.
Heh, if he is renting a Mercedes S Class and talking about speeds of around 150 mph, he is obviously a car ethusiast. I can tell you that most American Drivers do not drive 150 mph even if they can, most of them their top speed is 90-100 mph. The biggest reason is the faster you go the more hyper sensitive the car is to correction via steering wheel and a lot of Americans grew up on cars with play in the wheel so to speak vs a precise steering wheel. So unless you have practice driving high speed........I would not recommend it. It's a lesson you learn quick on the autobahn...........that and of course there are vehicles just a lane or two over driving as slow as 30-35 mph.
On Autobahne, the minimum speed is 60 kmh (37 mph) in the right lane. In the far left lane, it's 110 kmh (68 mph).
I rode on a new-built stretch of railway between Nuremberg and Munich that was alongside the autobahn. At 300 kph we were passing cars like they were parked. I've driven at 100 mph several times over the years- I find that my senses "pick up" if you know what I mean. Very sensitive to any input, more than if I was driving at 70 mph. It becomes tiring after a while and I imagine a race car driver is pretty worn out at the end of a long race if that is what happens to everyone that drives at such speeds. At 300 kph on the ICE with a beer in my hand, it was very relaxing. Can't wait to do it again!
54light15I've traveled a lot on the ICE and never had a bad meal or a warm beer. I look forward to the day when I can do it again. it would never occur to me to drive a car in Germany when they have such an amazing rail system. But that's just me.
I've traveled a lot on the ICE and never had a bad meal or a warm beer. I look forward to the day when I can do it again. it would never occur to me to drive a car in Germany when they have such an amazing rail system. But that's just me.
Interesting read. The Waffle House crowd here is going to love those DB Pandemic menu offerings in the cafe car. Nice dog and interesting that DB makes you buy a ticket for carrying dogs above a specific size.
https://onemileatatime.com/deutsche-bahn-ice-first-class-review/
Mentioned in a seperate article in another publication, DB is to replace all plastic cutlery with wood in an effort to save on plastic waste. Now that will be different! Wonder if the wood will be more sturdy or break more than the plastic.
Seperate article on sandwiches served on DB, those are pretty low cost ingredients but they sound like the sandwich would taste pretty good......
https://tripbytrip.org/2020/12/20/the-delicious-german-state-secret-dining-onboard-deutsche-bahn/
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