Germany’s highway adventure, which started in the early 1900s when a very small group of wealthy people wanted a road isolated from human traffic in order to use their vehicles comfortably and put pressure on the government, was interrupted during the First World War due to lack of resources, but in the future Germany will continue to use highways. It would be the first country that comes to mind.
Today, with a motorway network of approximately 13,000 km in total, it is the longest highway in Europe and the third longest in the world. America is in the first place and China is in the second place.
A limited limitless
First of all, German autobahns, which are popular for having no speed limits on their motorways, are not entirely speed-limited highways, contrary to popular belief. The opportunity to push the limits of the vehicle regardless of the speed limit does not apply to all motorways in Germany.
Currently, around 40% of highways have speed limits. If you do not follow the rules in areas with speed limits, you face fines. Also, no speed limit applies only to cars. Heavy vehicles such as trucks and lorries are subject to speed limits in every part of the highway.
Talking about the remaining 60%, there is no official limit, but according to the German Ministry of Justice, the recommended speed is 130 km / h. In other words, contrary to popular belief, although not all highways are exempt from the speed limit, it is of course interesting that there are highways without speed limits in some parts of the world.
Its history dates back to ancient times.
Although the history of the emergence and first construction of the highway dates back to before that, the construction of some of the highways used in Germany today began during the Nazi period.
President of the National Socialist German Workers Party, Hitler, who came to power by obtaining the majority after the 1933 German Federal elections, quickly and enthusiastically embarked on highway projects shortly after he was elected.
The process started with the highway built between Frankfurt and Darmstadt with the project, in which German Civil Engineer General FritzTodt was assigned. In addition, according to the information obtained from the notes of many American visitors in the 1930s, the use of motor vehicles to use the highways was not very common in Germany when highways were started to be built.
Since it was only in the hands of wealthy Germans to own a car, the possibility of German citizens with normal incomes being able to own cars was the subject of the party’s election propaganda. In fact, the Volkswagen Group, which means “people’s car”, is set up around this time.
While the highway was first built, it was not intended to travel at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour, but it was thought to have an effect in favor of war logistics. According to the Nazis’ 1934 Highway Project, the goal was to build 1,000 km of roads each year.
Slaves brought from concentration camps were employed throughout the construction and especially in its most dangerous parts. Despite this, the target set could not be achieved due to the lack of workforce. In addition, the highways built due to the fuel problem were not as effective as thought.
What happens if you don’t follow the rules on the highway?
If you do not comply with the speed limits set outside the city on German highways, fines are applied according to speed violations up to 20 km/h above the speed limit. If you exceed the speed limit by more than 20 km/h, you may encounter the application of the suspension of your license.
In addition, deterrent penalties are applied for improper behavior such as wrong parking, drunk driving, and not paying attention to pedestrian crossings in the city with seat belts. You can view the details of the penalties here.
50185
