Autobahns
| Bundesautobahnen | |
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The German Autobahn sign
with route markers for Bundesautobahnen 1, 3 & 5 |
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A map of the German Bundesautobahnen network
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| System information | |
| Maintained by Bundesministerium für Verkehr und digitale Infrastruktur | |
| Length: | 12,993 km (2016) (8,073 mi) |
| Highway names | |
| Autobahns: |
Bundesautobahn X (BAB X or A X) |
| System links | |
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The Autobahn (German: Autobahn, plural Autobahnen) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is Bundesautobahn (plural Bundesautobahnen, abbreviated BAB), which translates as "federal motorway". The literal meaning of the word Bundesautobahn is "Federal Auto(mobile) Track".
German autobahns have no federally mandated speed limit for some classes of vehicles. However limits are posted (and enforced) in areas that are urbanized, substandard, accident-prone, or under construction. On speed-unrestricted stretches, an advisory speed limit (Richtgeschwindigkeit) of 130 kilometres per hour (81 mph) applies. While going faster is not illegal as such in the absence of a speed limit, it can cause an increased liability in the case of an accident; courts have ruled that an "ideal driver" who is exempt from absolute liability for "inevitable" tort under the law would not exceed Richtgeschwindigkeit.
A 2008 estimate reported that 52% of the autobahn network had only the advisory speed limit, 15% had temporary speed limits due to weather or traffic conditions, and 33% had permanent speed limits. Measurements from the German State of Brandenburg in 2006 showed average speeds of 142 km/h (88 mph) on a 6-lane section of autobahn in free-flowing conditions.
Germany's autobahn network has a total length of about 12,993 kilometres (8,073 mi) in 2016, which ranks it among the most dense and longest controlled-access systems in the world. Longer similar systems can be found in the United States (77,017 kilometres (47,856 mi)) and India (76,200 kilometres (47,300 mi)).
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