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Sat 11 Nov 2007Trying to put the ban into autobahnPlans to limit speed on motorways threaten a cherished freedom, writes Derek ScallyGermany is the only country in the world where the need for speed is a basic right. Anyone with a fast car and strong nerves can push both to the limit on two-thirds of the country's 12,000km autobahn (motorway) network. The motorway is a playground for overgrown boy racers who take the boredom out of their daily commute by turning it into a white-knuckle ride. Then there are the so-called Geisterfahrer or ghost drivers who, either to avoid traffic or to end their lives, race at speed down the wrong side of the autobahn, but that's another story.