Bundesstraße
One distinguishing characteristic between German "Bundesstraßen" and "Autobahnen" is that there usually is a general 100 km/h (62 mph) speed limit on federal highways out of built-up areas, as opposed to the merely advisory speed limit ("Richtgeschwindigkeit") of 130 km/h (83 mph) in unmarked sections of the autobahns. However, a number of "Bundesstraßen" have been extended as expressways (dual carriageways) (colloquially called "Yellow Autobahns"). Many of these have speed limits of usually 100–120 km/h, others have only an advisory speed limit like autobahns. Most sections of the federal highways are only single carriageway with one lane for each direction and no hard shoulder pull-out area.
Advisory speed limit
In Germany, the "Autobahn-Richtgeschwindigkeits-Verordnung" (Directive on Reference Speed on Motorways), introduced in 1974, recommends a speed of no more than for autobahns and similar roads, whose lanes are separated by a median or which have at least two lanes per direction, provided there are no traffic signs posting a lower speed limit.