Could California Get an Autobahn?

California legislators are considering creating speed-limit-free areas on some of their roadways. Learn how this might work (and why it might NOT work) on today's episode of BrainStuff. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,
Lauren Vogelbaum. Here. Germany is known for several awesome things,
including beer brats, and of course, the autobon Bund. This autobon,
as it's known in Germany, is really just a federal
highway system there, but to visitors, the allure of the
auto bon is the speed limit or lack of one.

(00:24):
Cars can top two per hour during normal conditions on
this famed freeway. That's about a hundred and fifty miles
per hour. And now a California legislator is proposing a
bill that could make the state home to what is
being called the American auto bon. John Morlock, the Republican
state senator from Orange County, introduced State Bill three nineteen

(00:44):
in February of twenty nineteen to relieve traffic congestion along
Interstate five and State Route ninety nine. According to the
proposed plan, both roadways would get new lanes, one northbound
and one southbound. Drivers in the new lanes would not
have to abide by a speed limit, though the existing
sixty five miles per hour limit would remain in effect
in the existing lanes. That's about a hundred and five

(01:06):
kilometers per hour. The idea also could provide an alternative
to California's controversial, long delayed, and possibly canceled high speed
rail project. The proposal comes on the heels of California
Governor Gavin Newsom's announcement that the Bullet Train as planned
is too expensive at an estimated cost of seventy seven
billion dollars, and would take too long to build. There

(01:28):
are no official cost estimates for the Audubon bill, but
in February, Senator Morlock told The Los Angeles Times it
could cost about three billion dollars. He also said the
money would come from the state's cap and trade program,
which requires companies to offset pollution by purchasing credits. If
plans move forward, the American Audubon would be constructed along

(01:48):
major freeways, with the Labock area, which is about eighty
miles or a hundred and twenty nine kilometers north of
Los Angeles at the southern point, and Sacramento or Stockton
at the northern end. That means theoretically, vehicles traveling north
at one miles per hour in the unrestricted lane could
make the trip from Sacramento to Lubec in about three hours. Currently,

(02:09):
that drive takes over four hours well over depending on traffic.
Aside from improving drive times for those along that route,
the authors of the bill claim it would also help
reduce congestion, which would in turn decrease greenhouse gas emissions
from vehicle stuck idling. For that reason, the bill specifies
that funding should come from California's Greenhouse Gas Production Fund,

(02:30):
which regularly supports transportation and transit projects that reduce pollution.
Critics point out, however, the emissions go up at high speeds,
so encouraging people to drive faster means there wouldn't be
any net reduction in pollution. In fact, Bill Magivern, a
spokesperson for the Coalition for Clean Air, told s F
Gate that the net reduction in emissions theory is ridiculous.

(02:54):
In addition to the pollution concerns, critics are also worried
about the risks to drivers. Marine Vogel, a spokeswoman for
the National Safety Council, told USA Today that numerous studies
demonstrate that when states raise speed limits, they can expect
an increase in traffic fatalities. Statistics from the U s
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that in speeding was

(03:17):
a factor in twenty six percent of all traffic fatalities.
That accounts for nearly ten thousand deaths. Several states across
the US have increased speed limits. For instance, Idaho, Montana, Nevada,
South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming allow drivers to travel
eighty miles per hour on certain highways, and Texas allows
eighty five miles per hour along a specific stretch of

(03:39):
State Highway one thirty. That's up to about a hundred
and thirty seven kilometers per hour. However, the current maximum
speed limit in California is still seventy miles per hour
about a hundred thirteen kilometers per hour, with some stretches
along the proposed Audubon route a little bit lower. Californians
shouldn't get too excited, though, yet. The bill has a

(03:59):
long way before ever becoming law and may never get there.
If it passes the vote in the state's House and Senate,
it must then be approved by Governor Newsom. For contrast,
Germany's Autobon covers seven thousand, five hundred miles that's about
twelve th kiometers, and there are some sections with speed limits.
New drivers in Germany are actually trained on the autobon

(04:20):
to learn how to handle the high speeds, and the
country's licensing process is a lot more difficult, time consuming,
and expensive than it is in the United States. If
California's autobon gets approved, this three D some mile stretch
of road might only be a start to a larger system.
Today's episode was written by Shari's three Wit and produced

(04:42):
by Tyler Clang for iHeart Media and How Stuff Works.
For more in this and lots of other topics, visit
our home planet, how stuff Works dot com.