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Comment by saiya-jin | Hacker News Reader

Switzerland has 120kmh instead of typical EU limit of 130kmh. Slightly less pollution of all types, slightly safer roads, cars last slightly longer.

Typical swiss driver is anything but typical driver basically anywhere - polite, respectful, and just doesn't break rules in mormal situations. I really like it this way, and couldnt care less for the limit, saving 1-2 minutes is neglible every time.

That being said, anytime I cross the border to Germany there are these few first minutes of going faster, our roof box is basically the limit so somewhere around 160. Without it, maybe 220. After few minutes novelty wears off, you realize how dangerous and frustrating in actual traffic such speeds are, and go back to something closer to 130.

With fully automated driving, this wouldnt be a topic, I would be reading a book or sleeping. Looking forward to this.

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Swiss don't break rules because there are speed cameras everywhere and fines are huge. But as soon they are outside of Switzerland, they will be the first to drove like hell is coming. Also, if you don't react to green light in a microsecond, or drive less than 10 km/h under the limit, they will start to honk. Rules and their enforcement are perfectly fine and I'm really happy about that, but it doesn't make drivers better

Some traffic lights in Zurich are only green for 5 seconds or so, then you need to wait another minute or two.

I’ve never seen honking at 10kph under the limit, and I regularly drive longish trips to Germany for shopping on 80kph roads where you can often get stuck behind someone doing an indicated 72 (so about 69).

Also Swiss top up foreign fines - they apply the Swiss penalty based on amount by which the limit was exceeded, if there’s a data sharing agreement, as there is with Germany. Any enthusiasm is based on less enforcement rather than lower fines.

Nah. No speed limits is great, as long as everyone behaves by the rules.

Stay the hell out of the left lane, unless you’re passing. If you’re in the left lane and someone is in your rear-view, you move right. Otherwise, drive as fast as you feel like you can safely go, without having to worry about being pulled over and cited for doing something perfectly safe.

Driving on the Autobahn in Germany was one of the more liberating experiences of my life. I was genuinely sad when I got to the Netherlands and had to worry about keeping my speed below 130 when passing.

> If you’re in the left lane and someone is in your rear-view, you move right.

no, you finish overtaking as planned, except it is an emergency vehicle

There's a point where speed becomes inherently unsafe due to visual limits. If cars were able to travel at Mach 2, then you'd be constantly at risk of getting into a crash whenever you change lane, because cars can approach quicker than you can make a decision.

There will be an upper speed limit somewhere, it might just be higher than cars can currently drive.

Also unrestricted parts of the autobahn have a pretty bad safety record.

I drive an indicated 130kph on Swiss motorways, an indicated 108kph through tunnels, and generally an indicated 88kph on regular roads when I get the chance. I think the 80kph limit is too low for many country roads, and it inhibits overtaking slower vehicles, so you frequently enough see long trains of cars stuck behind something.

Once I hit Germany, I generally drive about 160kph on unrestricted motorway, but wander up towards 200kph if the lanes are clear. It is not stressful to drive fast as long as you’re not overtaking with a large speed difference. 130kph feels quite slow on the autobahn, it’s very noticeable when you’re on a restricted stretch.

Time savings add up on a 6+ hour trip, especially if you leave after work; +30kph is 180km after 6 hours, it can make the difference between needing a hotel or not.

When I ride my motorbike, I generally head to Germany, in large part because 80kph is so slow and Swiss enforcement is more eager. Of course speeding penalties are the same, since Swiss top up any German fines to Swiss levels.

130km/h is just ludicrous. The consumption compared to 100km/h is about 50% extra and the time saved is wiped out with just one bathroom break.

But that bathroom break is going to happen anyways

Depends on the car. With a V6, it’s pretty negligible.

My SUV gets better mileage at high speed cruising due to the gearing. As long as you’re not constantly accelerating/decelerating and going with the flow.

> My SUV gets better mileage at high speed cruising due to the gearing.

what model would that be?

> As long as you’re not constantly accelerating/decelerating and going with the flow.

this can save even more fuel, if your SUV still uses fossil fuels and you accelerate at the optimal engine load and then glide. It's called pulse and glide.

Honda Pilot. I find myself taking the same 3 hour drive every couple of weeks this year. With the cruise set at 65 or 85, you’re in 10th gear (iirc) and there’s no significant difference. Variance is more driven by traffic in the city.

Once you start working the pedal, mileage drops ~20%.

> SUV

That's a big safety and pollution problem in itself.

My typical drive to visit family is roughly 125 kms with a 130 km/h speed limit and 125 kms with a 110 limit. If I drove at 100 all the time it would take 25 minutes more. More than a bathroom break I think.

Honestly I feel that driving faster is safer for me, since I tend to zone out if I don't have to pay attention to overtaking trucks.

> Honestly I feel that driving faster is safer for me, since I tend to zone out if I don't have to pay attention to overtaking trucks.

If you don't drive while being sleepy this is just a matter of getting used to it. I used to drive to family visits 160-170km/h, but switched to 110 km/h (or train+bike depending on the circumstances). It feels slow at first, but you get used to it. The same when you do it the way around.

In the Netherlands highway limits have been 120km/h for several decades. Around 2010 it was raised to 130km/h (a pretty pretty popular measure by most accounts). In the last few years it became clear that the country as a whole was emitting many nitrogen compounds in the air, so as an emergency measure in 2019 the maximum highway speed was lowered to 100km/h. But only on specific sections at specific hours of the day (6:00-19:00), which keeps confusing me on the few occasions when I drive on a highway (a few times a year). So I just default to always 100km/h on all highways.

The Swiss limit seems about right to me, their autoroutes have more hills and bends than those in the surrounding countries.

It sorta sounds like you don't really enjoy driving. After Germany is safe too, even with the unlimited speed.

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