As you may already know, I am American and my wife is German (as all hell). We live in Hannover, Germany, and though we do not own a car, we sometimes get to borrow one from friends and family members. During the weekend of December 15th, 2012, we drove between the state of Hesse (Hessen) and Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony) along the A7 Autobahn.
People in Germany often drive very fast on the Autobahn. We averaged 120 km/h during our journey, which is about 75 mph. In this video, you can see cars passing us at far greater speeds, especially the first car at the very beginning.
Listen, Germans, I know you want to make it home in time for Tatort and Wiener Schnitzel, but that’s no reason to wrap your Beemer around a tree.
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Oh God, My Wife Is German. 
120 km/h is not a very fast Autobahn speed. In fact, even in the smallest cars I try to keep at least 130 km/h, which is the officially recommended speed, because I don’t want to obstruct traffic flow.
Using my own car, I choose a speed somewhere between 130 and 200 km/h on long-distance rides, depending on traffic, weather, time pressure and mood, avoiding to brake and accelerate too much.
Once I had an American couple as passengers on a ride share (Mitfahrgelegenheit) from Kassel to Berlin. It was late Sunday evening with very little traffic, so I went 200 km/h for longer sections using cruise control. They were just happy with that and felt safe enough to sleep most of the time in the back seat. Upon our arrival in Berlin, they complimented on the fast and safe ride and booked a ride back to Kassel right away.
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Right on! Yeah, I just need to get used to it. It’s still so new to me.
Do you drive for a living?
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No, I just visit my family quite often.
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You may take a couple of driving lessons on the Autobahn (and in the city as well) with a driving instructor. Quite expensive but reeeeally useful as he will tell you the do’s and dont’s and tricks and…
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Great tip! Thank you!
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Oooohhhhh. yes… how well I know!! – I like the video! :-)
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Thank you Raani! I was concerned it was too dull. The only speed-racers were right at the beginning.
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