| Now illegal in UK to use a cell phone while driving unless it's got a hands-free kit: i.e. you can't hold it in your hand to send an SMS, let alone talk. Been that way since December and although you only get a £30 fine at the moment, it'll be opened up to criminal sentencing soon. Government did something right for once.
The autobahn has no speed restrictions and people drive as fast as they feel comfortable, so long as it's above the minimum speed. These are well built motorways constructed for speed and convenience, and the Germans have been using them for years. And perhaps that's the crux of the matter: they know how to use them. Introducing such a scheme in the US or UK would require every driver reassessing their driving skills and engaging in a lot of experience/testing before they truly felt comfortable bombing along at 140mph. One of the main reasons for not raising the speed limit at the moment is purely because people driving at 110mph in a speed limit of 70mph scare the hell out of other drivers who're mosieing along at 70, in turn causing them to make errors. |