AUTOBAHN
      SYLLABICATION: au·to·bahn
      PRONUNCIATION: ôt'o-bän
      NOUN: An expressway in Germany and German-speaking countries.
      ETYMOLOGY: German : Auto, automobile; see auto + Bahn, road, from Middle High German ban.
From the American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Ed. 2000.

TACHOPHOBIA
      tac·ho·pho·bi·a — n.
      1. The irrational fear of speed.
      American Autobahn by Mark Rask

A brave new book by Mark Rask

"Will there ever be a rural American interstate with no speed limit? The answer is abolutely yes. Or it could be absolutely no, depending on what direction we choose to take as a nation. When it comes down to the options before us. Only three possibilities remain: The first is to do nothing, maintaining a status quo that all but guarantees that 40,000 people will die this year and every year afterwards. The second is to make a true commitment to the Slow-is-Always-Safer credo by allowing safety experts and Washington bureaucrats to determine what constitutes a slow enough, 'safe' speed, and then enforcing this limit by retrofitting every vehicle on the road with mandatory speed governors.... The third, and final, option is to work to minimize the accident risk of higher-speed driving and to integrate this Fast-and-Safe philosophy into our highway safety network."
—Mark Rask, AMERICAN AUTOBAHN, Chapter 10, page 263

AS SEEN ON TV - "American Autobahn, written and autographed by Mark Rask, takes an enthusiastic look at the state of American highway safety, exposing the half-truths and myths about the single most misunderstood factor in traffic accidents today - speed. The book offers an exciting new direction for America's Interstate that would make speeds of 100 miles per hour or more, commonplace on open stretches of rural freeways, with far greater safety than ever imagined at 55 miles per hour. Cool! There's a lot of people who would like that!"

from the back jacket cover:

Each year, thousands of people are killed on this nation's highways - many more injured and disabled. The reason for this continued death and suffering is an attitude of ignorance and apathy that allows federal and state safety programs to be either ill-conceived, ineptly handled or nonexistant.

AMERICAN AUTOBAHN takes a tough but enthusiastic look at the state of American highway safety, exposing the half-truths and myths about the single most misunderstood factor in traffic accidents today - Speed.

AMERICAN AUTOBAHN analyzes the dramatic combination of safety and speed on the German Autobahn and offers an exciting, new direction for America's interstate that would make speeds of 100 mph, or more, commonplace on open stretches of rural freeway beyond the year 2000 - with far greater safety than ever imagined at 55 mph.

AMERICAN AUTOBAHN will challenge everything you thought you knew about saving lives on the road.

from the inside jacket:

Ride along with the book the federal government and insurance industry don't want you to read.

Drive the fastest, safest freeway in the world:

This was paradise. The BMW simply ate up the miles - ah - kilometers. The steering and suspension allowed me to sweep the car through long, drawn-out curves at top speed with no wheeel wander, precisely placing it in the center of the lane. After half an hour at this speed, I felt comfortable and relaxed, taking in an occasional glance at the lush, green hillsides that the Autobahn cut through with double-time efficiency. But there was one thing missing. Catching up with myself, I popped a cassette into the deck. For most, fulfilling a fantasy like this would probably cause them to rock to the classic strains of Springsteen's Born to Run or a hundred other rock-and-roll road songs. I drive to a different, more timeless beat, adding to the exhilaration of driving over 100 mph by taking Beethoven's music and Schiller's poetry to a new level they probably never dreamed of: Laufet, Bruder, eure Bahn, Freudig, wie ein Held zum Siegen! (Run, brothers, down your road. Joyfully, like a hero to victory!) In their homeland, I had finally achieved what I had long been searching for. A road and a government that permitted me - playing by its rules - to drive as fast as I wanted.

from Chapter Three...