Ryan Blaney got to drive on the autobahn during his recent trip to Germany, and it unsurprisingly was eye-opening for the Wood Brothers Racing driver. But not for the same reason most people fall in love with the German highway system.
Blaney tweeted Friday, saying he was on his way to Darlington Raceway for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500, though the roughly hour-and-a-half drive seemingly made him wish he was back across the pond.
The German autobahn is known for its unrestricted zones, where there’s no speed limit and you can drive as fast as you want. That didn’t make the biggest impression on Blaney — after all, he travels in excess of 120 mph for several hours nearly every Sunday — but rather it was German motorists’ lane discipline that he found mind boggling.
You might not know it based on the way most Americans drive, but you’re not supposed to drive in the left lane in the United States, apart for when you’re overtaking. But that law hardly is enforced, so many of the oblivious motorists who create traffic jams often don’t know they’re doing anything wrong.
In Germany, however, drivers have much better lane discipline, as traveling slowly in the left lane can be extremely dangerous. Because stretches of the autobahn are unrestricted, those cars would be like a sitting duck for faster-traveling cars.
Thumbnail photo via Timothy T. Ludwig/USA TODAY Sports Images
