That doesn't even make sense... I don't know where you live, but up here in the North Bay we have some of the worst roads in California. Proper upkeep would mean more than enough of a revenue stream for the "special interests" without having to rebuild roads completely, simply because they're crumbling away due to lack of maintenance. The problem is funding - I highly doubt people in the US would like to see their paychecks taxed to the tune of 40-50% of their earnings, because that's how it works in Germany. Heck, last year Sonoma County decided that their road maintenance budget was so underfunded that they will crush dozens of currently paved county backroads into gravel in the next few years to reduce upkeep costs.

As far as the accident fatality statistics, another thing that plays into it is that Germany has annual safety inspections for vehicles (TÜV), and half the junkers I see on the roads around here every day wouldn't even be deemed operational there.

 

how did this topic become about how crappy our roads are vs roads from another part of the world? road conditions doesn't affect the ability for someone to drive. If conditions are bad, you are suppose to be more caution while driving. If its roads are that bad, you just don't drive on it. You don't just become a lunatic because of how crappy the roads are.

 

Road conditions are DIRECTLY related to driving fast - an unlimited speed limit also entails roads that can handle that. Crappy roads will cause accidents at high speed, period. It was brought up because road upkeep here pretty much sucks because there is generally so much traffic in major highways that upkeep is both inconvenient and very expensive.