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Showing posts from July 28, 2014

Speed Unlimited

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After five minutes on the famed autobahns , you get a full realization of the often quoted " you are more likely to die from an auto accident than an airplane accident " or " commercial flying is safer than driving ". First of all, the lanes are a bit undersized. For a saloon car, there is about a meter left on each side for most parts of the network. Next, the traffic is heavy! This is probably due to the complete lack of tolls. If you are on the outer lane to pass another vehicle, you have less than 10 seconds to complete your job, because that is the time when another vehicle will come charging down behind you. Tailgating is dangerous, but at the same time you hate to be traveling too "slowly". So passing often is a necessary evil. And it is a sheer act of terror. Most of the time, it is necessary to pass at about 130kph. At that speed, and with a high sided truck about a meter next to the right, the fluid mechanics sent my rental car sligh