ED ROLOFF
Headquarters, 2nd Psychological Operations Group
Twinsburg, Ohio

Fahrvergnügen, or driving pleasure, is something one can truly experience in Germany. When I was a young Army sergeant, my first duty station was in Baumholder. Initially I didn’t own a car, so I traveled extensively using Deutsche Bundesbahn, the German federal railway system. Once I saved enough money, though, I purchased a Volkswagen Golf GTI. It wasn’t a very attractive car — when compared to other vehicles on the German roads — but it was fast. After a few short trial runs through the countryside around Baumholder, I decided I was now ready to see the rest of the country via the German highway system, the world famous Autobahn.

Germany has the world's second largest road system (after the U.S.). There are 636,000 km of roads providing paved access to even the most remote corners of the country. The roads in Germany are well-engineered and Autobahn maintenance is superb. Rarely will one find a pothole, and snow removal is almost instantaneous. Crews inspect every square meter of the system periodically using vehicles with high-tech road-scanning equipment. When a fissure or other defect is found, the entire road section is replaced. Signs, barriers and other features are also well maintained.

The Autobahn has an extensive system of service areas (Rasthof), generally spaced between 40 and 60 km apart. There are more than 700 service areas in operation and they're open 24 hours a day. These service areas usually feature a filling station (Tankstelle), restaurant or snack bar, convenience store, telephones and restrooms.

Although two-thirds of the Autobahn network has no permanent speed limit, there is an advisory limit of 130 km/h (81 mph). Despite the prevailing high speeds, the accident, injury and death rates on the Autobahn are remarkably low. In fact, the annual fatality rate (2.7 per billion km in 2009) is consistently lower than that of most other superhighway systems, including the U.S. interstate system (4.5 in 2009).

To safely facilitate heavy, high-speed traffic, special laws apply when driving on the Autobahn, such as:

• Passing on the right is strictly prohibited! Slower vehicles must move to the right to allow faster traffic to pass, and drivers should stay in the right lane except to pass. When passing, you must do so as quickly as possible.

• Many drivers flash their high beams or switch on their left turn signal to politely (or not) request that you vacate the left lane to let them pass. There are conflicting opinions about whether this is legal or not and why, but there are reports that drivers have been cited for doing this.

• Stopping, parking, U-turns and backing up are strictly prohibited, including on shoulders and ramps (except for emergencies, of course.)

• Traffic entering the Autobahn must yield to traffic already on the Autobahn.

• During traffic jams, motorists in the left lane are required to move as far to the left as possible and those in the adjacent center or right lane must move as far to the right in their lane as possible, thus creating a gap between the lanes for emergency vehicles to pass through.

• Motorists at the rear of a traffic jam usually switch on their hazard blinkers to warn approaching traffic of the slowdown.

• It is illegal to run out of fuel on the Autobahn. Technically, there is no law specifically against this, but it is illegal to stop unnecessarily on the Autobahn and this law is also applied to people who run out of fuel, as such an occurrence is deemed to be preventable.

• Drivers should also be aware that, unlike the U.S., directions on the Autobahn (as well as other roads) are not given using the cardinal directions (north, south, east and west), but by destination cities. Know what the major cities are along your route before you start out.

If you have an accident, breakdown or other emergency along the Autobahn, you are never more than a kilometer away from help. Emergency telephones (Notrufsäule) are located at 2 km intervals along the sides of the road. The direction to the nearest phone is indicated by small arrows on the roadside reflector posts. All calls go to a central call center in Hamburg.

In the event of an accident, dispatchers in Hamburg will immediately connect the caller to the nearest police or emergency services office. For breakdowns, the dispatcher will obtain the information necessary to send the appropriate service. German law requires all automobiles have a portable red reflective triangle and a first aid kit in their trunk. If a car is stopped for any reason, the triangle must be placed 200 meters behind it if on the Autobahn and 100 meters behind it on all other roads. The car's emergency flashers should also be turned on. Good Samaritan laws also require that you stop and render aid should you be one of the first to arrive at the scene of an accident.

Driving on the German Autobahn is very different than driving on an American highway. The differences, however, should not be a deterrent. By knowing the basic rules of engagement of the German road, one can enjoy the history and the beauty of the German countryside while simultaneously experiencing true Fahrvergnügen.