right now....story on national geographic channel

it is amazing how germans are so keen to detail. roads, cars, safety crew ...everything is perfected.

they were saying the reason why autobahn barely develops any cracks and potholes is because its average thickness is 27" as oppose to average US highway with thickness half of that. police pulls in front of the speeding cars to pull them over, instead of driving behind them that would potentially lead to a chase. anyway...watch the shit. it is interesting

8/10/2005 10:52:58 PM

its actually less than half
they also dont have long straights, they use curves to encourage drivers to pay attention

8/10/2005 11:10:38 PM

#?

8/10/2005 11:10:39 PM

70
its about prisons now tho

8/10/2005 11:15:51 PM

damn

8/10/2005 11:21:44 PM

actually, this is pretty amusing...

8/10/2005 11:23:38 PM

Fuck all you bastards with cable.

8/10/2005 11:23:59 PM

OH YOU BETTER NOT 'LAX

8/10/2005 11:31:34 PM

only thing you need to know about prison is


DONT DROP THE SOAP

8/10/2005 11:32:17 PM

ah shit forgto the prison thing was on after that...

they should have repeats of this

8/11/2005 12:21:26 AM

it's coming back on next (the autobahn one).

8/11/2005 12:39:56 AM

I've seen the autobahn one. I think the US should turn at least one major highway into something like that. Like, route 66 or something, everyone can do 130 mph cross counrty.



Of course, drive at own risk.

8/11/2005 1:14:40 PM

best idea of all... different speed limits for different lanes.

8/11/2005 1:34:10 PM

isn't US like 13 inches? concrete and asphalt included? They also take care of their roads better then the US. We are cheap basturds. If a crack or pothole ever develops on our road, we'd either leave it, fill it with sand, or patch it with more asphault. On the autobahn, the take that section out and repave it. Then again, most drivers in the US are idiots, while europeans are a little smarter at driving then us.

Quote :

"I've seen the autobahn one. I think the US should turn at least one major highway into something like that. Like, route 66 or something, everyone can do 130 mph cross counrty."

They did, somewhere in the midwest. no speed limit area's on empty roads, but they ended that cause too many assholes kept dying. I believe they ended it in 1995.

[Edited on August 11, 2005 at 2:04 PM. Reason : ]

8/11/2005 2:02:21 PM

well some states like montana didnt have limits on a lot of roads but thats was just because they were shitty roads in the middle of nowhere

what you are implying never existed

8/11/2005 2:07:48 PM

well damn, i dont really have a problem with assholes dying...bring back a no speed limit road

8/11/2005 2:08:30 PM

they probably werent in good condition

8/11/2005 2:13:36 PM

Montana Interstates were free from speed limits during daylight hours until a few years ago. They were just like any other interstate in the country in terms of road condition, just so few used them and montana is so big and boring they wanted to let people drive fast.

8/11/2005 2:54:56 PM

Quote :

"We are cheap basturds. If a crack or pothole ever develops on our road, we'd either leave it, fill it with sand, or patch it with more asphault. On the autobahn, the take that section out and repave it."

Well, the US also has about eleventy billion more miles of highway than Deutchland.

8/11/2005 3:20:01 PM

Part of the reason it works so well there too is that German culture dictates that people follow rules very closely. People don't poke along in the left lanes there. If you are driving slow, your ass is to the right. Unless you have a very high end sports car, you don't venture into the left-most lane.

I had an old coworker who spent a year working there. He had a nice car, a higher end Mercedes, that he drove around. He said more than once he was on the Autobahn and would be passed in the left lane by literally a blur, usually a Ferrari or similar sports car.

8/11/2005 3:27:38 PM

there are streches of rodes back home is vegas heading towards area 51 and up to reno where there basically is no speed limit. no cops around, hell no people around.

8/11/2005 3:31:17 PM

i saw this episode about a year ago...

crazy how if they get a crack in the autobahn they replace the ENTIRE chunk of road around it...that thing is an architectual masterpiece.

8/11/2005 3:33:42 PM

^^^ Same thing with the autostrade in Italy. Got blown by a Ferrari doing about a buck sixty. My ford focus station wagon, couldn't catch up.

8/11/2005 3:57:19 PM

damn i wanna go there and cruise at like 120.. i mean, i do that already but it'd be nice to be able to do it legally

8/11/2005 3:59:24 PM

Quote :

"Part of the reason it works so well there too is that German culture dictates that people follow rules very closely"

true. Don't they have to take a driving course that costs 2 grand in order to get their license?

8/11/2005 4:03:49 PM

Its illegal to run out of gas on the autobahn.

And you know those germans...

8/11/2005 4:03:53 PM

you also get fined like 500 bucks if you make a bad gesture to another driver

8/11/2005 4:05:52 PM

it not all that great, i stayed with a freind of mine over there a few times and got to take her dad's tt down to dresden, (they live near the baltic sea so thats like a 8 hour drive), and after a while, its just another long ass boring road trip, most people only drive a bout 90-100, gas is too damn expensive to waste over there. i took it up to 140 for a while, but averaged about 100, same as i do on the interstates here. and around most of the larger cities, there is a speed limit of 130 kmh, (80mph?). and the traffic sucks, its just as bad as 40, if you got a chance to do it, you'd be so pissed, creeping along at 5mph in traffic all the way through oranienburg and berlin.

also, they dont get their driver's license until they are eighteen, it costs a shitload to get, but part of their drivers ed is actually done on a skid pad, to learn to drive in rain and snow, and high speed driving skills. cars are unbeilvably expensive there due to taxes and whatnot to try to keep the number of cars on the road down, since they have an incredible public transportation system. also, tickets are pricey, the sneaky bastards disguise radar cameras as mailboxes and trashcans, it snaps your pic and they mail out the ticket. it doesnt take many tickets to lose your license either. the average speeding ticket is around $300 euros. and even on the secondary highways, the small towns still have cobblestone raods through them, so it is damn near impossible to speed without tearing your car to pieces and rattling your eyballs out.

they also take drunk driving VERY seroiusly. first offense you lose your license for 1 year and have to go to a type of rehab. second offense, your license is revoked permanently with no chance of ever getting it back, along with mandatory jail time. and there is no pleading anything, no lawyer can help you get anywhere, it is very cut and dry.


[Edited on August 11, 2005 at 11:23 PM. Reason : ]

8/11/2005 11:14:33 PM

^you average 100 km/h or 100 mph here in US

8/12/2005 12:31:56 AM

100km/h is 60mph.

8/12/2005 12:38:33 AM

100 mph, and only one ticket in the last four years, sneaky bastards near roanoake rapids on 95 had one trooper parked way off in the woods, walked up on an overpass hiding behing the gaurdrail, clocking people with the laser, and troopers lined up around the next bend to pull them as they came through, no radar warning or anything, damn useless valentine, it told me when i was getting clocked at 92 in a 70. instead of a different alarm, there should be a flashing red light of a guy getting fucked in the ass, cause thats what its telling you is happening.

8/12/2005 12:53:32 AM

Quote :

"near roanoake rapids . . . damn useless valentine,"

you use your radar detector in virginia?

shame shame

8/12/2005 2:10:37 AM

^Hey genius Roanoke Rapids is in NC south of the VA border.

But what you were talking about sounds like something I've only seen them do in Emporia. Here in RR is notorious for that hiding spot in the median on Northbound I-95 where the HP always hides. I have NEVER seen them do what your saying over here. But I see it all the damn time in Emporia.

8/12/2005 6:49:24 AM

I've heard Emporia is horrible for that kind of stuff. One of those towns you have only heard of because it's such a well known speed trap.


I've always wanted to travel to Germany, just to see the place. I've heard it's a great country, very clean etc. The US needs to pass some driving laws like in Germany, especially the hazardous condition training when you get your license. There are so many people here who have no clue wtf is going on when there is ice on the road, which was apparent late last year during that clipper ice storm we got. I was rear-ended because some moron in front of me slammed on her brakes when her car started to slide, and the fool behind me was only about 1 1/2 car lengths away in a Uhaul truck.

8/12/2005 9:17:38 AM

Quote :

"They did, somewhere in the midwest. no speed limit area's on empty roads, but they ended that cause too many assholes kept dying. I believe they ended it in 1995."

No, they revoked it b/c too many people were going to Montana just to drive flat out as fast as they could.

8/12/2005 9:31:38 AM

^^^ haha.. oh yeah... brain stops working after midnight...

it would be hard for the US to adopt laws making it harder to get your license. public transportation here is nowhere close to what it is in europe.


[Edited on August 12, 2005 at 9:45 AM. Reason : -]

8/12/2005 9:43:49 AM

^^ NO, montana made sure all roads in the state had posted and enforced speed limits b/c the transportation secretary under the Clinton administration threatened to completely cut federal highway funding to the state if they didn't.

8/12/2005 10:06:03 AM

yeah, germany is a great country, everything is so laid back, the people are cool and its absolutely beautiful over there. there are thousands of lakes in the northeast part of the country where i was staying at, and they stay so cold that the water is perfectly clear, you can see the bottom 15 to 20 feet deep, it not like the muddy, algea infested crap we have around here, and the beer is just incredible there is just no way to describe it unless you try it for yourself. each region of the country has their own local breweries and types of beer. personally its a toss up for me btween the dark ales and "white" beers of bavaria, and the local lagers and pilsners near the cost. the top three brands i would reccomend are #1-Rodeburger, #2-Paulaner, #3-Rostocker which is a local beer availible obviously in and around rostock

8/12/2005 10:27:45 AM

paulaner hefe is awesome. they have it at the saucer sometimes.

i'm also a big fan of franziskaner and weihenstephan.

damnit i need to go there (germany)

[Edited on August 12, 2005 at 11:44 AM. Reason : 2]

8/12/2005 11:44:20 AM

Quote :

"franziskaner"

i concur. best beer by far.

8/12/2005 6:31:46 PM

^ obviously has never had rodeburger

8/12/2005 6:34:51 PM

born, raised and lived in europe for good part of my 26 years. i tried plenty of euro beers and franziskaner along with czech pilsner is the best beer.

ask a redneck and he'll say busch ice. beer, like any other drink or food is an acquired taste. therefore, no point in discussing taste. to each its own.

[Edited on August 12, 2005 at 6:54 PM. Reason : f]

8/12/2005 6:53:31 PM

well how can you declare a best without trying every beer in the world?

8/12/2005 6:58:10 PM

how can you?

8/12/2005 7:03:51 PM

I went to Germany a few months ago. Germans are very strict to the rules. And everything was just so. Trucks on the AutoBahns could only use the rightmost lane (right two lanes in the cities), and could only go max 100kph. I drove alot over there, and I didnt see one deviation.

I was in Munich the first day. I always drive with my lights on. I was honked at while resting at a red light cuz I had my lights on. The driver politely told me (when he realized I was English speaking) that I had my lights on. Sure enought, day time lights are only for tunnels, after exiting, there are signs with a car without its lights on (signs with lights on preced the tunnel) and have the exclamation 'Licht?' Everything had to be just so.

There was (almost) ZERO litter. No one farted around at intersections (most were roundabouts in the rural areas). No slowpokes anywhere. If there was someone going slow on the Autobahn, they were in the right lane. And you better believe, as soon as the speed restriction lifted, it was a free for all. If you werent set on going fast, move right. AND NO SUVs.

Which brings me to my favorite point: the roads. There was a good amount of construction, especially between Munich and Stuttgart, but it was handled beautifully. Everyone was fluid and steady, and no rubbernecking or delays. And the open roads were SMOOTH AS GLASS. My wife didnt notice I was pushing 200kph with traffic returning from the Alps because the road was so smooth. Even in the cities, the infrastructure was fantastic.

If I could speak German, and if I could get used to tiny drink portions and no ice, Im there, 10 bux a gallon of gas or not (it was $6US in April when I was there).

[Edited on August 12, 2005 at 7:58 PM. Reason : .]

8/12/2005 7:53:51 PM

tiny drink portions???? of what ???

there is more alcohol in germany than...anywhere

8/13/2005 8:09:26 AM

Ask for a glass of water, you get a .2L bottle with no ice.

8/13/2005 1:23:44 PM