If you want a highway with no legal speed limit, you have two options. You may be surprised to hear they are both in Europe. One, the Isle of Man, suffers twice the serious accident rate of similar roads. The other, Germany, has one-third the death rate of U.S. roads.
Two very different no-limit zones
You’d be hard-pressed to find two places in Europe more different. The Isle of Man sits between Ireland and England. It’s about twice the size of Martha’s Vineyard, but its mountains rise as high as 1,385 feet above sea level. The result is many steep, winding roads—most of which have no speed limit.
Sure, residential roads have a default 30 mph speed limit to protect the island’s 85,000 residents. But not the roads between towns. Detective Sergeant Allan Thomson explained, “You can get off the boat and go up onto the mountain course and be doing 180 mph within 15 minutes, without breaking the law.” He concluded, “We’re unique.”
One of the island’s biggest annual events is the “Tourist Trophy” motorcycle race. But the rest of the year, it’s a major destination for motorcyclists from across the U.K. High speeds, rainy weather, and a remote location all conspire to cause twice as many serious road accidents as nearby England—per capita.
Former police inspector Derek Flint put it bluntly. He said tourists “come and use our roads pretty much as a playground for two weeks every year for the TT.” He urges his government to finally have a “grown-up debate” on safety.
Germany’s Autobahn beats U.S. roads for safety
While the Isle of Man is a “self-governing dependency” that is ultimately part of the United Kingdom, Germany is one of the major powers of the European Union.
The country—approximately the size of Montana—is famous for its Autobahn. This is a highway with no default speed limit. Speed limits apply to trucks and some urban areas. But 70% of the Autobahn has no speed limit for cars.
Franklin Mao, a University of Washington student, crunched the numbers. “In a report by the German Federal Highway Research Institute (2021), 1.41 people were killed per 1 billion kilometers of vehicles traveled on motorways in Germany.”
How does the rest of the Western world stack up? That number is 2.13 in France, 3.45 in the U.S., and 3.66 in Italy.
Why the disparity? Perhaps because of Germany’s rigorous driver’s license course and testing process. Perhaps because Autobahn patrols still issue tickets to drivers who are out of control. The average speed on unrestricted sections of the highway is 88 mph.
