Are there lots of accidents on Germany's Autobahn?

Question

Addie M: Sorry to hear about your friend R.I.P

Answer 1

Old Joke---German's invented the 20 car accident, Americans invented the 2 car accident and South Africans invented the one car accident.....

Answer 2

Sometimes, but if accidents happened than is most deadly, because the speed

Answer 3

Sometimes, but if accidents happened than is most deadly, because the speed.

Answer 4

Given the allowable speeds, no.  There are relatively few accidents on the German Autobahn when compared with the US.  Mind you, there are sections of the Autobahn that have posted speed limits.  The problem is that when there finally is an accident, injuries can be serious up to and including death.  I know.  A friend of mine died on the Autobahn very recently.

Answer 5

Strangely, Germany fares rather well in this regard. It may have something to do with the intensity of the driver training there and the unusually high concentration people display when driving (I guess you have to, given the speeds).

There's a more technical explanation, too:

Most German autobahns are two-lane divided highways. The left lane is for those who travel fast, and they do (you'll see people cruising at 120mph any time, for hours on end; it's how you use the autobahn for some). The right lane is usually chock-a-block with trucks doing exactly 55mph.

So, you guessed it, the trick is to remain in the left lane and floor it, which is what people do. The only time an accident can happen is when a truck pulls out at 55mph to pass another truck, doing 54mph. If you happen to be a bit close when that happens, and your breaks aren't up to it, you may well plow into the back of a truck with what's left of your 120mph - usually only about 60 though, because it is surprisingly easy to decelerate fast. That would explain why so few people get killed on the autobahn.

Germany's statistics are pretty impressive:

Answer 6

Not so many as you would expect. There is a general speedlimit of 130 km/h, but in some places this speedlimit is lifted and people can drive as fast as they want. But still, German drivers are usually quite safe and the accidents happening are more often caused by over-tired truck drivers or foreign Bus drivers.

Answer 7

In the year 2005 died about 6,000 people and 462,000 were injured. The police noticed about 2,25 millions accidents.