Aspirant Academy
ENHI

RAS question

The German Autobahn is famous for having sections with no general speed limit. Which of the following statements about the Autobahn is CORRECT?

Correct answer: (D) The Autobahn is part of Germany's federal highway system and is maintained by the federal government; it inspired Dwight Eisenhower to create the US Interstate Highway System..

Germany's Autobahn is a federal motorway network now administered by the Federal Government, and Eisenhower's wartime experience of German autobahns helped shape his push for the United States Interstate Highway System.

  1. (A)

    The Autobahn is the world's longest motorway network, spanning over 100,000 km.

  2. (B)

    Approximately 30% of the Autobahn has no posted speed limit (Unrestricted sections).

  3. (C)

    The Autobahn was originally built under the administration of the Weimar Republic in 1919.

  4. (D)

    The Autobahn is part of Germany's federal highway system and is maintained by the federal government; it inspired Dwight Eisenhower to create the US Interstate Highway System.

Explanation

The Autobahn is best understood as Germany's federal motorway network, not simply as a road famous for fast driving. It is roughly 13,200 km long and has unrestricted speed sections, while the Federal Trunk Road Authority states that since 1 January 2021 the Federal Government has sole responsibility for planning, construction, operation, structural maintenance, asset management and funding of federal motorways. The Eisenhower Presidential Library supports the second half of the option: during World War II, General Eisenhower saw the ease of travel on German autobahns, and that experience, along with his 1919 convoy experience, convinced him of the need for safer, speedier highways and strong national-defence infrastructure in the United States.

Why the other options are wrong

  • (A) The Autobahn is about 13,200 km long, so calling it a 100,000 km-plus and world's-longest motorway network overstates both its scale and rank.
  • (B) The unrestricted-speed point is a real feature, but this option does not capture the federal-motorway status and Eisenhower influence that the item treats as the fuller correct statement.
  • (C) Early Autobahn construction belongs around the 1930s context, not as a 1919 Weimar Republic project.

Concept

This tests transport geography through the link between a national motorway system, state infrastructure responsibility and strategic road planning. RAS asks such examples because major transport networks often connect physical geography with governance, defence and economic mobility.

Source

Related questions