Speed Limits in Europe
ApexMirage
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Registered User regular
I'm watching Top Gear, and they're having an absurd race across multiple countries - but it occurs to me that for the car to beat it's opponent, it would have to go significantly faster than any speed limit I can fathom.
So my question is twofold;
Are there no speed limits in Europe, only speed suggestions of some sort?
If there are limits, how is the show getting away with speeding so nonchalantly?
So my question is twofold;
Are there no speed limits in Europe, only speed suggestions of some sort?
If there are limits, how is the show getting away with speeding so nonchalantly?
I'd love to be the one disappoint you when I don't fall down
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Here in the Netherlands the absolute max is 120 km/hr, I don't know the exact limits of the other countries he went through, I believe Belgium's are a little higher, France's are roughly equal, Germany's are way higher, I've never been north of Hamburg, so I have no idea how the speed limits are there.
Yes, Jeremy broke a few laws for that challenge, good for him that he was mostly stuck in a traffic jam when he was traversing through The Netherlands.
Still my own ambition is life is to blast full throttle down a big stretch of Autobahn in an Aston Martin of some kind. Preferably one of the Volante convertables, since the engine notes of Astons honeslty give me a semi.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limits_by_country
The only country with no speed limit on motor-ways is in fact Germany.
You actually can see the top gear people stopped by police in some episodes.
However, i understand that we have less "blue in the streets" actively stopping people for speeding. In Belgium they prefer the unmanned fixed cameras.
speed limit here is (in Kph) 30 near schools and special situations, 50 within a town, 70 on moderately big roads between towns, 90 on said roads if there isn't a sign, and 120 on the highway/ big roads that have a divider between the two driving direction.
Every country has its own set of rules.
living near the netherlands, all those dutchmen driving 80 where you're supposed to go 90 drives me mad.
On the german autobahn there isn't an upward limit, but i do believe you lose any insurance priviliges if an accident happens while you're going over 120.
But, so, anyway: Jeremy broke quite a few speed limits trying to outrun his friends, why he wasn't caught is beyond me, I remember from a few years ago that the Cannonball race went through Europe and a few drivers lost their license going through here on full speed.
*e: all those belgians going 90 when the limit is 80 drives me mad.
I wouldn't be surprised if it was just creative editing to make it look as though the car kept up. Top Gear's heavily fabricated in a lot of areas.
@gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
Unfortunately this is what I'd believe as well. If there really are limits in place, he'd have lost his license to the speed cameras at the very least, if not the police themselves. There's also the fact that the camera crew just so happens to be keeping up with him no problem, and the part where there'd be no point in using a supercar when your everyday honda is perfectly capable of maintaining the legal speed limits without burning through nearly as much fuel.
The German autobahn's are quite interesting though - chalk up another life goal =D
That's actually a different bit of trickery. On most of the challenges, they do it twice - once with the presenters with a minimum of equipment, and then once with staff drivers and a host of cameramen to get all the outside shots, which are edited together later. There's some semblance of real competition about it, but they definitely engineer it to make it look a lot closer than it really is.
@gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
Point stands though that he's either somehow getting away with breaking the law or simply isn't breaking it to begin with.
And the most obvious case of camera and narrative trickery in a race was him in that Honda (?) vs the Bullet Train in Japan where he's half-way through his course one second then suddenly he phones Hamster and Captain Slow and goes "I'm in Tokyo"
We have no general limit that applies to all Autobahnen, but there are of course speed limits on the Autobahn. Several German states do have a general limit of 120 for their Autobahnen.
What you are thinking of is the "Richtgeschwindigkeit" (wikipedia translates that as "advisory speed limit") of 130 km/h. The Richtgeschwindigkeit basically says, that even if there is no real speed limit and the conditions (weather, traffic etc.) are perfect you shouldn't go faster than this. This also means that if you are involved in an accident you can get partly faulted for it by the judge, even if you didn't do anything else wrong. (and this may then indirectly affect your insurance)
I think that's a weird way of handling the situation, but we do have a big car lobby here. Also I like going fast on the Autobahn, so I'm not complaining. :P
I just dug up the DB9 vs the train episode, and the police is actually telling him to go faster (o_O?) at 9 minutes into it
Police in a foreign country can, in rare cases, take your foreign driving license. However, in such cases, you can simply get a replacement license when you get home, as there is no cross-border jurisdiction for such cases.
More disturbingly, police in e.g. Italy can confiscate your car and even sell it if you refuse to pay the fine.
In my experience if you're car is well maintained and doesn't look like something from Fast and Furious and you're only speeding where it is really safe then you can talk your self out of a lot - even something like twice the limit on the freeway (which should cost almost $2000 and a suspended license) :-)
Of western Europe it's Switzerland that are most a... about the speed limits and Finland are likely those whit the biggest fines http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1759791.stm. Here in Denmark you're income can also come into play - if you're earning less than aprox. $23,000 a year you only have to pay half.
Yeah but that's just them taking the card its printed on not your actual licence.
/driving 140-160 kph along the Autobahn and enjoying myself.
/hears "nnnnnnn" sound and sees a tiny speck in the rearview mirror.
/forced over to the next lane to the right by a Mercedes or Porsche suddenly appearing behind me at around 180-200 kph or more and not showing any signs of slowing down for me to get out of the way.
I have also seen two, really horrendous fatality accidents on the Autobahn, so YMMV I guess.
Well with 140-160 you should not be going in the left lane anyway, I'd say 160 is the absolute minimum to enjoy it anyway, otherwise you spend more time looking in the rear view mirror that at the road ahead.
I know they're very popular in the UK, to the extent that speed camera locations are just an expected feature of most Sat Nav devices. Radar detectors are a little more niche, and I think some countries (I know France does) ban them.
yes. and even when going 160 you can enjoy yourself in the middle lane, knowing you're making good time and you can't get in trouble for it.
flat-out with any car is the way to go though.
190-200 Kmh is pretty exciting. Just make sure you have a decent car with good tires and working breaks.
Brakes would help too =p
*Puts on some breakbeats*
I can attest to the cock of Porsche owners. A guy who used to work where I do owned a Porsche Carrera and he was 100% cock. And by that I mean he was compensating for the lack thereof.
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