@JonathanReez: You will even find people who ferociously argue against speed limits of 250 km/h even though they never came close to driving at that speed and consider everybody who does so insane.

I feel that you push the burden of proof on the Germans. Having no regulation is the simpler, more natural state. Not wanting a speed limit is not religious it's just simplicity. You must first prove that introducing it would lead to e.g. less accidents. Afaik no study in Germany has been able to show that.

@problemofficer: And here come the typical arguments: What do simplicity and being natural even matter in this situation? (Not that I agree that either of this holds.) The mentioned articles cite the studies you are asking for. They even cite opponents of the speed limit arguing that it’s a cultural thing.

@Wrzlprmft That it costs money to enforce, and (unless it is shown to have impact on safety) does not cost money to not enforce. Plus, encouraging people to focus on their instruments rather than the road can lead to distractions, and 'oh god it's a cop BRAKE'.

@SomeoneSomewhere in many countries speeding tickets are a very lucrative source of money for police departments. (this is IMO a huge conflict of interest, but worth mentioning that it's not necessarily a net cost)

On top of that, insurance companies will cover accidents on Autobahn only if you were driving not faster than ~100 km/h (at least that is what I heard from my driving instructor). That in itself imposes a speed limit for many people.

Reasonable discussion is nice; perhaps you know where the original study is which provides evidence that on limited autobahns the number of deaths is reduced by 28 %. I cannot find it, at least not on the DVR site nor on Google Scholar.

@problemofficer Not in Germany of course, for even doing such a study is taboo.

And the religion is cultivated by Germany's strong car industry and car lobby. Their arguments are like this: Who would buy a Mercedes or BMW if the speed limit were 130 and how many jobs would we lose if nobody will buy these cars anymore? This could crash the German economy. Now I don't think that is true, but that's the religion they preach.

@biovamp: That is just plain nonsense.

I would call that "ideological", not "religious" (as religion is just some kind of ideology, which is not in play here.)

@Bernhard No, there really is some truth in it. Replace 100 by 130, think a "completely" after "cover", add a court being involved, and you mainly got it: welt.de/motor/article130661726/…

@JonathanReez An analogy to explain your "weird" observation could be plenty of people who support gay rights are happily(?) married to someone of opposite gender. There are many such examples: plenty of women's rights activists are men, pretty much all animal rights activists are humans. :-)

"a fundamental freedom" That's it. I can't put my finger on why, but as a Dutchman who drives to Germany with some regularity, the absence of a limit feels very nice. You don't have to constantly watch that you're not exceeding some limitation. Whenever I'm doing 150km/h on the rightmost lane together with people around me, and someone still passes me on the left with a speed difference high enough to make trees lay flat, it makes me go "I love that we're allowed to do this". For comparison, in NL people drive 110km/h on the left lane when you can go 130, let alone at lower speed limits...

It may be religious, however, a fundamental point that I only see mentioned by-the-way is that the responsibility is placed solely on driver. I endorse the idea that people should as much as possible be responsible for their own behaviour and laws should be kept to reasonable minimum. Considering that Germany is by far not in the worst place in car accidents, it seems to be working.

An IMHO often-overlooked safety aspect is the commandment to drive on the right-most lane unless overtaking and that you may not overtake on the right. This makes driving at higher speeds more predictable and thus safer than on streets where you are free to chose your lane.

I have seen a Youtube video made in Germany by an American saying "Driving at 130kpm on the Autobahn is like standing still". I personally think that who says that can tell the same for most of modern roads (including French Autoroutes, U.S. Interstates, Italian Autostrade, etc) to prove that they have the same comfort and safety features than German ways. Important to bold is "most" because you can't expect smooth road 100% of the journey. That is probably in line with the OP's question

"I have seen a Youtube video made in Germany by an American saying "Driving at 130kpm on the Autobahn is like standing still"" Yes, it is incredible the astounding bullshit you can see on the internet.

The only reason that this planet has safe cars is for the extremely simple reason that there are some places in Germany with no speed limits. The one and only reason the planet now makes good cars is simply that Germany made good cars. Every single aspect of car quality comes from Germany. And the fundamental reason that "Germany makes good cars" and indeed that you can drive fast on the Autobahn. Cars from any place other than Germany, before about 1970, were an utter joke.

(The only other country that has contributed to car engineering is Japan - they simply sat down and explicitly said "we will improve and refine Germany car engineering", which is great.) There is only German car engineering and the one and only reason for that is the Autobahn. All car safety on this planet is solely due to the libertarianism of the Autobahn. The German "free mind culture" is the total reason for the current astoundingly safe and amazing ability of vehicles.

@Wrzlprmft - FWIW, it would be better to say "it's politics" or "it's cultural" instead of "it's religious". The topic is hot enough, without dragging religion into it. :)

@Fattie - You might want to update en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobile_safety with references to historical articles that demonstrate your claims.

Freie Fahrt für freie Bürger

@Fattie the YT video is an example. I would state the same by driving in any of the roads I mentioned should low-traffic-and-fine-weather conditions occur. Most other countries kept their speed limits up to date with 40 or more years ago while motor and infrastructure technology evolved. But now we are going off topic...

As a german, I like to drive fast (150-180 kph). But I am well aware that from a ecological and socially point of view, a speed limit would be much better. Most people I know share that opinion.

@Fattie With respect, this is some of the astounding bullshit you mention. Seatbelts: First provided by two US manufacturers and a Swedish one; Airbags: mostly developed by US companies; Laminated windscreens: invented in France with further refinements in England, Canada and US; Crumple zones: Austrian engineer working for Mercedes in Germany; Anti-lock braking systems: Originates in rail and aviation, first companies to come up with a production system in cars were US and Japanese; Etc

@Fattie I'm not saying that Germany hasn't made it's share of contributions to car safety, just that they can't claim to be the "only reason that this planet has safe cars", as you put it.