Autobahn Ausfart

When I drove over the border from Austria into Germany in July 2004, it was a dream come true. Driving on the Autobahn, a road with no speed limits, captured my imagination from elementary school. Of course, in my dreams I was driving a Red or Yellow Porsche or Ferrari - not a Blue 1.4Liter Opel.

I saw a show on the History Channel about the Autobahn. One interesting fact is that though there are no speed limits in most places, it is actually safer than American roads. Contrary to conventional wisdom, .72 fatalities per 100 million vehicles are reported on the Autobahn vs. .84 fatalities per 100 million vehicles on US roads. Some suggested reasons for this:
- ~$2000 for a license
- German Cars are designed for high-speed driving with tighter handling (BMW) and exceptional saftey (Mercedes)
- Drivers in Germany tend to focus on driving when driving: For a long time German cars did not even include cup holders

One interesting point was that the Autobahn was commissioned by Hitler in the 1930s and He presided over its opening, Later, when the Autobahn was mostly empty because of the price of cars, Hitler commissioned Ferdinand Porsche to build the Volkswagen.
A few of the innovations first seen in the Autobahn were:
- High Speed on-ramps
- 4 lane divided highways for speed and saftey
- Overpasses to avoid intersections
- 27" concrete for durability
- Level roads: Maximum of 7' vertical change for every 100' of road
- Long curves for highspeed turning

The Autobahn became the model for American and other modern roads built after WWII, but it is still the best and safest public road to legally drive over 100mph.