There is a vast difference in my opinion between rural highways and interstates. The reason why autobahns work in Germany and why they won't work in the US is very simple. The american drives lack the discipline it takes to drive at such speeds safely (ie. slower drivers not only drive on the right lane/s and ONLY pass on the left, but you move out of the passing lane once you've passed the person).

While it not only has to do with discipline, it doesn't appear that the american highways are not designed for the smooth transition of traffic off and on the interstate like they are in Germany.

First of all, JadeLemon.

Where you got your information that German drivers are more disciplined drivers, I'd like to know. I am quite sure you could find plenty of autobahn drivers that complain about other autobahn drivers.

To the article... in just those two years, between '04 and '06 many improvements in car safety could have contributed to the fewer serious injuries. Cheaper cars are being made available with passenger side airbags along with side curtain air bags. Not to mention more, older cars would be off the road in that time. It would be much more appropriate to look at the number accidents in '04 compared to '06.

Would it be appropriate to have an "American autobahn" if it meant 20% more accidents even though serious injuries didn't rise?

This study doesn't seem to mean a lot. The 5 mph speed
limit change was probably well within the limits of the various roadways. That is, their design was such that cars could safeky travel at those speeds.

The 55 mph limit may have actually had an impact on freeway driving, because it was enforced. Prior to that time, freeway speeds were more on the order of 75 to 80mph, and many of the vehicles weren't well suited for those speeds. With the 55mph limit, enforcement was much stronger ( I remember those days),

As for the Autobahn, it was designed for high speed, and the culture supports it. German laws require safety inspections to make sure that the cars are in good shape. There are also specific rules regarding passing and the like ( you must yield to faster vehicles). These rules are apparently strictly enforced. It is not a matter of discipline of the individual driver, but rather a matter of a well regulated system.This may be due to the high population density of Germany vs the US, but for whatever reason, it does seem to be the case

As fun and liberating it may be to cruise the road at (by law) unlimited speeds there is a downside to the whole thing besides safety concerns.

When you drive at higher speeds your car/motorcycle needs more gas and thus emmits more CO2.

studies also show that people have always (and i mean always) roughly invested the same time for commuting and traffic. So if you go faster while still going for roughly the same amount of time you'll go further and thus polluting the environment even more.

I am 100% sure that I live 16 miles from work no matter how fast I drive there.

There is a huge volume of research that shows, repeatedly, that atmospheric temperatures and climate change independently of CO2 levels. Any affect CO2 might have as a green house gas is extremely diluted by water vapor and methane. Like a kid peeing in the Pacific, it doesn't make a difference. This is nothing new. Research from the early 90's has shown this, looking back at least 2 million years (any study that looks at less than 200,000 years is not statistically significant because we're looking at billions of years)

The increase in CO2 levels do, however, seem to result in a drastic increase in global plant growth.

That being said, I'm all for doing everything we can to use renewable resources and reduce our impact on our environment. I just hate it when ignorance is taken as fact in order get people to change.

I think an American Autobahn from LA to NY via DC would be an excellent idea, but I agree we'd need better drivers. Maybe a special license would work.

Don't take my word for it. Here's a few primary research articles (editorial statistics are worthless) you can look at, but do a Google Scholar search and you'll find all sorts of other examples of scientists saying the same thing.

Josh Schipper
Biochemistry
NCSU

Implications of the Secondary Role of Carbon Dioxide and Methane Forcing in Climate Change: Past, Present, and Future
Willie Soon (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
Physical Geography, 2007, vol 28

Can increasing carbon dioxide cause climate change?
RICHARD S. LINDZEN, MIT
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
Vol. 94, pp. 8335–8342, August 1997

Equilibrium Climate Statistics of a General Circulation Model as a Function of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide. Part I: Geographic Distributions of Primary Variables
Rodert J. Oclesby (Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island)
Barry Saltzman (Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut)
Journal of Climate, Vol 5, 1991

Environmental Effects of Increased Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide
Arthur B. Robinson, Ph.D.
Noah E. Robinson, Ph.D.
Willie Soon, Ph.D.
Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons Volume 12 Number 3 Fall 2007

the question should really be: how will this effect our economy?
will the decreased travel times benefit our businesses?
will the construction and operation of this structure benefit local economies along the way?

I agree with JadeLemon on this one. Its not that american drivers are more "disciplined" in terms of driving skill, it is that germans generally understand the concept of "Slower traffic keep right."

We had a law in Colorado that would fine drivers for "not passing in the left hand lane." Personally I thought this was the greatest law ever, however it is no longer strictly enforced. It allowed for a smoother flow of traffic by dividing lanes into different speeds - slower drivers on the right, and faster drivers on the left.

Now it seems that we all just drive according to the 'slowest common denominator' and this makes it so that people have to change lanes and speed up and slow down a lot more, which is more dangerous than just going fast in a straight line.

Driving faster = lower fuel efficiency is is the last thing America needs right now.

I drive quite fast at times. My personal experience has been that as long as you drive at a speed you are comfortable with. There is no real link between speed and accidents.

I've personally gotten in to more accidents driving at slow speed than at high speed.

I admit the risk of serious injury increases with speed but that is not the same as saying high speed will cause more accidents.

I think what is needed is better education on safe driving than just speed limits.