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Comment by dep_b | Hacker News Reader

In Germany you are even required to drive fast on the Autobahn while taking your drivers' test I heard. I can't find the hard numbers to back it up but probably up to 160 or 180Km/H.

This is very different from the sedated "keep your lane", slow speeds and wide roads everywhere traffic in the US.

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You have to exhibit the ability to drive at speeds that are expected of you. That means around 110–130 on the Autobahn, otherwise the examiner might consider you to be too scared to drive up to the speed limit. I did my driving test in a place where the next Autobahn is about 15–20 minutes away and the speed limit on the roads I had to take was at most 120 km/h. It's definitely not a requirement to drive up to 160 km/h, but going 80 on the Autobahn, or 60 on regional roads (without traffic dictating so) will raise an eyebrow behind you.

On the other hand, your instructor may very well encourage you to try out driving fast once, because having done that is much easier with someone next to you who can help or recover from dangerous situations.

I got my license in Germany and was never required to go that fast during any driving lessons or my test. My driving instructor told me to go roughly the recommended speed of 130km/h to practice some real-world Autobahn driving.

That said, I know of one person who was told to go fast on the Autobahn during their driving lessons by their instructor. Definitely not part of the official test though.

The official test does not require you to go fast, it is more important to do the proper looks when going on/off the Autobahn and overturning other cars on it.

That being said, my instructor told me to "floor it" once in a driving lessons as well, just to see how it feels and how the car behaves.

[Edit: Grammar]

130km/h is still above much of the speed limits in the US.

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