He probably confused kilometers/h with miles/h. 120 miles/h is about 200 km/h. If the VW California would only manage a maximum of 120 km/h, it would be the absolute slow seller for us. 😉
That's 74mph. The maximum speed limit in the US is 80 mph (128 kph). From the 70's til 1995 the national speed limit was 55 mph (88 kph) to save gas. When you drive that speed on the freeway it feels like you're going nowhere.
@@anunearthlychild8569cute that you think 200 kph was fast. no, seriously. my fastest on the autobahn was 220 kph. when i was younger i used to drive quite often as fast as 180 to 200. you get quite comfortable when you do this more often. now that im married ive become a chill driver, moving maybe 140 to 150 or often only 120 which is pretty slow by germanys standard tbh 🤷🏻♂️
@@lynnm6413 In Germany you currently pay about 4000 € for your driver's license thanks to inflation. So I don't think Amercians pay about 2000 € for theirs.
Because they (“tourists”, you mean other Europeans) behave in a normal way. Nothing more annoying than overtaking a car and suddenly spotting a lunatic in your mirror that thinks he has the right to push you aside, expressing so by signing. Not going to happen, patience is a virtue.
I remember German cars didn't used to come with cup holders ... The Americans said why not??? The Germans said because when you are driving you are supposed focus on driving not eating and drinking in the car.
... and the missing cup-holders were a problem for BMW. They didn't sell many cars in the US and wondered why. They hired a marketing agency to look for the issue. Simple result. The missing cup holders. Americans didn't like that. BMW changed that and since then, they're good on US market ;)
@@francoforte4788... true but it was still an example of a different attitude towards driving. I've driven the Autobahn many times, done the Stelvio Pass and other high Alpine passes (Grossglockner, Timmelsjoch, Jaufenpass etc.).and of course drive regularly here in the U.S. .. there is a marked difference in drivers (for whatever reasons .. not sayong one is better than the other ... Often it is quality of the roads and drivers following the rules and having to follow the rules more often).
@@heikebungener9188 Yes. Now :) In the 80s, 90s German cars had not. Now they have it all ;) Uhh... not true. When I got my Mercedes E-Class Coupé, it had non, but you could buy it and replace it at a drawer in the middle console :)
PS the blue sign means that you're allowed to drive only 7 kilometers per hour. It's called "Spielstraße" (Play Street), because it's allowed to play on the street
Just write before coming. I can drive you. Just did this with an African friend. Just when I reached 130 (which is nothing), his face became green and he was whispering.. Slow down pls. 😂😂😂😂😂 At 180 he forgot his name..😅😂
Fun Fact: The blue sign they showed means "Spielstraße" (Playroad). You are not allowed to drive trough that street at more than walking speed, because kids play there. It's a common sign in east germany, often near preschools.
And the sign right behind is for the hight of the bridge. It is good to know the space between bridge and ground if you drive for example a big truck or bus.
@@_Professor_Oak nope. Not everyone uses the american way of writing numbers. For us Germans and I think most other Europeans the , and . are switched. The . is for thousand, hundred thousand, million etc. while the , is the dezimal (decimal?) sign. 420,668 mph therefore means 420.668 for Americans. We also don't say stuff like zero point five we'd say zero comma five. In Germany I've seen a thousand written in multiple different ways - some write 1.000, others use the 1'000 or don't use a sign at all and write 1000.
Newsflash it is possible, middle of Germany and many eastern parts allow it and I often enough had 240 and up on my display. Some colleagues always drive too fast and fly there with 270.
I don't understand why people get so worked up about German autobahns. They usually think that 'some sections have no upper speed limit' means that everyone is driving their Bugattis everywhere at 200 miles an hour, like Formula 1 or Nascar, ignoring all rules and its really unsafe. It isn't. When everyone knows, understands, respects and follows good road safety practices, responsible, safe driving becomes habit for all road users. I have driven in the UK, Germany and the USA. The Brits are respectful, responsible drivers, German drivers are safe, always aware of other road users and the US was like 'ignore everyone else, this road is for you, you paid real actual money at the petrol station, if anything happens i'll just get a better lawyer'......
"When everyone knows, understands, respects and follows good road safety practices" Sadly, that is never ever going to happen. At least motorists start to get the hang of what "Rettungsgasse" means.
Next time you have to drive in Marocco. You will learn, that you can drive without respecting any traffic laws. Regard traffic lights as disco lights and ignore them. What amazes me most is, that it works in a miraculous way.
120 km/h is really low level! A colleague of mine one day brought me home for the weekend. He drove a VW Passat Station Wagon, so I wasn´t aware what to expect. The 6-speed gear should have been a warning sign! When he floored the pedal on the autobahn I saw the speedometer needle shooting up to the 260 km/h mark. Which is 162 miles/hour! Never before and never after that i reached my home so fast - and so soaked in sweat! Later I bought a car with a 6-speed, too, but 220 km/h (137 mph) was more than enough for me! Fun fact: While driving that high speed he was talking on the phone also!
Last time I visited Germany I was 17 and had no driver license, but my English GF got one. Even on the narrow Devon country roads she drove as fast as the devil flees from holy water, means, felt as fast as a flash. In Germany she drove my dad's car , which at the time was a Mercedes S-Class, on those autobahn parts without speed restrictions well over 200 km/h if possible. Mostly she made it possible. Even nowadays she feels the need for speed. And that makes her my personal Racer X.
The blue sign means "Spielstrasse" (play street). Beware you could encounter playing kids on this street. Playing allowed for kids. Max speed is 7 Km/h or 4 miles/h.
@@hijiri0794 Das ist die richtige Bezeichnung dafür, ja, und bedeutet: „Kein Gas geben“. Ich stelle aber fest, ich muss immer wieder bremsen, weil mein Auto gern auch ohne „Gas geben“ zu schnell fährt.😃
The other traffic sign is a warning that the following passage (can be seen in the background) has a clearance height of 3.30 m. This is important for trucks.
That blue sign he showed is for a "Verkehrsberuhigter Bereich" a "calm traffic area". You must watch out for playing children more in that zone and can only go a maximum of 7kmh, which is walking speed. A lot of people confuse it for a "Spielstraße", a "play road" but that's wrong. A spielstraße is completely restricted for cars and marked by two signs paired together. A round sign of a red circle above a white rectangle sign of a single child with a ball
fun fact: he talks about 120 as if that was fast, but we drive from village to village with that speed if we can on the countryside. autobahn "begins" to be serious at 180. "fast" is 240+. 100kmh equals 62mph, 240kmh equals 149mph.
Tom Hanks is a legend. The freeways in the US are not a free for all. Some people do drive slow in the left lane when they shouldn't, but overall driving is more orderly than in some other countries I've been in like Italy or Mexico.
Yes, German Autobahns are statistically 4 times safer than US Highways, even mileage based. 4 times more fatalities per million miles at 70mph max shows that speed limits don't necessarily get along with safety.
From Dresden to Berlin, thats a slow and old Autobahn with many speed limits. If you like to drive realy fast. take the A20 (north of Berlin to Lübeck).
Fanny, i am german American and grew up in germany and last time i hat ppl from the states Visit me we whent on a Trip and had to take the Autobahn from colone to the Border (netherlands) i was the driver and Took off 😅 200 kmh and everybody was quiet and was holding on to there seats haha ! But thats just normal ! And we where in a bmw btw 😂
On the German Autobahn, most people follow the rules strictly, only using the left two lanes to overtake. and going away when someone is faster. Indeed there is a drive-right-side rule (drive right when you can) and you can pay a penalty for not doing so. So the number of accidents is 4 times less per 100000 cars than in the US. But therefore also a driver's license is much more difficult to get and expensive.
I think it's great that we don't have a speed limit on the Autobahn here in Germany,, but since there is so often traffic jams or construction sites, you can usually only drive slowly.
@@hellemarc4767 In reality it's even less because within these 70% of Autobahn without speed limit those parts of the Autobahn where temporary speed limits exist do get included in the "no speed limit" category of the Autobahn. This means that on a lot of stretches of the Autobahn which are technically without a speed limit you still have to follow a speed limit for most of the day. Never trust a statistic you haven't manipulated yourself.
@@dnocturn84 Why do you say "though"? Did I say something contradicting this? I'm aware of the fact that construction sites are included in the "no speed limit" category since these are not permanent speed limits. Since jeansh7325 already pointed out that construction sites cause you to slow down, I didn't feel the need to repeat it.
You should know that there is a recommended speed of 130km/h. If there is an accident that exceeds the recommended speed, in 95% of cases you will be partially to blame and the insurance company will not pay for the damage! Not even many Germans know that! So full throttle only when free. Unfortunately, there are always people who just pull out and don't pay attention to the traffic behind them.
As long as we have a Street sign for it, it isn´t considerd fast. The blue Sign is called "Spielstraße" or Play Street. it meens Cars are only allowed to drive walking speed (Schrittgeschwindigkeit) and they should be aware of children playing in the street.
Then Tom Hanks should have driven with our acquaintance who likes to drive fast on the Autobahn in his Audi quatro turbo at around 220 km / h , i think he would have been really scared.😅
130 kmh is okay for overtaking trucks and reaching the destination quite quickly-but also economically. Who drives faster has fun, provided that traffic density and construction work allow it. From time to time, you can also see business people who drive in the pack so around 180-230 kmh. It has a bit of a NASCAR Daytona feeling. (haha) In principle, anyone can drive you on the Autobahn, the question is: how fast do you want to experience it? Sunday morning on the free three-lane 200 kmh are also relatively unspectacular. With 2 lanes with truck traffic it is already a little more exciting. xD If you like it really exciting, then make a professional driven cab trip on the race track Nürburgring-Nordschleife. Fastest roller coaster in the world you can have with four tires... ^^
The blue sign means "Spielstraße". It is a street where children are allowed to play on the street, so the cars have to drive very slow (sloe as a walking passenger) and careful. Greetings from Germany! 😊
I have been to Germany the last 10 days and i let my wife drive, because I'm too interested in the surrounding landscapes. As long as you are keeping to the rules, everything is OK. there is really nothing to be afraid of. You just have to constantly look in the mirror to know whats going on behind you, so you can leave the left lane at the right time when someone faster needs it. And if you can't, because two trucks decide to do an elephant race, you just have to put the foot down a bit more for a short time. As Tom said, the streets are smooth and more or less straight, nothing fearful happens, if you go 180 km/h for a short time.
why does it scare you ?I think driving on the autobahn is pretty chill. maybe you can ask your local driving school to give you some lessons in autobahn driving. My aunt did this. she had her licence for over 20 years but she never drove. She was really scared to drive, so one day she decided to overcome her fear and went back to a driving school and took some lessons. it really helped her, shes driving like a pro now.
I was born and raised in Germany, and I am never going to take the Autobahn again if it's avoidable in any way. It's not about how *you* drive. You can do everything right and still end up tailgated or in a huge traffic jam because of a rescue helicopter deployment. It's about the people who feel like they own the place and are constantly encouraged in that.
Tom is actually not wrong about the VW's .. about every second to third car in Germany is a VW ( now if you count the variants of Audi, Seat and Porsche which are all owned by VW you get even more :) )
Suggestion, if you are back in Germany, drive from Berlin to Hamburg on the "autobahn". The section is not too long and at the beginning there is still a speed limit of 120 for a long time. Then it is lifted on about 180 kilometers. There is not much going on in the morning between 10 and 12 o'clock, so it won't overwhelm you.
You may consider the Nürburgring (a famous race track, also in Germany). You can even use the "Ring Taxi" to get driven there. And most of the cars are legal street cars - more, less or even not tuned. It should be much more satisfying - just have a look on some Nürburgring videos. :-)
We drove across Europe German and Austrian speed limits are insane! We tried staying in the slowest lane when we could but lorry drivers tried to intimidate us by getting so close and flashing lights. Never ever again. Think my knuckles are still white
In Germany, we have to take a few driving lessons on the motorway at driving school. That makes sense, because you have to get a feel for it. When it comes to speed, you not only have to keep an eye on the vehicle directly in front of you, but also some vehicles in front of and behind you. If you have practice, it's a lot of fun, but I also know Germans who don't like to drive on the motorway.
If lorry drivers were flashing you, you were definately going too slow…we have a law that says you can get fined for going significantly slower than the ‚traffic flow‘, which in this case you were if the trucks even complained. Under 100km/h is basically just waiting for Autobahn police to pull you over if you don‘t get phoned in by someone thinking you are driving drunk, going so slowly.
@@lynnm6413 You are just fine at 80-90kmh on the right lane in flow with the semi trucks... No police will pull you over for that speed. If you go slow as 60 or even slower, then yes, they can pull you over, because the minimum required speed for entering the autobahn is 60kmh. If you are driving a vehicle which from factory is not capable of going at least 60kmh you are not allowed to enter the autobahn.
The blue traffic sign shown in the Video means "Spielstrasse", which translates to Play Street, which means you have to expect children to play street, and pedestrians and bikes have the same rights as car drivers. Therefore the maximum speed is between 7 and 10 km/h depending on the situation, not much faster than pedestrians, and parking in these streets is only allowed in marked parking lots.
....the left lane is (over longer period of time) about 100 to 150 miles per hour (you can go also 80 mph, but you wont make lot of friends if you stay there too long). In the middle you usually still have to drive over 75 mph... and if you cant do that either then you ll have to stay on the right one!
The truth is, you barely can go "as fast as you want" in Germany. You can only do that, if there are no speed limitations. But most of the time, there are. Also, you can only do that if there is not a lot of traffic. Most of the time, you will experience crowded autobahn in Germany, and for the better half of the time you will be crawling through orphaned construction sites.
130 km/h? Don‘t get me wrong, that‘s what I normally drive today - much more relaxed and does not consume nearly as much fuel. But it is not „fast“! You will be passed by cars going well over 200 km/h. I was driving to Berlin several years ago on a Saturday. Almost no traffic (very unusual), a beautiful, sunny dry day, and I decided to just go what was reasonably possible. I hit 220 km/h a time or two. But not to be recommended most of the time!
even if you go 220 there might be a bunch of porsches in your back pressuring you to make space. That is imho not an experience common in eastern germany, more like southern, south western experience.
Just consider the originally video to be more than 11 years old. Yeah even in 2012 130km/h was not that fast... I have to drive ~50000km a year and 200km/h + are a "standard" speed if traffic allows it... 120km/h is kind of boring to me...
I have an RV with a rather modest motor and much height, and even with this thing I can get to 130km/h. I just don't do it normally because it takes to much fuel.
we have a law that is telling you, you have to drive on the right side of the Autobahn called „Rechtsfahrgebot“ to get space for the faster people on the left
Apologies if someone has already said this: Flying down the Autobahn at top speeds is hardly ever possible, unless you try doing it at night (= few cars) or on Sundays / German holidays (no trucks on the roads). The reality of German Autobahns is that too many of them have only two lanes in each direction. They are full of trucks that are under time-pressure and hence have to overtake each other, thereby slowing down traffic significantly. So basically you would speed up, only to slow down again in a few meters because either one truck is passing another, or a much slower car is overtaking a truck. The idea many foreigners have that German Autobahns can be used like a racing track is hardly ever realistic.
Of course I knew this back in 2005 when we moved from Denmark to Luxembourg, but on the first night driving back to Denmark we were doing 190 km/h ready to pass a row of lorries doing maybe 85 km/h when suddenly a lorry infront of me started overtaking the others. I thought we were going to smash into the back of that lorry but fortunately we "stopped" maybe 15 metres before impact. Since then I never try overtaking rows of lorries at that speed. And you are right. it is quite seldom when you can go faster than 160 km/h for more than a minute or two before you have to slow down again or somebody is trying to overtake you doing 230 or more. Only last spring when petrol was expensive for a few months I was one of the fast cars doing 150 km/h, but now it is back to normal again And now we have bought an electric car so we will usually only do 130 or less so we don't need to care about the state of the battery all the time 😂
British driver here. 120-140 kph is SLOW on the Autobahn ! I cruise all day at 160 kph (100 mph) and it's relaxed. I only have to be careful not to be run over by the fast drivers - 200-250 kph (125-155 mph). That bus Tom was driving will easily do 100+ mph.
the blue sign simply means : kids playing on the road - drive at max 10 kmh - the red circle sign in the backround is a notification to truckdrivers, that the bridge they have to go under is 3.2 meters high - so - if ur truck is loaded higher than that - find another way^^
I remember that crazy motorcycle maniac. He tuned his racing bike and had to add an extra speedometer because the default one was at the limit. He was driving on the autobahn with over 400km/h that means app 250mph. He did wheelies on the left lane with over 200 km/h, app 130mph. He is probably dead. He is thought of hitting a van on a normal road with 100kmh speed limit but driving over 200.
I enjoyed listening to old Hanks lark around. His quite the Hollywood elder now and remains well liked. Good choice lad. Looked like Germany was a hoot for you, bit of a duck out of water but you did well. I went to Europe 6 countries in 6 weeks driving most of it but not a V Dub. So many beautiful cities, I would struggle to pick a favourite. There's a young couple from the US who have just finished a tour of Australia. They have a vlog called One Pack Wanderers. Check them out for some ideas, you could be surprised.
Go Rent a Car, drive on your own, it's easy 2 drive there ! Only 3 rules! Overtake only on left side, and don't stay on the left Lane if you're not overtake someone else, If there is no speed limit drive so fast if you want but don't endanger other drivers !
If you are not prepared for Autobahn and have no clue what is going on then you will have the scariest real-life experience of your life. My wife was making jokes of me like "No way, you are lying, you just want to scare me". After 10 minutes on the unlimited autobahn she was screaming her lungs out "What is this? We are going to die! Stay right, stay right! Oh my god..." and then some Porsche flies by at 250+kmh folllowed by a pumped BMW :-)
The sign at the end means Spielstrasse = Playstreet. In these streets it's not allowed to drive faster than walking speed for protecting children who often are playing in these streets.
Google maps says it is a 2 hours and 14 minutes drive from Dresden to Berlin with a distance of 193 km . So if you drive 120 km/h it hardly takes 17 minutes to drive... I smell a "fisher man's tale" here haha lol 😂
130-140 km/h is the usual speed limit on any highway in Europe. What would be considered really fast for the autobahn should be near 200km/h. German cars have an obligatory speed limit of 250 km/h, so if you want to go really fast on the autobahn you should rent an Italian car.
I have driven on the Autobahn a few times. It takes a while to get used to (hide in the right lane between the lorries until you get the hang of it). I went up to somewhat more than 100 mph, but that was my limit, for feeling safe. You need to watch the back mirrors basically as much as forward. I wouldn´t say that many folks drive extremely fast, but the "WOOOF!!!" people surely exists. If you block them, YOU have a problem, not them. :)
If you drive in the Autobahn and drive a speed of 100km/hr (62mph), like most foreigners do, and you want to pass a truck, you look in your back mirror, no cars in sight, so free to go to the left lane to pass the truck. Al of a sudden there is a car horn from the back and lights flickering because a German wants you to hurry passing that truck. That happend to me the first time, you’re not used to the high speeds in the left lane, one moment there is no car in your back mirror and the next moment there is a car coming closer with twice the speed you’re driving. So now when I pass a truck, I make speed on the right lane until about 150km/hr and then pass the truck. And even then it is a close call some of the times.
Times has changed, 20 years ago, there were many VW on the german roads, nowadays, its a mix of BMW, VW, Audi, Mercedes, Skoda, Hyundai and maybe im missing some common ones
Lol 120 140 xD my bycicle goes that fast downhill here in germany (no it doesn't. I know that. I hit 80 once tho.). Autobahn 250 but I find it uncomfy cause every little correction of the steering wheel has such an huge impact. 200 is fine and chill tho.
An old boyfriend of mine was in the British Army, Royal Corps of Transport, in Peace Time, and one time he and his buddies were stationed in Germany for training manouvers an such. They all drove big Army trucks up and down the autobahns a lot. I was staggered when he told me that they would routinely fix the steering and just cruise while they napped. Bloody Hell, the mind boggles.... 🙄
So cute he considers 120 km/h to be fast
He probably confused kilometers/h with miles/h.
120 miles/h is about 200 km/h.
If the VW California would only manage a maximum of 120 km/h, it would be the absolute slow seller for us. 😉
That's 74mph. The maximum speed limit in the US is 80 mph (128 kph). From the 70's til 1995 the national speed limit was 55 mph (88 kph) to save gas. When you drive that speed on the freeway it feels like you're going nowhere.
Probably during the fuel crises. @@DieHureBabylon
😂😂😂
@@anunearthlychild8569cute that you think 200 kph was fast.
no, seriously. my fastest on the autobahn was 220 kph. when i was younger i used to drive quite often as fast as 180 to 200. you get quite comfortable when you do this more often. now that im married ive become a chill driver, moving maybe 140 to 150 or often only 120 which is pretty slow by germanys standard tbh 🤷🏻♂️
There is a saying: "When an American get's a drivers licens, he is allowed to drive a car; a German is able to drive a car."
We also pay 2000 € more than the Americans….it would be sad if that didn‘t do something
That sums it up perfectly ;)
Americans learn how to move a car, Europeans learn how to drive a car. ;D
@@lynnm6413 In Germany you currently pay about 4000 € for your driver's license thanks to inflation. So I don't think Amercians pay about 2000 € for theirs.
@@RealNelsonC ooops, thanks for the update... I did mine in '99 and wasn' t sure how much to add... lol
Most dangerous things on a German Autobahn are Tourists driving there for the first time.
Because they (“tourists”, you mean other Europeans) behave in a normal way. Nothing more annoying than overtaking a car and suddenly spotting a lunatic in your mirror that thinks he has the right to push you aside, expressing so by signing. Not going to happen, patience is a virtue.
It’s your damn duty to make sure before starting overtaking, that there’s noone approaching with a higher speed.
@@joanne1114 it is "normal" in Germany to drive +200kph. If it's too fast for you, stay away from the left line. It's that simple!
130km/h is a so called "Verkehrshindernis".
obsticle ..
@@bh5037 obstacle, wenn überhaupt.
Noe. Its called "Richtgeschwindigkeit"
I remember German cars didn't used to come with cup holders ... The Americans said why not??? The Germans said because when you are driving you are supposed focus on driving not eating and drinking in the car.
Thats bullshit, we eat, drink, do make up, smoke, write massages, take pics at 250kmh...
... and the missing cup-holders were a problem for BMW. They didn't sell many cars in the US and wondered why.
They hired a marketing agency to look for the issue.
Simple result. The missing cup holders.
Americans didn't like that.
BMW changed that and since then, they're good on US market ;)
@@francoforte4788... true but it was still an example of a different attitude towards driving. I've driven the Autobahn many times, done the Stelvio Pass and other high Alpine passes (Grossglockner, Timmelsjoch, Jaufenpass etc.).and of course drive regularly here in the U.S. .. there is a marked difference in drivers (for whatever reasons .. not sayong one is better than the other ... Often it is quality of the roads and drivers following the rules and having to follow the rules more often).
we have also cupholders in Germany
@@heikebungener9188 Yes. Now :)
In the 80s, 90s German cars had not.
Now they have it all ;)
Uhh... not true. When I got my Mercedes E-Class Coupé, it had non, but you could buy it and replace it at a drawer in the middle console :)
OMG, Tom Hanks survived Germany by 120 km/h?
120 km/h means parking on the Autobahn. 🥳
PS the blue sign means that you're allowed to drive only 7 kilometers per hour. It's called "Spielstraße" (Play Street), because it's allowed to play on the street
Just write before coming. I can drive you. Just did this with an African friend. Just when I reached 130 (which is nothing), his face became green and he was whispering..
Slow down pls. 😂😂😂😂😂
At 180 he forgot his name..😅😂
Fun Fact: The blue sign they showed means "Spielstraße" (Playroad). You are not allowed to drive trough that street at more than walking speed, because kids play there. It's a common sign in east germany, often near preschools.
It's common in all over Germany, not only the east.
And the sign right behind is for the hight of the bridge. It is good to know the space between bridge and ground if you drive for example a big truck or bus.
And in Switzerland
And in Austria.
Not seen it here in Australia. Just confusing. Maybe it needed to say -
15kmph , shared pedestrian road
Yes, you can drive from Dresden to Berlin in 17 minutes, but only if you are traveling at 677 kmh or 420,668 mph. 🤣
Er hat 70min gesagt nicht 17
Ich habe es als joke aufgefasst denn ich habe auch 17 Minuten verstanden 😅
420 THOUSAND mph? I think you meant . not ,
@@_Professor_Oak In Germany and most other countries . and , are exchanged. 700.000,05 mean sevenhundred thousand and 15 cents.
@@_Professor_Oak nope. Not everyone uses the american way of writing numbers. For us Germans and I think most other Europeans the , and . are switched. The . is for thousand, hundred thousand, million etc. while the , is the dezimal (decimal?) sign. 420,668 mph therefore means 420.668 for Americans. We also don't say stuff like zero point five we'd say zero comma five. In Germany I've seen a thousand written in multiple different ways - some write 1.000, others use the 1'000 or don't use a sign at all and write 1000.
Newsflash everybody. During daytime hours is virtually impossible to drive fast on the Autobahn.
Newsflash it is possible, middle of Germany and many eastern parts allow it and I often enough had 240 and up on my display.
Some colleagues always drive too fast and fly there with 270.
I don't understand why people get so worked up about German autobahns. They usually think that 'some sections have no upper speed limit' means that everyone is driving their Bugattis everywhere at 200 miles an hour, like Formula 1 or Nascar, ignoring all rules and its really unsafe. It isn't. When everyone knows, understands, respects and follows good road safety practices, responsible, safe driving becomes habit for all road users. I have driven in the UK, Germany and the USA. The Brits are respectful, responsible drivers, German drivers are safe, always aware of other road users and the US was like 'ignore everyone else, this road is for you, you paid real actual money at the petrol station, if anything happens i'll just get a better lawyer'......
well said
"I don't understand why people get so worked up about German autobahns"
Just because it's different ... that's all
"When everyone knows, understands, respects and follows good road safety practices"
Sadly, that is never ever going to happen. At least motorists start to get the hang of what "Rettungsgasse" means.
Next time you have to drive in Marocco. You will learn, that you can drive without respecting any traffic laws. Regard traffic lights as disco lights and ignore them. What amazes me most is, that it works in a miraculous way.
it still feels very safe and drivers behave in most cases ....i think germany has the best driving culture in europe ...italy the worst
He can tell a story.
And many Americans not knowing how fast 130 km/h is helps a lot.
120 km/h is really low level! A colleague of mine one day brought me home for the weekend. He drove a VW Passat Station Wagon, so I wasn´t aware what to expect. The 6-speed gear should have been a warning sign! When he floored the pedal on the autobahn I saw the speedometer needle shooting up to the 260 km/h mark. Which is 162 miles/hour! Never before and never after that i reached my home so fast - and so soaked in sweat!
Later I bought a car with a 6-speed, too, but 220 km/h (137 mph) was more than enough for me!
Fun fact: While driving that high speed he was talking on the phone also!
He's an actor.
He will make the most mundane things dramatic.
It's what he does.
Hanks pronounced "Eisenhüttenstadt" really well
Last time I visited Germany I was 17 and had no driver license, but my English GF got one. Even on the narrow Devon country roads she drove as fast as the devil flees from holy water, means, felt as fast as a flash. In Germany she drove my dad's car , which at the time was a Mercedes S-Class, on those autobahn parts without speed restrictions well over 200 km/h if possible. Mostly she made it possible. Even nowadays she feels the need for speed. And that makes her my personal Racer X.
The blue sign means "Spielstrasse" (play street). Beware you could encounter playing kids on this street. Playing allowed for kids. Max speed is 7 Km/h or 4 miles/h.
Ist das die Geschwindigkeit mit der Leute gehen? Ich weiß nur "Schrittgeschwindigkeit".
@@hijiri0794 Das ist die richtige Bezeichnung dafür, ja, und bedeutet: „Kein Gas geben“. Ich stelle aber fest, ich muss immer wieder bremsen, weil mein Auto gern auch ohne „Gas geben“ zu schnell fährt.😃
@@michaelmedlinger6399 diesel
4mph? You might as well get out and walk
@@_Professor_Oak I think that is the general idea.
The other traffic sign is a warning that the following passage (can be seen in the background) has a clearance height of 3.30 m. This is important for trucks.
That blue sign he showed is for a "Verkehrsberuhigter Bereich" a "calm traffic area". You must watch out for playing children more in that zone and can only go a maximum of 7kmh, which is walking speed.
A lot of people confuse it for a "Spielstraße", a "play road" but that's wrong. A spielstraße is completely restricted for cars and marked by two signs paired together. A round sign of a red circle above a white rectangle sign of a single child with a ball
fun fact: he talks about 120 as if that was fast, but we drive from village to village with that speed if we can on the countryside. autobahn "begins" to be serious at 180. "fast" is 240+.
100kmh equals 62mph, 240kmh equals 149mph.
Tom Hanks is a legend. The freeways in the US are not a free for all. Some people do drive slow in the left lane when they shouldn't, but overall driving is more orderly than in some other countries I've been in like Italy or Mexico.
Legendary pea-dough-file.
@@MattyEngland No, he's not.
Yes, German Autobahns are statistically 4 times safer than US Highways, even mileage based. 4 times more fatalities per million miles at 70mph max shows that speed limits don't necessarily get along with safety.
This traffic sign means that this is a traffic calming zone. In this zone, cars are only allowed to drive a maximum of 7 km/h (4.35 mph).
From Dresden to Berlin, thats a slow and old Autobahn with many speed limits. If you like to drive realy fast. take the A20 (north of Berlin to Lübeck).
Just ask a Taxi driver . They will show you
Fanny, i am german American and grew up in germany and last time i hat ppl from the states Visit me we whent on a Trip and had to take the Autobahn from colone to the Border (netherlands) i was the driver and Took off 😅 200 kmh and everybody was quiet and was holding on to there seats haha ! But thats just normal ! And we where in a bmw btw 😂
On the German Autobahn, most people follow the rules strictly, only using the left two lanes to overtake. and going away when someone is faster. Indeed there is a drive-right-side rule (drive right when you can) and you can pay a penalty for not doing so. So the number of accidents is 4 times less per 100000 cars than in the US. But therefore also a driver's license is much more difficult to get and expensive.
But people don't follow the "drive right" rule.
They're all selfish and don't want any other car to overtake them.
in germany we say RECHTSFAHRGEBOT!
great video as always :D
I think it's great that we don't have a speed limit on the Autobahn here in Germany,, but since there is so often traffic jams or construction sites, you can usually only drive slowly.
Only 70% of the Autobahn has no speed limit.
@@DieHureBabylon because of fun I think. And a feeling of freedom
@@hellemarc4767
In reality it's even less because within these 70% of Autobahn without speed limit those parts of the Autobahn where temporary speed limits exist do get included in the "no speed limit" category of the Autobahn. This means that on a lot of stretches of the Autobahn which are technically without a speed limit you still have to follow a speed limit for most of the day.
Never trust a statistic you haven't manipulated yourself.
@@HastDuWasSuchen The 70% includes contruction sites though...
@@dnocturn84
Why do you say "though"? Did I say something contradicting this?
I'm aware of the fact that construction sites are included in the "no speed limit" category since these are not permanent speed limits. Since jeansh7325 already pointed out that construction sites cause you to slow down, I didn't feel the need to repeat it.
The incomprehensible road sign was very funny. Thanks for a good giggle, Tom.
In this case "Hütte" does not mean "hut" in the usual sense, but is the place where the iron was processed.
Hütte bezieht sich schon auf die Hut-förmige Überdachung der Schmelz- und Gießeinrichtung dereinst.
Der Begriff den Sie suchen, lautet "foundry".
@@zeisselgaertner3212 Ich weiß, dass Eisen verhüttet wurde. Ich wollte nicht übersetzen, sondern erklären ^^
You should know that there is a recommended speed of 130km/h. If there is an accident that exceeds the recommended speed, in 95% of cases you will be partially to blame and the insurance company will not pay for the damage! Not even many Germans know that! So full throttle only when free. Unfortunately, there are always people who just pull out and don't pay attention to the traffic behind them.
As long as we have a Street sign for it, it isn´t considerd fast.
The blue Sign is called "Spielstraße" or Play Street.
it meens Cars are only allowed to drive walking speed (Schrittgeschwindigkeit) and they should be aware of children playing in the street.
You can be fined here in the UK for not maintaining lane discipline. Also, 120kph is only 70mph, so not fast.
As in don't hog overtake lane?
@mlee6050 Yeah, as soon as you have overtaken, you are supposed to move back to the outside lane, not stay in the overtaking lane.
Then Tom Hanks should have driven with our acquaintance who likes to drive fast on the Autobahn in his Audi quatro turbo at around 220 km / h , i think he would have been really scared.😅
130 kmh is okay for overtaking trucks and reaching the destination quite quickly-but also economically. Who drives faster has fun, provided that traffic density and construction work allow it. From time to time, you can also see business people who drive in the pack so around 180-230 kmh. It has a bit of a NASCAR Daytona feeling. (haha)
In principle, anyone can drive you on the Autobahn, the question is: how fast do you want to experience it? Sunday morning on the free three-lane 200 kmh are also relatively unspectacular. With 2 lanes with truck traffic it is already a little more exciting. xD
If you like it really exciting, then make a professional driven cab trip on the race track Nürburgring-Nordschleife. Fastest roller coaster in the world you can have with four tires... ^^
Fun fact: In germany most deadly accidents in Citys (30 or 50 km/h) not at the Autobahn.
The blue sign means "Spielstraße". It is a street where children are allowed to play on the street, so the cars have to drive very slow (sloe as a walking passenger) and careful.
Greetings from Germany! 😊
I live in Germany since 30 years, the Autobahn still scares the living shit out of me. I only go on it if I really have to.
I have been to Germany the last 10 days and i let my wife drive, because I'm too interested in the surrounding landscapes. As long as you are keeping to the rules, everything is OK. there is really nothing to be afraid of. You just have to constantly look in the mirror to know whats going on behind you, so you can leave the left lane at the right time when someone faster needs it. And if you can't, because two trucks decide to do an elephant race, you just have to put the foot down a bit more for a short time. As Tom said, the streets are smooth and more or less straight, nothing fearful happens, if you go 180 km/h for a short time.
why does it scare you ?I think driving on the autobahn is pretty chill. maybe you can ask your local driving school to give you some lessons in autobahn driving. My aunt did this. she had her licence for over 20 years but she never drove. She was really scared to drive, so one day she decided to overcome her fear and went back to a driving school and took some lessons. it really helped her, shes driving like a pro now.
Just stay off the left lane hahah
I was born and raised in Germany, and I am never going to take the Autobahn again if it's avoidable in any way.
It's not about how *you* drive. You can do everything right and still end up tailgated or in a huge traffic jam because of a rescue helicopter deployment. It's about the people who feel like they own the place and are constantly encouraged in that.
Tom is actually not wrong about the VW's .. about every second to third car in Germany is a VW ( now if you count the variants of Audi, Seat and Porsche which are all owned by VW you get even more :) )
Suggestion, if you are back in Germany, drive from Berlin to Hamburg on the "autobahn". The section is not too long and at the beginning there is still a speed limit of 120 for a long time. Then it is lifted on about 180 kilometers. There is not much going on in the morning between 10 and 12 o'clock, so it won't overwhelm you.
You may consider the Nürburgring (a famous race track, also in Germany). You can even use the "Ring Taxi" to get driven there. And most of the cars are legal street cars - more, less or even not tuned.
It should be much more satisfying - just have a look on some Nürburgring videos. :-)
We drove across Europe German and Austrian speed limits are insane! We tried staying in the slowest lane when we could but lorry drivers tried to intimidate us by getting so close and flashing lights. Never ever again. Think my knuckles are still white
In Germany, we have to take a few driving lessons on the motorway at driving school.
That makes sense, because you have to get a feel for it. When it comes to speed, you not only have to keep an eye on the vehicle directly in front of you, but also some vehicles in front of and behind you.
If you have practice, it's a lot of fun, but I also know Germans who don't like to drive on the motorway.
If lorry drivers were flashing you, you were definately going too slow…we have a law that says you can get fined for going significantly slower than the ‚traffic flow‘, which in this case you were if the trucks even complained.
Under 100km/h is basically just waiting for Autobahn police to pull you over if you don‘t get phoned in by someone thinking you are driving drunk, going so slowly.
You were obviously driving dangerously slowly.
@@lynnm6413 You are just fine at 80-90kmh on the right lane in flow with the semi trucks... No police will pull you over for that speed. If you go slow as 60 or even slower, then yes, they can pull you over, because the minimum required speed for entering the autobahn is 60kmh. If you are driving a vehicle which from factory is not capable of going at least 60kmh you are not allowed to enter the autobahn.
If you were being flashed by lorry's in the EU, then you're probably a wuss on the UK highways too. Don't use highways if you're scared to do 70.
The blue traffic sign shown in the Video means "Spielstrasse", which translates to Play Street, which means you have to expect children to play street, and pedestrians and bikes have the same rights as car drivers. Therefore the maximum speed is between 7 and 10 km/h depending on the situation, not much faster than pedestrians, and parking in these streets is only allowed in marked parking lots.
....the left lane is (over longer period of time) about 100 to 150 miles per hour (you can go also 80 mph, but you wont make lot of friends if you stay there too long). In the middle you usually still have to drive over 75 mph... and if you cant do that either then you ll have to stay on the right one!
Nice, I went to school in Eisenhüttenstadt. It's a sleepy place but quite likeable 😊
Fun fact: more than 95% of drivers in germany never drive faster than 150kp/h
On the autobahn with 130 km/h.
Tom is panicing.
Racer X fighting to not fall asleep.😂
Right?
I have an Opel. Not as much PS as a BMW. Maybe 50 or so?
But I'll get annoyed when there's a speed limit.
"GO ON THE RIGHT LANE!!!"
The truth is, you barely can go "as fast as you want" in Germany. You can only do that, if there are no speed limitations. But most of the time, there are. Also, you can only do that if there is not a lot of traffic.
Most of the time, you will experience crowded autobahn in Germany, and for the better half of the time you will be crawling through orphaned construction sites.
We, from the Netherlands, are driving to Germany just to try our cars out… 😂🤣😂
130 km/h? Don‘t get me wrong, that‘s what I normally drive today - much more relaxed and does not consume nearly as much fuel. But it is not „fast“! You will be passed by cars going well over 200 km/h. I was driving to Berlin several years ago on a Saturday. Almost no traffic (very unusual), a beautiful, sunny dry day, and I decided to just go what was reasonably possible. I hit 220 km/h a time or two. But not to be recommended most of the time!
even if you go 220 there might be a bunch of porsches in your back pressuring you to make space. That is imho not an experience common in eastern germany, more like southern, south western experience.
@@holgerlinke98 Oh, ja! And not just Porsches!
Just consider the originally video to be more than 11 years old. Yeah even in 2012 130km/h was not that fast...
I have to drive ~50000km a year and 200km/h + are a "standard" speed if traffic allows it... 120km/h is kind of boring to me...
I have an RV with a rather modest motor and much height, and even with this thing I can get to 130km/h. I just don't do it normally because it takes to much fuel.
next time Tom Hanks can try a Porsche
I am driving 130-160 km/h to relax 😅
we have a law that is telling you, you have to drive on the right side of the Autobahn called „Rechtsfahrgebot“ to get space for the faster people on the left
Apologies if someone has already said this: Flying down the Autobahn at top speeds is hardly ever possible, unless you try doing it at night (= few cars) or on Sundays / German holidays (no trucks on the roads). The reality of German Autobahns is that too many of them have only two lanes in each direction. They are full of trucks that are under time-pressure and hence have to overtake each other, thereby slowing down traffic significantly. So basically you would speed up, only to slow down again in a few meters because either one truck is passing another, or a much slower car is overtaking a truck. The idea many foreigners have that German Autobahns can be used like a racing track is hardly ever realistic.
Of course I knew this back in 2005 when we moved from Denmark to Luxembourg, but on the first night driving back to Denmark we were doing 190 km/h ready to pass a row of lorries doing maybe 85 km/h when suddenly a lorry infront of me started overtaking the others. I thought we were going to smash into the back of that lorry but fortunately we "stopped" maybe 15 metres before impact. Since then I never try overtaking rows of lorries at that speed.
And you are right. it is quite seldom when you can go faster than 160 km/h for more than a minute or two before you have to slow down again or somebody is trying to overtake you doing 230 or more. Only last spring when petrol was expensive for a few months I was one of the fast cars doing 150 km/h, but now it is back to normal again
And now we have bought an electric car so we will usually only do 130 or less so we don't need to care about the state of the battery all the time 😂
British driver here. 120-140 kph is SLOW on the Autobahn ! I cruise all day at 160 kph (100 mph) and it's relaxed. I only have to be careful not to be run over by the fast drivers - 200-250 kph (125-155 mph). That bus Tom was driving will easily do 100+ mph.
11:00 no, what you need to do is contact Misha @ the Nürburgring and get him to take you on a lap. He has a youtube channel ;)
The blue sign means traffic-calmed area, or play street, where you can only drive at 7 km/h. Children are allowed to play on the street.
the blue sign simply means : kids playing on the road - drive at max 10 kmh - the red circle sign in the backround is a notification to truckdrivers, that the bridge they have to go under is 3.2 meters high - so - if ur truck is loaded higher than that - find another way^^
My fastest driving lesson in 1991 was 200 km/h on the motorway in an audi 90.
I remember that crazy motorcycle maniac. He tuned his racing bike and had to add an extra speedometer because the default one was at the limit. He was driving on the autobahn with over 400km/h that means app 250mph. He did wheelies on the left lane with over 200 km/h, app 130mph. He is probably dead. He is thought of hitting a van on a normal road with 100kmh speed limit but driving over 200.
Live fast, love hard, die young!
I enjoyed listening to old Hanks lark around. His quite the Hollywood elder now and remains well liked. Good choice lad. Looked like Germany was a hoot for you, bit of a duck out of water but you did well. I went to Europe 6 countries in 6 weeks driving most of it but not a V Dub. So many beautiful cities, I would struggle to pick a favourite. There's a young couple from the US who have just finished a tour of Australia. They have a vlog called One Pack Wanderers. Check them out for some ideas, you could be surprised.
Mercedes, BMW, Porsche
Go Rent a Car, drive on your own, it's easy 2 drive there ! Only 3 rules! Overtake only on left side, and don't stay on the left Lane if you're not overtake someone else, If there is no speed limit drive so fast if you want but don't endanger other drivers !
If you are not prepared for Autobahn and have no clue what is going on then you will have the scariest real-life experience of your life. My wife was making jokes of me like "No way, you are lying, you just want to scare me". After 10 minutes on the unlimited autobahn she was screaming her lungs out "What is this? We are going to die! Stay right, stay right! Oh my god..." and then some Porsche flies by at 250+kmh folllowed by a pumped BMW :-)
The sign at the end means Spielstrasse = Playstreet. In these streets it's not allowed to drive faster than walking speed for protecting children who often are playing in these streets.
I had 264 km/h between 2 Villages without any Autobahn on my Honda SP1.
tom is kinda right. Lots of car brands belong to VW and use the same parts/are enigineered by VW
"Spielstraße" - I love this guy 🤣 There are other cars here?? Nooo!! Just Volkswagen! 😂
I love driving the autobahn. In the right car 200km.
All Males under 90 are RacerX on the Autobahn :-)
Driving on the Autobahn is safe as long as you don’t see your driving abilities as a ‘Racer X’
Don't insult my Benz😂
I live near Erfurt and my cruise control normally is on 200 kmh on Autobahn. (BMW 220i) So what!?
We had US college in our company and I drove 180 km on autobahn .He was silent all the time.By the way.I am woman😅
Germany, Autobahn 😂
"Fun" Fact: there are more fatal Crashes in the United States than in Germany every Year.
Google maps says it is a 2 hours and 14 minutes drive from Dresden to Berlin with a distance of 193 km . So if you drive 120 km/h it hardly takes 17 minutes to drive...
I smell a "fisher man's tale" here haha lol 😂
When I hit the 160km/h I feel like it’s enough for me😂😂😂
130-140 km/h is the usual speed limit on any highway in Europe. What would be considered really fast for the autobahn should be near 200km/h. German cars have an obligatory speed limit of 250 km/h, so if you want to go really fast on the autobahn you should rent an Italian car.
Du machst echt coole Videos. Mach weiter so
I have driven on the Autobahn a few times. It takes a while to get used to (hide in the right lane between the lorries until you get the hang of it). I went up to somewhat more than 100 mph, but that was my limit, for feeling safe. You need to watch the back mirrors basically as much as forward. I wouldn´t say that many folks drive extremely fast, but the "WOOOF!!!" people surely exists. If you block them, YOU have a problem, not them. :)
THE WHOLE OF AMERICA IS LIVING UNDER A ROCK
ps the Stuart Hway. in OZ no speed limit. fasting road in the southern hemisphere.
Years ago i saw this video too. very funny and greetings from germany.
If you drive in the Autobahn and drive a speed of 100km/hr (62mph), like most foreigners do, and you want to pass a truck, you look in your back mirror, no cars in sight, so free to go to the left lane to pass the truck. Al of a sudden there is a car horn from the back and lights flickering because a German wants you to hurry passing that truck. That happend to me the first time, you’re not used to the high speeds in the left lane, one moment there is no car in your back mirror and the next moment there is a car coming closer with twice the speed you’re driving. So now when I pass a truck, I make speed on the right lane until about 150km/hr and then pass the truck. And even then it is a close call some of the times.
Only certain parts of Germany can one drive at more than 130km/h. My son sometimes drives 180 km/h with his BMW, and it feels frightening.
I would like to be your Racer X when you are back in germany :-) I am living near munich, just in case.
Times has changed, 20 years ago, there were many VW on the german roads, nowadays, its a mix of BMW, VW, Audi, Mercedes, Skoda, Hyundai and maybe im missing some common ones
Fun fact: more than 95% of drivers in germany never drive faster than 150kp/h (about 90mp/h)
We r faster than light and proof Einstein😂😂😂
The blue sign means that you not drive more than 6kmh. It means „Schrittgeschwindigkeit“ no fast as you have speed when you walk.
Lol 120 140 xD my bycicle goes that fast downhill here in germany (no it doesn't. I know that. I hit 80 once tho.). Autobahn 250 but I find it uncomfy cause every little correction of the steering wheel has such an huge impact. 200 is fine and chill tho.
An old boyfriend of mine was in the British Army, Royal Corps of Transport, in Peace Time, and one time he and his buddies were stationed in Germany for training manouvers an such. They all drove big Army trucks up and down the autobahns a lot. I was staggered when he told me that they would routinely fix the steering and just cruise while they napped. Bloody Hell, the mind boggles.... 🙄
I guess he means 120 mph because 120kmh is like the max speed on most countries some even 130
He has no glue about German cars
The sign means:"Spielstrasse" meaning children are allowed to play on the street. They have the right away
So Tom liked Eisenhüttenstadt 😅🤣
Auto fahren muss man können ,250km/h sind kein Problem.
Love blowing with 240 on the 31!!