No speed limits on German Autobahns, when something goes wrong it's deadly.

German Autobahns have speed limts, Peter, only very few stretches do not and truck speed is always limited. In fact there is a speed limit at this crah site. Fog caused this. The German highway system is lightyears ahead of anything in the US. Turn off the TV and travel a bit. Their drivering skills and vehice standards are also much higher as well. Greater skills are required to earn a drivers license and you can't just drive any old POS down the road.

I've traveled the world over and Germany has excellent roads and safety regulations in place; just like most countries do. Every country I’ve visited has its own group of drivers who are ill-trained, and unsafe. The German Autobahn highways are some of the best highways I’ve ever traveled in my tours overseas and I
enjoy having the choice of driving 100km per hour or 180km per hour. Autobahn drivers can get from Point A to Point B quickly and efficiently and at a speed they choose without the hassle of worrying about an eager-beaver Highway Patrol cop who has set a speed trap at ever bend in the road. I can travel at 100km or I can travel at 180km and the driving is just as safe as if I was traveling at 55mph. There are emergency phone booths positioned every couple of kilometers with direct access to the police, ADAC and they even include cameras to monitor road conditions and weather. The easiest solution to highway driving is to drive in a safe manner. I enjoy driving overseas because I don’t feel like I have to constantly be on the lookout for some cop who is hiding behind a bush or overpass and is aiming his speed gun at me. If you ask me, having Highway Patrol cars driving around, wasting gas and ticketing people is the wrong approach to highway safety. The only good that is derived from such police actions is the generation of income via tickets for cities and corrupt politicians. Don’t get me wrong, there are Germans who make honest mistakes and who drive stupidly just like
American drivers do in the USA. How many 100 car pileups have been broadcasted on the news in recent years in Nevada, Arizona and California that are caused by unsafe drivers even when told of poor (heavy fog, icy roads etc) weather conditions? The speed limits in most of those areas on American roads averages 55mph to 70mph, so trying to equate Autobahn travel as the cause of accidents is misguided and simply not true. On days the Germans do want to impress upon Autobahn drivers to slow down a bit they are savvy enough to post in the local newspaper the exact position where they will be monitoring Autobahn speeds. Even with this advance warning, drivers STILL exceed the speed limits that are posted and as a present they receive a nice, color photograph of their license plate and mug-shot in the mail. You can’t remove stupidity from idiot drivers who can’t fathom getting out of the left lane and yielding the right of way to faster moving traffic. And at the same time I simply hate the over-regulated highways in the USA that give me the feeling I’m no longer free
to drive. The police have an important role in society and I applaud their dedication and sacrifice. They just don’t need to be running around acting like ticket cops in my opinion.

I've traveled the world over and Germany has excellent roads and safety regulations in place; just like most countries do. Every country I've visited has its own group of drivers who are ill-trained, and unsafe. The German Autobahn highways are some of the best highways I've ever traveled in my tours overseas and I enjoy having the choice of driving 100km per hour or 180km per hour. Autobahn drivers can get from Point A to Point B quickly and efficiently and at a speed they choose without the hassle of worrying about an eager-beaver Highway Patrol cop who has set a speed trap at ever bend in the road. I can travel at 100km or I can travel at 180km and the driving is just as safe as if I was traveling at 55mph. There are emergency phone booths positioned every couple of kilometers with direct access to the police, ADAC and they even include cameras to monitor road conditions and weather. The easiest solution to highway driving is to drive in a safe manner. I enjoy driving overseas because I don't feel like I have to constantly be on the lookout for some cop who is hiding behind a bush or overpass and is aiming his speed gun at me. If you ask me, having Highway Patrol cars driving around, wasting gas and ticketing people is the wrong approach to highway safety. The only good that is derived from such police actions is the generation of income via tickets for cities and corrupt politicians. Don't get me wrong, there are Germans who make honest mistakes and who drive stupidly just like American drivers do in the USA. How many 100 car pileups have been broadcasted on the news in recent years in Nevada, Arizona and California that are caused by unsafe drivers even when told of poor (heavy fog, icy roads etc) weather conditions? The speed limits in most of those areas on American roads averages 55mph to 70mph, so trying to equate Autobahn travel as the cause of accidents is misguided and simply not true. On days the Germans do want to impress upon Autobahn drivers to slow down a bit they are savvy enough to post in the local newspaper the exact position where they will be monitoring Autobahn speeds. Even with this advance warning, drivers STILL exceed the speed limits that are posted and as a present they receive a nice, color photograph of their license plate and mug-shot in the mail. You can't remove stupidity from idiot drivers who can't fathom getting out of the left lane and yielding the right of way to faster moving traffic. And at the same time I simply hate the over-regulated highways in the USA that give me the feeling I'm no longer free to drive. The police have an important role in society and I applaud their dedication and sacrifice. They just don't need to be running around acting like ticket cops in my opinion.

Im an American living in Germany.. I know nothing of this accident or the speed limits on this part of the road... but trucks have a speed limit of 80 Km on all autobahns, and 60K on state highways. 80K thats about 49.71 mph.

You see 3 lanes of travel.. the first lane is for trucks (LKV-Land Kraft Vehicle) and all slow trafic and anything with a trailer.. cars (pkv) with trailors are not allowed to pass PERRIOD. Trucks may do so when the conditions are safe and the trafic in frount is about 20K too slow. Safe means safe and visable driving conditions, NO aproaching rear trafic, Trafic aproaching from your rear in a passing situation has/owns Priority on the road.

The second lane is for faster traffic cars (PKV-Personal Kraft Vehicle) Genraly not slower than 40K allowed, normaly the limited maximum speed on autobahn is 80k-120k and even in unlimited sections (///) the theroetical safe speed limit is 130K . In times when driving conditions are not perfect, Wind, dust, fog, dence trafic, rain, water, or things or persons on the road, traveling faster than 130 is in fact speeding and you may be responcible for the speed that the citing officer assigns as the safe speed at the time. for exampel say 80K. Overspeed in a PKV by 20K+ and you can: automaticay pay on the spot fine 300€ (1€=$1.23) lose your licens, go to jail.

The third lane is for faster cars passing slower trafic. After compleating an overtake you are required to rejoin the flow of trafic safely, you cant just hang out in the 3rd lane. but you do see fast cars like A-6, CKLs, BMW-7 / 3s, Porshe, and VW Pasats and Golfs do this all the time.

Knowing these base facts... and looking at the photo... seeing the trucks are paird up on the right... so it was alredy a trafic jam when it started. Some truck were passing what they belived to be slow trafic. And it was bitter cold and wet that day.. posibly fogy, and gusty , the rain was coming down sideways all day where i was near Rammstine Germany. The cars are all on the left sholder to alow emrgency trafic up the middel of the road at the start you have small lorry truck crashed into the back of a sedan.. then you have one of the large double trailer truck that went around that and ended up part way in the 3rd lane causing more colisions.. It appears that about 6 truck back you had a truck in the 2nd lane on an overtake when a white truck came out into the lane to avoid what was stoped in frount of him. there is a big space in frount of that part.. after this the truck the chaos begins. This is a shure sign of the truckers just following too closely in a trafic jam situation.. no one gave himself enough space/time on the road to react to unforseen situations and the double trailers are soo big you cant see around them. I dive thes roads all the time (A-6) with a US Freightliner 4ton. moving the US mail form East Kiserlautern to Landstuhl. I Always give myself 2 of the road side marker posts (25 meters) between me and these Behemoths or any vehicle for that matter.

I was driving on north Germany's autobahns last Thursday and Friday. With the except of heavy snow, the driving conditions were about the worst i ever experienced in 25 years of driving.

The spray was so heavy cars were invisable at 60-80 metres, many many drivers were passing me at 130 mph+, this was in and torentail rain & occasional heavy snow flurries. The middle lane was moving at around 95-115mph (not kph). Anybody who believes these roads to be safe needed to be in my car with mercedes & porches aqua planeing all around at 130, as for the stats - the autobahns are the most dangous roads i've ever been on and i like driving fast, When the autobahns go wrong it involves a lot of cars and people die really quick.