A practical approach to distracted driving.

We have been here for almost a week now and it seems that every time we get in the car we have to get on Autobahn. Autobahn is a precarious thing.  It seems to have a life of its own.

There are speed limits and there are a lot of different cameras.   There are cameras to monitor the traffic flow and the  traffic speed, there are cameras that monitor the distance between vehicles and issue tickets for following too close or for going to slow.  But….

– most construction zones make you slow down to 100km/h or 80km/h if the road is really narrow and tight

– when two or three highways merge  the speed is down to 120km/h

– when it is raining and/or it is dark it is also 100km/h or 120km/h.

– if there are two lanes you stay right

– if there are 3 lanes and you are doing about 180km/h you stay in the middle lane,  or you stay in right lane if there are no big trucks on the road because someone is always going faster – always

– There are no  trucks ever in the left lane when there are 3 lanes and in most places trucks are limited to 90km/h with no passing at all or only in designated areas.

It appears that the easiest way to deal with distracted driving is to increase the speed.  When you are flying down the autobahn there is no time to adjust your radio, send a text, talk on the phone, fix your makeup or anything else that would make you lose  your concentration for a second or two. At 180km/h, which is about an average cruising speed, you travel about 50m/s or 3km/min.  At 250km/h it is almost 4.2km/min or 70m/s.  When your GPS says exit  in 500m you have about 10 seconds to slow down change two lanes and get off the highway.

One thing is for sure though, if you spent enough time on the autobahn you will eventually be passed by one of these crazy things – they go 205km/h and that is no joke.