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from the Wir-fahr'n-fahr'n-fahr'n-auf-der-Autobahn dept.
Brought to the floor by Senator John Moorlach of Orange County, SB-319 would direct the state's Department of Transportation to build two unlimited speed lanes on each side of Interstate 5 and State Route 99, the main north-south arteries linking cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sacramento. The sections of the roadways in question run straight through the supremely flat Central Valley, making for ideal high-speed driving conditions.
Perhaps paradoxically, California's answer to the German autobahn would be paid for by the state's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. The text of SB-319 points out that the recent collapse of California's ambitious plan for a bullet train between Los Angeles and San Francisco, which was originally intended to trace the same route as the proposed unlimited speed lanes, has left residents without "access to high-speed, unabated transportation across the state."
http://www.thedrive.com/news/26554/california-might-add-lanes-with-no-speed-limits-to-major-highways
(Score: 3, Informative) by fyngyrz on Wednesday February 20 2019, @12:57AM (3 children)
From TFS, emphasis mine:
So, no.
Speaking as someone who drove in Montana all the years the speed limit was defined as "reasonable and prudent" during the day, which turned out to be measurably safer [motorists.org], and has also driven in California, where the [apparently batshit insane] drivers hover within a car length or so of each other's bumpers at freeway speeds... the number of lanes isn't going to be the actual issue here.
--
After my girl turned vegan, it was
like I'd never seen herbivore.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by pipedwho on Wednesday February 20 2019, @01:41AM (2 children)
Two extra each side is reasonable. The difference with 'reasonable and prudent' speeds is that the entire carriageway is moving together. In CA, keeping the usual speed limit on some lanes, and then having a couple suddenly go unlimited means that people are no longer moving 'together'. It also implies there are no 'zero-skill' drivers on the road that will do something stupid to cause a pile up.
And I agree completely with you regarding the 'reasonable and prudent' rule with no actual limit. It means people are paying attention to their surroundings and not staring at the speedo worried about accidentally creeping a little over the limit and getting done at the next speed trap.
And on crowded roads, speed limits mean nothing since you're crawling along anyway. Infuriatingly, here in Sydney, we have variable speed limits all over the place. So people are constantly driving like idiots trying to speed up and slow down when/where it would normally make no sense (except to avoid being fined by a revenue camera). No real improvement on the accident rate beyond everything else done that is not speed related, but a big improvement to revenue haul from the cameras they put everywhere.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Wednesday February 20 2019, @03:09PM (1 child)
>It also implies there are no 'zero-skill' drivers on the road that will do something stupid to cause a pile up.
How do you figure? We already know the Dunning-Kruger effect is particularly strong among drivers, so I'd bet good money that there will be plenty of people who like speed, or are just in a hurry, driving well beyond their actual ability. One of the things that makes the German autobahn work is actually rigorous driving tests before you can get your license - the American standard of "you didn't completely fail to memorize and apply the most basic aspects of driving knowledge" seems unlikely to cut it.
Another interesting detail would be how they are connected with the normal highway - just adding a couple more lanes seems like it would be asking for trouble, not least of which because everyone knows the outermost lanes are the slowest. But also because you don't want normal drivers to be tempted to get on the autobahn to circumvent a traffic jam. Occasional transfer "ramps" seem like the best idea - presumably with warning marks on the autobahn at least a mile or two in advance so that drivers know there will likely be a slow patch coming up.
(Score: 3, Informative) by bob_super on Wednesday February 20 2019, @07:24PM
> We already know the Dunning-Kruger effect is particularly strong among drivers
And they are not helped by car ads and reviews. Case in point : spent an hour, two days in a row, having to clear the mess that resulted from drivers who clearly didn't know that an iced-over windy mountain road with banked turns does require proper equipment and driving technique.