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.
Speed limits in Germany
In 2015, the German Safety Council recommended that the general limit be set at 80 km/h (50 mph) for rural roads less than six meters wide. The proposed speed would reduce the differential with trucks 3.5 metric tonne trucks, which generally travel at 60 km/h (37 mph). In 2013, rural roads spanned approximately 200,000 kilometers in length, and killed at least 1,934 people.