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The crashes on the Autobahn are spectacular.
#32 and the rest of you..
WE DO need to thin the herd abit…
Wow, that was a rush! Great if it was done with better audio/stereo.
Kudos to the organ donors for amazing driving.
Yeah, i especially recommend air-fright… like the Luftbrücke during the west Berlin blockade.
What is missed here is the realization that we can not live exactly the way we like -with the maximum convenience that is- on the limited resources we have left. Sure personal transportation with cars is much more flexible, fun and sexy, air travel is much faster than train and etc. but if you count in the environmental impact, the energy consumption and such, trains are by far the most efficient way of transport.
And i think part of the problem is that most of you guys have not ever ridden a modern high speed train, its nice, quite and comfortable, and you can get a lot of work done with your laptop and a WiFi internet access.
My grandfather was a very religious man, but he also made lots of jokes about it (he loved to “jolly” people with them). He also owned a black ’56 T-bird, and one time as a kid I was riding with him and someone passed us going 85mph or so. He said to me, “Look, there goes another soul, hurrying hell-ward!”. The he advised me: “Let those who must hurry hell-ward hurry at their own pace.”
Don’t know about you, but to me the image of a person “hurrying to hell” is actually rather amusing.
Footnote:
He kept that T-bird in mint condition until the mid 1970’s. Then one day he went out to go for a drive, and it had vanished!
I said to him, “Maybe God took it.” He laughed.
“chris”,
Flashing lights on the Autobahn is illegal. And after all, only a douch would flash lights at a douch who needed lights flashed at him.
If you don’t move right on the Autobahn, you increase your risk of being hit from behind, and killed, at high speed.
Driving fast is actually no fun. The driver has to consentrate 100% of the time, and knows he is more likely to die if he hits a deer, has a flat tire, drives over a wet patch (at over 100, you move across large distances quickly, and can go from dry to snow before you are ready), encounters a sudden traffic jam, any number of things. It also burns gas like crazy; wind resistance increases by the square (or greater) with increasing speed.
You also have less control at high speed; the pilot takes on the role of guiding the car, rather than hamfistedly “driving” it. Although most modern cars seem to hunker down at speed.
Only a douch would suggest unlimited speeds have a place in America. These bastards want to see what their car will “do”, but not invest the money in having a safe 130+ MPH car.
Want to go fast, go to a race track, and the damage you do is to yourself.
Cool video, but video/audio quality was marginal, and it could have used some serious cutting. It was funny to see so many brake lights in the other lanes. What’s German for “WHAT THE HELL?!?”
BTW- This was GPS verified? I thought that was a US military system? Europe must also have navigation satellites I guess? That makes sense, but I was unaware of that.
Bobbo,
Read “The Simple Science of Flight” before you bastardly post another gem about airplanes. It is a short book, and if you can’t understand its elegant explanations, you’re a lot dumber than you think.
Rich,
Um, satellites orbit around the earth, and GPS is based on satellite radio transmissions. GPS are the initials for Global Positioning System.
The problem with Dvorak’s wet dream about planes and Hi-speed trains, is that not every one of us drives a SuperSports car over Free state owned quality freeways…
Here in Europe all the people are bickering about the TGV (french hi-speed, in use in france, spain,and some other places)because of the low-cost operators like easy jet and ryanair. Well, what people forget is that these flights are heavily subsidized by all the local turism, industry, and comerce chambers these comapanies make deals with.
If they were to pay penny for penny the cost of the flight, the train would be cheaper.
Negative Nancys rock my world!
The climate change folks would go nuts… well unless we can get a 200mph Pirus.
I think there is going to be a shift in the USA towards more public transportation. It’s already happening. Generation Y is the first generation that does not see a need to own a car and prefers to take public transportation or rent a car. Amtrak is getting record ridership for the past four years (28.7 million people last year) and the bus companies are booming.
#1 – I’ve been to China a few times. Once you’re in the country, plane travel is remarkably cheap (cheap for westerners, not for locals). You can fly Beijing to Shanghai for $99, sometimes cheaper.
In comparison, they have a high-speed mag-lev train that runs from one of the Shanghai airports to downtown Shanghai. It’s very fast, but most people don’t use it. I think a ticket costs around $100 (per person), and you can get a taxi from the airport for less.
A very special car. Special wheels, tires, brakes, fuel, shocks, steering and alignment. You definitely do not want to try this in a rental Ford Fiesta.
#38
“Flashing lights on the Autobahn is illegal.”
No, I don’t think it is actually. That’s what they told me to do in the car rental office. I also looked online to make sure, but didn’t see anything confirming that it was illegal. It is supposed to be considered rude, but I don’t care about that.
“Driving fast is actually no fun.”
I would also disagree with that. Cool cars are just about the best form of art ever invented. Maybe you have never had nice cars…
“The driver has to consentrate 100% of the time”
The driver better be concentrating 100% all the time at all speeds. Stupid kills better than speed.
“You also have less control at high speed; the pilot takes on the role of guiding the car, rather than hamfistedly ‘driving’ it.”
Also disagree. Cars respond differently to speed, rain, snow, uneven roads. Some cars feel better at speed and floaty while slow. Depends on the car.
“Only a douch would suggest unlimited speeds have a place in America.”
You should at least learn to spell your insults properly. Oh, and I disagree with that point too.
If you travel outside of the US you might notice a distinct lack of overbearing warning signs and safety fencing. This says more about us than them. I think the intense safety focus is ultimately destructive, because behavior tends to get more dangerous in response to safety innovations.
#48, have you been to Europe? They have a TON of signs on the roads about “speed = death” or “15 people have died at this turn”. I travel overseas a lot for my job and when I was in Germany just last month they had these signs. Maybe if you’ve been to Europe you didn’t notice the signs because they’re not in English (I speak/read German, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Czech, and English so it’s easy for me to read most signs in those countries). The point is they have a lot more concern for safety than in most of the USA. Sure if you travel to Mexico they don’t have much for safety, but half of Mexico is akin to a third-world country.
One thing about Europe that is fast growing trend is they have speed cameras on the highways. If you go over the speed limit by some amount then they just send you a ticket in the mail. In Poland, if you don’t pay it then they add it to your taxes at the end of the year.
#49
I wasn’t speaking of Europe in general. Germany is one of the most permissive places in the western world. Some public interest signs on the road aren’t enough to convince me otherwise.
The speed cameras are everywhere. It is a blight.
First of all this particular stretch of the autobahn is usually FULL. And the only time one can go that fast would be Sunday mornings at 6. There are not many stretches of the autobahns that allow you to go that fast. And where it would be allowed there is too much traffic.
And #22…the tickets are the same for everybody. The only time when the courts make a difference is when you lose your license and you have to pay a fine on top…that fine is determined by your monthly income.
But one thing I agree with. The german autobahns are usually kept in good condition. We pay enough taxes for that too. You guys complain about your gas prices??? We pay app 2 dollars for one liter of gas…about 70% of that is taxes. And we pay a yearly tax on having a car, determined by the size of the engine. So our streets better are in good condition!!!
Still BURNING GAS AND MAKING CO2 !!! We need Inter-City Mag Lev Trains and ELECTRIC AUTOS !!!
“? said, Um, satellites orbit around the earth, and GPS is based on satellite radio transmissions. GPS are the initials for Global Positioning System.”
I know- but I thought they were geosynchronous satellites, thus requiring multiple sets of satellites, one for each area of coverage?
“Only a douch would suggest unlimited speeds have a place in America.” The correct term is now “doutch”. Update your personal dictionaries.
Why are we the only industrialized nation that can’t make high-speed passenger rail work?
Or why can’t we build and maintain roads of a quality that would allow this kind of driving at any time of the day?
I drive the autobahn several times per year and have accumulated 10s of thousands of miles. Three things are required to drive at those speeds:
1) Skilled and serious drivers – we don’t have them here.
2) Perfect roads – here in VB, VA the potholes will knock your fillings out.
3) High quality car – imagine doing 140mph in a Taurus….yikes.
#55: Amtrak is the only passenger line in the US other than the line from DC to Florida, and a few tourist trains. Amtrak exists today only because there’s a government subsidy.
57,
My point exactly. Why does Amtrak suck so bad, and it ain’t because it’s government “supported”. Why do our roads suck so bad, if we are so f*cking superior?
#53. I believe GPS satellites are low earth orbit, as opposed to geosynchronous communication satellites which are high orbits. There are a large number of GPS says in orbit so if you have a clear view of the sky, at least 4 should always be in range.
Remember, the US military designed the GPS system to support the military needs worldwide.
That would be cool if my Chevy Cavalier could go 153mph. The front wheels start lifting off the ground at 90mph.