Quote Of The Day: The Politics Of Limitless Speed Edition
Deutsche Straßen sind nicht der Nürburgring.
But there I go, quoting German Minister of Transportation Peter Ramsauer out of context, and in the original. Herr Ramsauer’s rebuke comes on news of a late-night crash involving a future Mercedes ML Class prototype, that resulted in the death of a 26-year old man over the weekend. The crash took place on a stretch of non-speed-limited autobahn between Singen and Stuttgart, favored by Mercedes and Porsche for high-speed testing. Apparently the victim had been involved in a minor accident and was trying to exit his vehicle (stalled in the left lane, according to Der Spiegel) when the Mercedes test mule slammed into his car, killing him instantly. The 52-year old test driver is under investigation for negligent homicide.
Minister Ramsauer’s full quote in Autobild goes something like this:
We must wait for the results of the investigation. Test drivers are professionals. They should not behave themselves like Rambo, rather their driving must serve as an example to the rest of traffic. The German streets are not the Nürburgring
Of course, don’t expect the good Minister to actually change the speed limit laws. After all, the German automakers have long enjoyed an advantage over their competitors thanks to Germany’s autobahn system. If only in the PR and marketing departments. But then, why wouldn’t the phrase “autobahn tuned” come up in the vast majority of Mercedes ML sales?
More by Edward Niedermeyer
Comments
Join the conversation
I am getting ready to do 7 hours of Autobahn driving after work today. I love it. I will purposely drive an hour out of the way to find a little less traffic and no geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung (speed limit). The driving test here costs about 3 grand and is much more intensive than in the US. Plus, if you are in the habit of driving in the left lane like a grandma, some BMW or Porsche driver will get up on your ass and flash his lights and honk his horn until you figure out the rules.
10 years of living in Belgium has taught me that our near neighbours in Germany are excellent drivers and have fabulous tarmac. Always love the occasional spin out to the Nurburgring. On the whole, Belgian drivers try to drive like they are on the Autobahn, travelling regularly over 160kmh and often leaving a safety gap as much as 5 metres from the next car (15 foot). They will sit in the middle or the outside lane even if there is plenty of space in the inside (slow) lanes because if you ever indicate to show your intention to move into a faster lane, the person behind will accelerate to close the gap so you don't get in their way. So people stay put or don't indicate. And what might be a little bit of rain in France or Germany creating some minor amount of spray, suddenley becomes a life threatening deluge when you arrive in Belgium. The rain isn't any heavier, it's just that the Government mandates that all highways must be constructed with low noise tarmac, the corollary of which is massive quantities of surface water from poor drainage.
ah yes, the A8...some good times along that stretch of Autobahn (though most of my driving was done from Landau/Karlsruhe to Pforzheim and then Stuttgart. As I recall, the "recommended" limit of 130 kmh is just that...recommended. Don't be in the left lane when the traffic sign comes up with no limit if you're driving something slow. And for the record, flashing the headlights is verboten officially, though I still see people doing it. Just to illustrate the mindset differences between German traffic control and American...I'm getting ready to merge onto the A8 coming out of Karlsruhe, ahead of me are two cars and a Polizei motorcycle. It becomes apparent that the lead car is in no hurry to build speed to round the bend and merge. So what does the good officer on the motorcyle do? He speeds up alongside the driver of the lead car and "enthusiastically" relays to the driver of the car to speed up. Can you imagine one of our finest out on some interstate actually trying to get a driver to go faster (without motivations of issueing a citation, of course)? And for the record, 250 kmh sure feels awfully fast...:)
i hate when people drive slow in the left lanes of interstate highways. even worse is when you get up behind someone and they wave at you like you're the asshole who doesn't know how to drive.