1 00:00:01,793 --> 00:00:03,503 [mellow music] 2 00:00:03,503 --> 00:00:04,963 - [Henry] Do you remember 3 00:00:04,963 --> 00:00:09,426 when driving cross country required a shovel and axe? 4 00:00:10,719 --> 00:00:12,095 - Any potential driver should have been suspicious 5 00:00:12,095 --> 00:00:14,181 about the claims of great luxury. 6 00:00:14,181 --> 00:00:16,099 - You can get lost in a sandstorm. 7 00:00:16,099 --> 00:00:18,810 On a snowy mountain pass, you can go right off the road 8 00:00:18,810 --> 00:00:21,230 because there are no guardrails. 9 00:00:21,230 --> 00:00:24,942 - Or when the open road had you seeing things? 10 00:00:24,942 --> 00:00:28,028 - Highway hypnosis means that you're completely awake, 11 00:00:28,028 --> 00:00:30,364 but your brain has checked out. 12 00:00:31,448 --> 00:00:33,700 - All of these incidents create sort of a panic. 13 00:00:33,700 --> 00:00:36,370 It comes to be called a new and deadly killer. 14 00:00:36,370 --> 00:00:38,330 - Or when the right of way was determined 15 00:00:38,330 --> 00:00:41,291 by hand-to-hand combat. 16 00:00:41,291 --> 00:00:43,001 - They would have some poor sucker out there. 17 00:00:43,001 --> 00:00:46,547 You go, you stop, you go. Nobody's paying attention. 18 00:00:46,547 --> 00:00:48,840 - Which also means a bunch of people start fighting 19 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:50,926 in the streets. 20 00:00:50,926 --> 00:00:55,973 - These are the things we used to do for fun, for money, 21 00:00:55,973 --> 00:01:00,477 or maybe out of boredom that we'll never see again. 22 00:01:00,477 --> 00:01:03,272 Were they dangerous? Certainly. 23 00:01:03,272 --> 00:01:05,232 Deadly? Occasionally. 24 00:01:05,232 --> 00:01:08,068 But boy, wasn't it exciting? 25 00:01:08,068 --> 00:01:10,946 [dramatic music] 26 00:01:18,036 --> 00:01:20,789 - Remember when the open road felt like freedom, 27 00:01:20,789 --> 00:01:23,250 a full tank of gas, a fold out map 28 00:01:23,250 --> 00:01:26,962 and miles of highway stretching toward the horizon 29 00:01:26,962 --> 00:01:31,800 and no road captured that spirit better than Route 66. 30 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:34,136 But as millions of Americans would soon discover, 31 00:01:34,136 --> 00:01:37,848 getting your kicks came with more than a few bumps. 32 00:01:38,724 --> 00:01:40,267 - In the early 20th century, 33 00:01:40,267 --> 00:01:42,436 if you wanted to go from Chicago to Los Angeles, 34 00:01:42,436 --> 00:01:45,605 you better have several months of free time 35 00:01:45,605 --> 00:01:49,443 because it is a long journey and also a really slow one. 36 00:01:49,443 --> 00:01:52,029 It's mostly rough, unpaved roads. 37 00:01:52,029 --> 00:01:54,740 The maximum speed is about 20 miles an hour. 38 00:01:54,740 --> 00:01:57,117 And if you break down, you're often breaking down, 39 00:01:57,117 --> 00:01:58,869 literally in the middle of nowhere. 40 00:02:00,203 --> 00:02:02,414 - [Henry] But much of that changes in the 1920s 41 00:02:02,414 --> 00:02:04,541 when a new highway is established, 42 00:02:04,541 --> 00:02:08,711 one that stretches from Chicago all the way to Los Angeles 43 00:02:08,711 --> 00:02:12,049 and they call it Route 66. 44 00:02:13,634 --> 00:02:17,179 - This roadway really becomes the symbol 45 00:02:17,179 --> 00:02:19,514 of freedom and adventure 46 00:02:19,514 --> 00:02:21,725 and this notion that you can have the life 47 00:02:21,725 --> 00:02:24,311 that you want out west, you just got to get on this road 48 00:02:24,311 --> 00:02:25,354 and go find it. 49 00:02:26,396 --> 00:02:27,481 - [Edward] At first, it's a patchwork 50 00:02:27,481 --> 00:02:29,691 of dirt roads stitched together. 51 00:02:29,691 --> 00:02:31,902 So if you look at a map, it seems a bit wild 52 00:02:31,902 --> 00:02:34,655 with all the twists and turns scattered throughout, 53 00:02:34,655 --> 00:02:36,073 but hundreds of thousands of people 54 00:02:36,073 --> 00:02:38,867 in the 1930s begin driving on it 55 00:02:38,867 --> 00:02:40,952 as part of a great westward migration. 56 00:02:42,329 --> 00:02:46,083 - At this time, Route 66 is going through a lot of farmland, 57 00:02:46,083 --> 00:02:50,754 so it wasn't unheard of to be stopped 58 00:02:50,754 --> 00:02:55,050 because of a herd of cattle that are just crossing the road. 59 00:02:55,050 --> 00:02:56,885 - [Henry] Eventually it becomes 60 00:02:56,885 --> 00:03:01,014 the first fully paved highway in America. 61 00:03:01,014 --> 00:03:05,060 - By 1938, so many people have driven Route 66 62 00:03:05,060 --> 00:03:08,397 that they've begun to call it The Mother Road. 63 00:03:09,731 --> 00:03:11,191 - [Rutledge] You also have the birth of the roadside 64 00:03:11,191 --> 00:03:14,528 attraction, like the world's biggest rocking chair 65 00:03:14,528 --> 00:03:17,239 or the world's biggest ketchup bottle. 66 00:03:17,239 --> 00:03:18,907 Each one of those was designed 67 00:03:18,907 --> 00:03:22,911 to grab some of those tourism dollars. 68 00:03:22,911 --> 00:03:26,164 - [Henry] By 1955, over a million cars are traveling 69 00:03:26,164 --> 00:03:30,377 along Route 66 every year and that's a problem. 70 00:03:31,545 --> 00:03:33,505 - The road is basically unchanged 71 00:03:33,505 --> 00:03:35,090 from when it was first laid. 72 00:03:35,090 --> 00:03:38,969 It's this really narrow road, no lane dividers, no shoulder, 73 00:03:38,969 --> 00:03:42,097 and this is America's most trafficked tourist roadway. 74 00:03:42,097 --> 00:03:43,807 - [Rutledge] And there's no rules about who can be 75 00:03:43,807 --> 00:03:45,350 on the road, 76 00:03:45,350 --> 00:03:48,603 so that means cars, trucks, 18 wheelers, even tractors. 77 00:03:48,603 --> 00:03:52,899 All the cars are sharing this nine-foot wide lane, 78 00:03:52,899 --> 00:03:56,486 which is smaller than some grocery store aisles today. 79 00:03:56,486 --> 00:03:59,197 Everybody's just using it to get to where they need to go, 80 00:03:59,197 --> 00:04:02,909 but that's what makes it so intense and so dangerous. 81 00:04:04,077 --> 00:04:06,204 - [Negin] There are no merging lanes at this time. 82 00:04:06,204 --> 00:04:08,540 So to get onto Route 66, 83 00:04:08,540 --> 00:04:11,543 you're essentially making a hard right, flooring it, 84 00:04:11,543 --> 00:04:15,255 and then hoping that no one comes and hits you from behind. 85 00:04:15,255 --> 00:04:16,755 - [Edward] So just getting 86 00:04:16,755 --> 00:04:19,426 onto this busy highway is already a recipe for disaster. 87 00:04:19,426 --> 00:04:21,595 - [Adam] It bears noting that at this time, 88 00:04:21,595 --> 00:04:24,014 most states don't have a speed limit. 89 00:04:24,014 --> 00:04:26,224 And even if a state has a speed limit, 90 00:04:26,224 --> 00:04:29,019 there's no fancy reflective signs 91 00:04:29,019 --> 00:04:31,480 or any kind of lights along the highway. 92 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:33,315 No, no, no, no, no. 93 00:04:33,315 --> 00:04:37,444 If you're lucky, there is a hand-painted or wooden sign 94 00:04:37,444 --> 00:04:40,280 that you can't even see at night. 95 00:04:40,280 --> 00:04:42,282 - [Rutledge] Keep in mind, the cars back then were these 96 00:04:42,282 --> 00:04:43,700 gigantic hunks 97 00:04:43,700 --> 00:04:47,078 of steel and safety wasn't even a consideration. 98 00:04:48,455 --> 00:04:51,500 Hundreds of people are dying from all these crazy accidents. 99 00:04:51,500 --> 00:04:54,920 You've got the Devil's Elbow, Dead Man's Alley, 100 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:56,296 Dead Man's Curve. 101 00:04:57,964 --> 00:05:02,886 - [Henry] In 1953, New Mexico alone sees 110 fatalities 102 00:05:03,428 --> 00:05:05,764 on Route 66. 103 00:05:05,764 --> 00:05:07,057 - [Natalia] Thanks to all this, 104 00:05:07,057 --> 00:05:10,435 Route 66 gets a new nickname, Bloody 66. 105 00:05:11,603 --> 00:05:13,522 - [Adam] Finally, the federal government steps in 106 00:05:13,522 --> 00:05:16,566 to create the modern interstate 107 00:05:16,566 --> 00:05:20,320 with the 1956 Federal Highway Act. 108 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:22,405 However, there is a massive downside. 109 00:05:22,405 --> 00:05:26,827 Less traffic means that the businesses all along Route 66 110 00:05:26,827 --> 00:05:29,120 begin to close because quite simply, 111 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:31,456 they can't afford to stay open. 112 00:05:31,456 --> 00:05:34,000 - [Edward] Route 66 proves to be a dramatic milestone 113 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:35,418 for our growing country. 114 00:05:35,418 --> 00:05:37,379 We owe a lot of gratitude to these forgotten roads 115 00:05:37,379 --> 00:05:40,006 that pave the way for what we now take for granted. 116 00:05:41,633 --> 00:05:44,386 - As the nation's highways improved, 117 00:05:44,386 --> 00:05:48,306 driving became faster, smoother, and more predictable, 118 00:05:48,306 --> 00:05:51,560 which turned out to be a problem on its own. 119 00:05:53,186 --> 00:05:55,689 - When the US starts laying tens of thousands of miles 120 00:05:55,689 --> 00:05:57,274 of these new super highways, 121 00:05:57,274 --> 00:05:58,984 they're a complete game changer. 122 00:05:58,984 --> 00:06:00,944 Now people are flying down these roads 123 00:06:00,944 --> 00:06:03,321 at 60, 70 miles an hour 124 00:06:03,321 --> 00:06:07,492 and they're cutting down hours from their daily commutes. 125 00:06:07,492 --> 00:06:09,452 - But as drivers start to take advantage 126 00:06:09,452 --> 00:06:11,621 of these smooth new highways, 127 00:06:11,621 --> 00:06:13,373 suddenly there's a new phenomenon 128 00:06:13,373 --> 00:06:16,042 and we begin to hear these unusual reports from drivers 129 00:06:16,042 --> 00:06:19,963 that drive long distances, especially at night. 130 00:06:21,131 --> 00:06:24,259 - [Kavitha] In 1958, a driver is going through Illinois 131 00:06:24,259 --> 00:06:27,387 when he sees a tiger and slams on the brakes. 132 00:06:27,387 --> 00:06:28,597 - Around the same time, 133 00:06:28,597 --> 00:06:30,724 there's a man driving in rural Georgia 134 00:06:30,724 --> 00:06:33,518 when he says he sees a big colonial mansion 135 00:06:33,518 --> 00:06:35,145 in the middle of the road 136 00:06:35,145 --> 00:06:38,565 and he swerves in order to avoid running into it. 137 00:06:38,565 --> 00:06:42,152 - There's a guy in Pittsburgh who is convinced 138 00:06:42,152 --> 00:06:45,572 that he ran over some guy in the middle of the road. 139 00:06:45,572 --> 00:06:47,490 He stops, he calls the cops. 140 00:06:47,490 --> 00:06:50,118 They look for this body and they can't find it. 141 00:06:51,453 --> 00:06:54,456 - [Henry] But it turns out these incidents aren't real. 142 00:06:54,456 --> 00:06:55,999 They are hallucinations 143 00:06:55,999 --> 00:06:59,628 and they are occurring all over the country. 144 00:06:59,628 --> 00:07:03,340 The new smooth super highways are creating a new phenomenon 145 00:07:03,340 --> 00:07:08,094 that is labeled highway hypnosis. 146 00:07:08,094 --> 00:07:11,097 - [Hakeem] Highway hypnosis means that you're completely 147 00:07:11,097 --> 00:07:15,310 awake, your eyes are wide open, but your brain has checked out. 148 00:07:15,310 --> 00:07:16,770 - Researchers find out 149 00:07:16,770 --> 00:07:19,314 that new highways are literally too easy to drive on 150 00:07:19,314 --> 00:07:22,692 and that lulls people into sort of a trance-like state. 151 00:07:23,943 --> 00:07:25,779 - [Hakeem] Before this, car accidents were caused 152 00:07:25,779 --> 00:07:28,156 by multiple car collisions 153 00:07:28,156 --> 00:07:30,408 or there's a major problem with the road. 154 00:07:30,408 --> 00:07:33,244 - [Lance] Now a new category is growing faster than any other 155 00:07:33,244 --> 00:07:35,497 and that is the one car collision 156 00:07:35,497 --> 00:07:37,791 when a lone driver just spins off the road 157 00:07:37,791 --> 00:07:41,044 or runs into a pole or a bridge for no apparent reason. 158 00:07:41,044 --> 00:07:43,880 - In 1956, newspapers report 159 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:46,508 that single car accidents are responsible 160 00:07:46,508 --> 00:07:49,636 for 40% of all traffic fatalities. 161 00:07:49,636 --> 00:07:52,055 - [Lance] All of these incidents create sort of a panic. 162 00:07:52,055 --> 00:07:54,641 It comes to be called a new and deadly killer. 163 00:07:54,641 --> 00:07:57,894 Chevy releases a safety film on the subject. 164 00:07:57,894 --> 00:07:58,812 - [Presenter] The steady pace 165 00:07:58,812 --> 00:08:00,939 of monotonous high speed driving 166 00:08:00,939 --> 00:08:03,108 on a highway can lull the driver's eyes 167 00:08:03,108 --> 00:08:04,526 and mind off the road. 168 00:08:05,985 --> 00:08:08,238 - [Henry] To combat highway hypnosis, drivers get a lot 169 00:08:08,238 --> 00:08:11,366 of practical advice. 170 00:08:11,366 --> 00:08:14,202 - [Negin] The government starts suggesting all of these kind 171 00:08:14,202 --> 00:08:17,205 of crazy things like take your right shoe off, 172 00:08:17,205 --> 00:08:20,083 put your hand out the window, listen to music, 173 00:08:20,083 --> 00:08:22,877 or sit on an uncomfortable board. 174 00:08:22,877 --> 00:08:24,921 They're just these strange hacks. 175 00:08:24,921 --> 00:08:29,175 - [Presenter 2] An ACE driver. Alert, courteous, educated. 176 00:08:29,175 --> 00:08:31,553 - The Navy recommends running the windshield wipers 177 00:08:31,553 --> 00:08:34,722 even in dry weather just to have the distraction. 178 00:08:34,722 --> 00:08:36,683 - [Negin] One safety engineer actually recommends 179 00:08:36,683 --> 00:08:38,852 taking your mother-in-law with you 180 00:08:38,852 --> 00:08:41,229 because she'll probably keep you up 181 00:08:41,229 --> 00:08:43,606 through various annoyances. 182 00:08:45,066 --> 00:08:47,235 - [Kavitha] None of these weird remedies actually fix the 183 00:08:47,235 --> 00:08:50,238 problem and it soon becomes clear that a super smooth road 184 00:08:50,238 --> 00:08:53,658 with too little stimulation can be a danger in itself. 185 00:08:53,658 --> 00:08:55,994 - So the result is a range of fixes 186 00:08:55,994 --> 00:08:59,080 that we would recognize today, but also we take for granted. 187 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:01,708 Things like reflective paint on the roads 188 00:09:01,708 --> 00:09:05,670 and on the road signs, raised barriers between lanes. 189 00:09:05,670 --> 00:09:08,590 - There's a whole effort to make the roads less straight 190 00:09:08,590 --> 00:09:10,550 so they add curves to the highway 191 00:09:10,550 --> 00:09:13,678 that force the driver to pay attention and stay awake 192 00:09:13,678 --> 00:09:17,057 even if that makes the route less direct. 193 00:09:17,057 --> 00:09:20,602 - [Hakeem] But the biggest change comes in 1955 194 00:09:20,602 --> 00:09:22,604 on the Garden State Parkway. 195 00:09:22,604 --> 00:09:24,981 They installed the first singing shoulders. 196 00:09:24,981 --> 00:09:28,109 That's that edge of the highway where it's all serrated 197 00:09:28,109 --> 00:09:29,569 and if you drift over there, 198 00:09:29,569 --> 00:09:32,697 then it makes a loud noise and that'll awaken you 199 00:09:32,697 --> 00:09:35,992 and today we call these rumble strips. 200 00:09:35,992 --> 00:09:38,244 - Ah, the rumble strip. 201 00:09:38,244 --> 00:09:39,746 The highway's way of saying, 202 00:09:39,746 --> 00:09:41,206 "Hey, wake up before things get interesting." 203 00:09:45,585 --> 00:09:47,128 - In the 1970s, with their big rigs, convoys 204 00:09:47,128 --> 00:09:51,257 and CB radios, truckers ruled the road 205 00:09:51,257 --> 00:09:54,135 but when it came to following the rules of the road, 206 00:09:54,135 --> 00:09:56,763 let's just say it was a different time. 207 00:09:57,847 --> 00:10:00,308 - For the first half of the 20th century, 208 00:10:00,308 --> 00:10:02,268 if you wanted to move large amounts 209 00:10:02,268 --> 00:10:05,897 of cargo around the country, your best option is a train. 210 00:10:07,107 --> 00:10:08,733 - This all changed in the 1950s 211 00:10:08,733 --> 00:10:11,611 as people began moving from the cities to the suburbs. 212 00:10:11,611 --> 00:10:14,072 The Federal-Aid Highway Act supercharges 213 00:10:14,072 --> 00:10:16,407 interstate highway construction. 214 00:10:17,575 --> 00:10:20,870 Trucks get bigger and more powerful, 215 00:10:20,870 --> 00:10:24,290 capable of carrying everything from your produce 216 00:10:24,290 --> 00:10:27,377 to the government's nuclear weapons. 217 00:10:27,377 --> 00:10:29,629 - There was a mystique to the trucker back then. 218 00:10:29,629 --> 00:10:32,757 Big rigs were exotic, beautiful, powerful, 219 00:10:32,757 --> 00:10:35,093 and as a kid interested in big machines, 220 00:10:35,093 --> 00:10:38,012 I was just swept directly into it. 221 00:10:38,012 --> 00:10:41,266 - [Henry] By 1972, nearly a million big rigs are 222 00:10:41,266 --> 00:10:42,267 on the highways. 223 00:10:42,267 --> 00:10:44,936 It's a $15 billion industry. 224 00:10:44,936 --> 00:10:47,897 And many of the truckers are independent contractors 225 00:10:47,897 --> 00:10:51,526 and they're all competing for a bigger slice of the pie. 226 00:10:51,526 --> 00:10:55,780 And the rules, they're largely non-existent. 227 00:10:55,780 --> 00:10:58,074 - In a lot of states in the '70s, 228 00:10:58,074 --> 00:11:00,285 in the heyday of trucking, you didn't need 229 00:11:00,285 --> 00:11:01,452 to get a special license. 230 00:11:01,452 --> 00:11:02,829 You just needed a driver's license 231 00:11:02,829 --> 00:11:04,414 and to be of a certain age. 232 00:11:04,414 --> 00:11:07,125 Then they gave you the keys to a tractor trailer 233 00:11:07,125 --> 00:11:09,294 and the same guy who learned to drive on like a 234 00:11:09,294 --> 00:11:12,505 Dodge Dart was suddenly barreling down the highway 235 00:11:12,505 --> 00:11:14,674 in something half the size of a city block. 236 00:11:15,758 --> 00:11:17,260 - [Henry] With little restriction, 237 00:11:17,260 --> 00:11:19,637 legions of truckers hit the road 238 00:11:19,637 --> 00:11:20,972 but the new administration 239 00:11:20,972 --> 00:11:23,516 imposes new obstacles to overcome 240 00:11:23,516 --> 00:11:28,271 including lowering the speed limit to 55 miles per hour. 241 00:11:29,814 --> 00:11:31,608 - [Don] Truckers decide the answer is not to reduce 242 00:11:31,608 --> 00:11:33,151 their speed, 243 00:11:33,151 --> 00:11:36,362 but rather to keep driving fast and avoid getting caught. 244 00:11:36,362 --> 00:11:37,947 - [Austin] One thing working in their favor, 245 00:11:37,947 --> 00:11:42,744 in the 1970s, states don't share driving records. 246 00:11:42,744 --> 00:11:45,163 This means truckers take advantage of the system 247 00:11:45,163 --> 00:11:48,166 by getting different licenses in different states. 248 00:11:48,166 --> 00:11:51,336 If they're pulled over, they just take out the one 249 00:11:51,336 --> 00:11:53,254 with the fewest violations. 250 00:11:54,047 --> 00:11:55,590 - [Don] They embrace something 251 00:11:55,590 --> 00:11:57,842 that was originally made for farmers. 252 00:11:57,842 --> 00:12:01,638 It's called Citizens Band radios or CBs. 253 00:12:01,638 --> 00:12:03,765 - [Brian] CB radios started popping up in these trucks 254 00:12:03,765 --> 00:12:06,517 to warn each other where the cops were. 255 00:12:06,517 --> 00:12:09,562 So you had a massive surveillance system on the cops 256 00:12:09,562 --> 00:12:11,272 and then a massive deception 257 00:12:11,272 --> 00:12:13,316 with all these multiple driver's licenses. 258 00:12:13,316 --> 00:12:15,777 But hey, truckers gotta truck. 259 00:12:16,903 --> 00:12:20,615 - [Austin] The big rig truckers become heroes. 260 00:12:20,615 --> 00:12:24,369 Think of Smokey and the Bandit, a number one film. 261 00:12:24,369 --> 00:12:27,830 Think of C.W. McCall's Convoy. 262 00:12:27,830 --> 00:12:29,123 Kids are dressing like them. 263 00:12:29,123 --> 00:12:31,876 They're the coolest guys on the highway. 264 00:12:31,876 --> 00:12:33,753 Everyone wants to be a trucker. 265 00:12:35,088 --> 00:12:36,881 - [Henry] But the brakes are about to be put 266 00:12:36,881 --> 00:12:38,091 on all the fun. 267 00:12:39,384 --> 00:12:41,886 - [Natalia] There's a reason that today truckers are subject 268 00:12:41,886 --> 00:12:44,055 to so many more regulations. 269 00:12:44,055 --> 00:12:46,391 In truck crashes, the casualty count tends 270 00:12:46,391 --> 00:12:48,184 to be much, much higher. 271 00:12:48,184 --> 00:12:51,729 - [Don] Truckers in the '70s had brutal deadlines, 272 00:12:51,729 --> 00:12:54,065 which often resulted in taking pep pills 273 00:12:54,065 --> 00:12:56,609 to stay awake for long journeys. 274 00:12:56,609 --> 00:12:59,237 That, along with minimal safety regulations, 275 00:12:59,237 --> 00:13:02,782 made the highways extremely dangerous. 276 00:13:02,782 --> 00:13:04,826 - [Natalia] If the truck is carrying some kind of dangerous 277 00:13:04,826 --> 00:13:07,036 substance, these crashes can be lethal. 278 00:13:08,204 --> 00:13:11,416 In 1976, there's this tragic truck crash. 279 00:13:11,416 --> 00:13:13,376 Ammonia spills everywhere. 280 00:13:13,376 --> 00:13:16,713 It kills six people and injures nearly 180. 281 00:13:16,713 --> 00:13:21,801 - [Henry] In 1979, there are over 6,000 fatal crashes 282 00:13:22,510 --> 00:13:24,304 involving big trucks. 283 00:13:24,304 --> 00:13:26,848 The deadliest year on record. 284 00:13:26,848 --> 00:13:31,853 And the era of no-rules trucking comes to a screeching halt. 285 00:13:34,314 --> 00:13:37,066 - [Austin] By 1986, the Commercial Motor Safety Act 286 00:13:37,066 --> 00:13:39,068 standardizes the rules 287 00:13:39,068 --> 00:13:41,070 for getting a commercial driver's license 288 00:13:41,070 --> 00:13:42,321 across the states 289 00:13:42,321 --> 00:13:44,907 but that hated 55 mile an hour speed limit, 290 00:13:44,907 --> 00:13:47,410 that stays around till 1995. 291 00:13:47,410 --> 00:13:48,953 - [Brian] In the era that I grew up, 292 00:13:48,953 --> 00:13:51,998 truckers had this almost mythological feeling to them. 293 00:13:51,998 --> 00:13:54,000 Before all these rules come in to be like, 294 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:56,461 "hey, you can't just pluck some dude off the street 295 00:13:56,461 --> 00:13:59,839 and put him behind the seat of a rolling tank 296 00:13:59,839 --> 00:14:01,424 and set him loose on society." 297 00:14:03,259 --> 00:14:05,595 - Of course, truckers weren't the only ones 298 00:14:05,595 --> 00:14:07,055 pushing the limits. 299 00:14:07,055 --> 00:14:09,057 There was one driver in particular 300 00:14:09,057 --> 00:14:12,185 whose need for speed inspired a road race 301 00:14:12,185 --> 00:14:15,730 so extreme it became the stuff of legend. 302 00:14:17,148 --> 00:14:20,651 - [Jason] Brock Yates loves cars, he's an amateur racer. 303 00:14:20,651 --> 00:14:22,987 He's a writer for Car and Driver Magazine. 304 00:14:22,987 --> 00:14:28,034 And for him, driving fast is the American dream. 305 00:14:28,826 --> 00:14:30,495 - In 1971, Yates is concerned 306 00:14:30,495 --> 00:14:33,498 that we've got so many new safety regulations and rules 307 00:14:33,498 --> 00:14:36,209 that it's taking the fun out of driving 308 00:14:36,209 --> 00:14:39,212 and so he comes up with a really interesting idea 309 00:14:39,212 --> 00:14:40,713 to protest that. 310 00:14:41,714 --> 00:14:44,842 - [Jason] The idea is a race across America. 311 00:14:44,842 --> 00:14:47,929 You start in New York, you end in Los Angeles. 312 00:14:47,929 --> 00:14:49,764 Get there as fast as you can 313 00:14:49,764 --> 00:14:52,642 and do it by any means necessary. 314 00:14:52,642 --> 00:14:55,061 - He names the competition after a legendary racer 315 00:14:55,061 --> 00:14:58,564 from the early 1900s, Erwin Cannon Ball Baker, 316 00:14:58,564 --> 00:15:02,318 famous for driving cross country 143 times. 317 00:15:02,318 --> 00:15:05,113 - It's known as the Cannonball Run. 318 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:10,076 - On November 15th, 1971, 23 competitors 319 00:15:10,076 --> 00:15:13,996 in eight vehicles gather to start the 2,800 mile race 320 00:15:13,996 --> 00:15:17,500 at a Manhattan garage called the Red Ball Garage. 321 00:15:17,500 --> 00:15:21,045 - They take off just after midnight and whoever gets 322 00:15:21,045 --> 00:15:25,174 to Redondo Beach, California, the fastest wins. 323 00:15:26,509 --> 00:15:28,886 - [Jason] During the race, drivers are on the road all day 324 00:15:28,886 --> 00:15:30,221 and all night. 325 00:15:30,221 --> 00:15:32,598 They are averaging 100 miles per hour, 326 00:15:32,598 --> 00:15:37,061 sometimes topping out at 175 miles per hour. 327 00:15:37,061 --> 00:15:38,729 - [Rutledge] On a public road 328 00:15:38,729 --> 00:15:42,942 that someone else is doing 55 miles an hour, that's insane. 329 00:15:43,734 --> 00:15:45,236 - [Nicole] To avoid stopping for gas, 330 00:15:45,236 --> 00:15:47,280 competitors are carrying hundreds 331 00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:48,489 of gallons of fuel with them. 332 00:15:48,489 --> 00:15:50,950 You literally are going to explode 333 00:15:50,950 --> 00:15:52,785 if a crash were to happen. 334 00:15:52,785 --> 00:15:54,328 - Despite the insanity of this race, 335 00:15:54,328 --> 00:15:57,373 the police are not all that interested in stopping it. 336 00:15:57,373 --> 00:15:59,000 - [Edward] Laws differ from state to state. 337 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:00,668 And at this time, communication 338 00:16:00,668 --> 00:16:03,421 between different state police forces is sorely lacking. 339 00:16:03,421 --> 00:16:06,507 - [Rutledge] Surprisingly, the cops only give out 10 tickets. 340 00:16:06,507 --> 00:16:09,010 In fact, when one of the competitors 341 00:16:09,010 --> 00:16:11,679 reaches the finish line in LA, 342 00:16:11,679 --> 00:16:13,389 they actually got a police escort 343 00:16:13,389 --> 00:16:16,392 with a cop car and a motorcycle. 344 00:16:16,392 --> 00:16:19,103 - [Nicole] After 35 hours, 54 minutes, 345 00:16:19,103 --> 00:16:22,940 the winner crosses the finish line and it's Yates. 346 00:16:22,940 --> 00:16:25,693 This is by far the fastest anyone has ever driven 347 00:16:25,693 --> 00:16:28,279 across country at this time. 348 00:16:28,279 --> 00:16:31,282 - [Henry] The races run four more times in the 70s 349 00:16:31,282 --> 00:16:34,744 with racers continuing to outmaneuver each other, 350 00:16:34,744 --> 00:16:38,372 but their risks are shared with everyone on the road. 351 00:16:38,372 --> 00:16:40,124 - [Lance] Dangers do start to show themselves. 352 00:16:40,124 --> 00:16:42,460 Cars are not really meant to be driven 100 miles an hour 353 00:16:42,460 --> 00:16:44,045 for hours and hours at a time. 354 00:16:44,045 --> 00:16:45,922 - [Nicole] Lots of things go wrong during the race. 355 00:16:45,922 --> 00:16:47,423 I mean, there's engines blowing, 356 00:16:47,423 --> 00:16:51,177 there's transmissions overheating, tires being blown. 357 00:16:52,595 --> 00:16:55,348 - [Jason] Today, mainstream media reports would likely frame 358 00:16:55,348 --> 00:16:58,851 this reckless activity in a negative manner, 359 00:16:58,851 --> 00:17:02,271 but then the Cannonball Run sort of gets a glowing writeup. 360 00:17:02,271 --> 00:17:05,191 Car and Driver Magazine puts a headline right on its cover 361 00:17:05,191 --> 00:17:06,608 and says these men are wanted 362 00:17:06,608 --> 00:17:09,444 for breaking the dumbest law since Prohibition. 363 00:17:09,444 --> 00:17:10,988 And just as a reminder, 364 00:17:10,988 --> 00:17:13,406 Brock Yates is not only a writer for Car and Driver, 365 00:17:13,406 --> 00:17:14,951 but he's an editor. 366 00:17:16,077 --> 00:17:17,994 - [Henry] But with more eyes on them, 367 00:17:17,994 --> 00:17:21,707 drivers have to rely on their wits to stay on the road. 368 00:17:21,707 --> 00:17:23,626 - [Kavitha] Eventually, cops start cracking down, 369 00:17:23,626 --> 00:17:25,752 so drivers stoop to ridiculous lengths 370 00:17:25,752 --> 00:17:27,296 to keep the race going. 371 00:17:27,296 --> 00:17:31,759 - [Rutledge] Yates' team dresses up their van to look like an 372 00:17:31,759 --> 00:17:33,844 ambulance so they could get through traffic faster. 373 00:17:33,844 --> 00:17:36,305 Another crew dresses like Catholic priests. 374 00:17:36,305 --> 00:17:38,057 There's even a team with a cooler 375 00:17:38,057 --> 00:17:41,310 that's loaded with pig's eyes on ice 376 00:17:41,310 --> 00:17:44,313 and it says "Rush to Eye Bank" on there. 377 00:17:44,313 --> 00:17:47,483 I mean, that's clever, I feel like that would have to work. 378 00:17:47,483 --> 00:17:48,651 - [Edward] When one team gets pulled over, 379 00:17:48,651 --> 00:17:50,444 they actually show fake permits 380 00:17:50,444 --> 00:17:53,531 that say they're part of an official highway speed study. 381 00:17:53,531 --> 00:17:54,949 It's even rumored 382 00:17:54,949 --> 00:17:56,492 that one of the teams turns off its headlights 383 00:17:56,492 --> 00:17:59,453 and uses night vision to evade cops during the night. 384 00:17:59,453 --> 00:18:01,163 There are no major accidents 385 00:18:01,163 --> 00:18:04,375 or fatalities during any of the races, so I guess it worked. 386 00:18:05,543 --> 00:18:07,461 - I love a good road trip. 387 00:18:07,461 --> 00:18:09,005 I just prefer arriving without setting any records. 388 00:18:13,593 --> 00:18:15,136 - Have you ever been stopped at a traffic light so long 389 00:18:15,136 --> 00:18:18,472 that you started to wonder, "hey, is that thing stuck?" 390 00:18:18,472 --> 00:18:19,890 Well, in the early days of automobiles, 391 00:18:19,890 --> 00:18:21,684 drivers didn't have that problem 392 00:18:21,684 --> 00:18:25,438 because there weren't any traffic lights. 393 00:18:25,438 --> 00:18:28,608 - [Rutledge] In 1908, the Model T really changes the face 394 00:18:28,608 --> 00:18:30,526 of transportation in this country. 395 00:18:30,526 --> 00:18:32,612 Suddenly everyone's got cars, 396 00:18:32,612 --> 00:18:35,114 but there is a little bit of an issue. 397 00:18:35,114 --> 00:18:36,365 - The streets are already pretty crowded. 398 00:18:36,365 --> 00:18:37,908 They're crowded with other people, 399 00:18:37,908 --> 00:18:40,578 with street cars, with horses. 400 00:18:40,578 --> 00:18:43,372 - [Rutledge] Most of them don't really know 401 00:18:43,372 --> 00:18:46,083 what to do at an intersection. 402 00:18:46,083 --> 00:18:48,377 No one really knows when to go, 403 00:18:48,377 --> 00:18:50,796 which also means a bunch of people start fighting 404 00:18:50,796 --> 00:18:52,340 in the streets. 405 00:18:52,340 --> 00:18:55,384 - [Negin] It was chaos. Cities realize it can't go on 406 00:18:55,384 --> 00:18:56,594 like this. 407 00:18:56,594 --> 00:19:00,973 And their first solution is an umbrella 408 00:19:02,391 --> 00:19:06,479 that said on one side, stop and on the other side, go. 409 00:19:06,479 --> 00:19:07,938 If it's raining, 410 00:19:08,064 --> 00:19:11,817 that poor guy, he has a little coverage from the rain. 411 00:19:11,817 --> 00:19:15,529 - [Brian] Yeah, umbrellas that had stop and go printed on it 412 00:19:15,529 --> 00:19:17,573 and they would have some poor sucker out there 413 00:19:17,573 --> 00:19:19,533 twisting the umbrella each way 414 00:19:19,533 --> 00:19:21,786 to let you go, you stop, you go. 415 00:19:21,786 --> 00:19:23,496 The problem is not everybody can read. 416 00:19:23,496 --> 00:19:25,122 Then if it was dark out at night, 417 00:19:25,122 --> 00:19:26,707 can you even see the umbrella? 418 00:19:26,707 --> 00:19:29,418 The system broke down almost immediately. 419 00:19:29,418 --> 00:19:30,961 - [Austin] In 1914, there was a breakthrough. 420 00:19:30,961 --> 00:19:32,463 Cleveland inventor James Hoge 421 00:19:32,463 --> 00:19:35,466 creates the world's first electric traffic light. 422 00:19:35,466 --> 00:19:36,967 It's a system of four pairs 423 00:19:36,967 --> 00:19:41,013 of red and green lights placed on a post. 424 00:19:41,013 --> 00:19:42,473 - This is a huge leap forward. 425 00:19:42,473 --> 00:19:46,268 Drivers can actually see these lights. They're high. 426 00:19:46,268 --> 00:19:48,312 It allows people to do a lot more night driving 427 00:19:48,312 --> 00:19:49,814 and they can drive faster 428 00:19:49,814 --> 00:19:53,234 because they have the reliance of these traffic lights. 429 00:19:53,234 --> 00:19:57,154 - [Negin] However, there's no transition light. 430 00:19:57,154 --> 00:19:59,323 It's just stop and go. 431 00:19:59,323 --> 00:20:02,660 So you have no warning. 432 00:20:02,660 --> 00:20:06,205 That creates a lot of accidents. 433 00:20:06,205 --> 00:20:07,540 - [Rutledge] If you're doing 30 miles an hour 434 00:20:07,540 --> 00:20:09,458 in your Model T, just cooking up to it 435 00:20:09,458 --> 00:20:12,753 and it changes from go to stop, you're going 436 00:20:12,753 --> 00:20:14,004 to hit something. 437 00:20:14,004 --> 00:20:15,756 You're not going to make the light. 438 00:20:15,756 --> 00:20:18,259 - [Henry] By 1920, electric lights are the norm 439 00:20:18,259 --> 00:20:19,760 on city blocks, 440 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:22,763 but there are still plenty of kinks to work out. 441 00:20:22,763 --> 00:20:26,308 - In really busy areas like Midtown Manhattan, 442 00:20:26,308 --> 00:20:29,520 three story structures are built 443 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:31,522 in the middle of the intersection 444 00:20:31,522 --> 00:20:33,733 with the traffic lights atop. 445 00:20:33,733 --> 00:20:36,360 - [Negin] The early traffic lights are on posts 446 00:20:36,360 --> 00:20:39,905 that are sort of smack dab in the middle of the street, 447 00:20:39,905 --> 00:20:43,409 which is great because it's like in your eye line, 448 00:20:43,409 --> 00:20:44,785 you can't miss it 449 00:20:44,785 --> 00:20:47,246 but also you like physically can't miss it. 450 00:20:47,246 --> 00:20:52,084 You're like crashing into it a lot, the placement is poor. 451 00:20:52,084 --> 00:20:53,419 - [Brian] People are clipping this thing, 452 00:20:53,419 --> 00:20:55,087 people driving, nobody's paying attention, 453 00:20:55,087 --> 00:20:56,630 who's fighting with his wife. 454 00:20:56,630 --> 00:20:57,923 Boom, right into the stupid thing. 455 00:20:57,923 --> 00:20:59,467 And these things are going down like trees. 456 00:20:59,467 --> 00:21:01,510 It's like timber down, down, down. 457 00:21:02,553 --> 00:21:05,347 - [Austin] The timing of these light changes 458 00:21:05,347 --> 00:21:08,142 are inconsistent and unpredictable. 459 00:21:08,142 --> 00:21:11,103 They're triggered by an operator. 460 00:21:11,103 --> 00:21:14,148 If the guy doing it snoozes off 461 00:21:14,148 --> 00:21:16,150 or gets distracted, you don't know 462 00:21:16,150 --> 00:21:19,320 how long you're going to be waiting at said light. 463 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:20,404 - [Negin] Eventually people get annoyed 464 00:21:20,404 --> 00:21:22,323 and so they start running lights 465 00:21:22,323 --> 00:21:24,366 and you know, there's some more chaos. 466 00:21:24,366 --> 00:21:26,619 - [Henry] Even when lights go automatic, 467 00:21:26,619 --> 00:21:28,412 the problems aren't slowing down. 468 00:21:28,412 --> 00:21:30,706 Road deaths keep climbing. 469 00:21:30,706 --> 00:21:32,249 And in 1935, 470 00:21:32,249 --> 00:21:36,128 the federal government standardizes traffic lights. 471 00:21:36,128 --> 00:21:37,797 - [Austin] The Feds issue 472 00:21:37,797 --> 00:21:40,132 The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices 473 00:21:40,132 --> 00:21:41,884 for Streets and Highways. 474 00:21:41,884 --> 00:21:45,137 It standardizes the traffic signal language 475 00:21:45,137 --> 00:21:46,680 across the country. 476 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:49,475 Red on top for stop, yellow in the middle for caution, 477 00:21:49,475 --> 00:21:51,268 green on bottom for go. 478 00:21:51,268 --> 00:21:53,646 That is with one exception. 479 00:21:53,646 --> 00:21:57,399 A neighborhood of Syracuse, New York populated 480 00:21:57,399 --> 00:22:02,321 by Irish immigrants sees a red above a green 481 00:22:03,113 --> 00:22:05,115 as a symbol of British dominance 482 00:22:05,115 --> 00:22:07,618 then they begin smashing the red light. 483 00:22:07,618 --> 00:22:10,162 - [Brian] "You put England over Ireland? 484 00:22:10,162 --> 00:22:13,165 We will never obey these laws ever." 485 00:22:14,375 --> 00:22:16,126 You got to appreciate that sort of moxie. 486 00:22:16,126 --> 00:22:17,670 So what does the government do? 487 00:22:17,670 --> 00:22:19,505 They're like, "All right, for the Irish people's sake, 488 00:22:19,505 --> 00:22:21,173 we're going to swap it." 489 00:22:21,173 --> 00:22:23,717 - Green is still above red 490 00:22:23,717 --> 00:22:26,011 in a certain neighborhood in Syracuse. 491 00:22:27,805 --> 00:22:30,850 - Of course, keeping cars moving was only part 492 00:22:30,850 --> 00:22:32,393 of the challenge. 493 00:22:32,393 --> 00:22:35,396 Sooner or later, all drivers had to stop for gas. 494 00:22:35,396 --> 00:22:36,689 And there was a time 495 00:22:36,689 --> 00:22:38,941 when getting gas was less routine errand 496 00:22:38,941 --> 00:22:41,026 and more Russian Roulette. 497 00:22:42,278 --> 00:22:46,073 - [Don] In 1859, the American petroleum business is born 498 00:22:46,073 --> 00:22:49,952 when crude oil is struck in Titusville, Pennsylvania. 499 00:22:49,952 --> 00:22:52,580 Jump ahead 40 years to the start of the 20th century 500 00:22:52,580 --> 00:22:54,373 and everything changes. 501 00:22:54,373 --> 00:22:55,666 The ascent of the automobile 502 00:22:55,666 --> 00:22:57,251 with its gas burning engine 503 00:22:57,251 --> 00:23:00,754 suddenly makes gasoline a hot commodity. 504 00:23:00,754 --> 00:23:04,884 Now the question becomes, how do you get gas into the car? 505 00:23:06,051 --> 00:23:09,221 - In the beginning, fueling up is very DIY. 506 00:23:09,221 --> 00:23:12,349 Fuel is kept in these big tanks at hardware stores 507 00:23:12,349 --> 00:23:13,976 or at these depots at the edge of town. 508 00:23:13,976 --> 00:23:16,896 You take your canister, fill that up 509 00:23:16,896 --> 00:23:19,273 and you pour it in by hand. 510 00:23:19,273 --> 00:23:21,483 - Back then, cars didn't have a fuel gauge in them 511 00:23:21,483 --> 00:23:23,694 and what that led to was a lot of people ran out of gas. 512 00:23:23,694 --> 00:23:25,112 You would never be able to tell 513 00:23:25,112 --> 00:23:26,280 whether or not you're running on a full tank 514 00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:28,282 or if you're about to be on foot. 515 00:23:29,408 --> 00:23:32,578 - [Henry] By 1910, a more high-tech solution 516 00:23:32,578 --> 00:23:35,456 becomes widespread, the gas pump. 517 00:23:36,707 --> 00:23:39,710 - [Hakeem] The pumps have the gas stored underground 518 00:23:39,710 --> 00:23:41,128 and the driver uses a crank 519 00:23:41,128 --> 00:23:44,506 to move the gas up through a hose and into the car. 520 00:23:44,506 --> 00:23:46,926 Compared to sloshing around jugs of gasoline, 521 00:23:46,926 --> 00:23:50,346 these pumps are neat, tidy, and efficient. 522 00:23:51,472 --> 00:23:53,599 - [Don] The gas pump is such a breakthrough 523 00:23:53,599 --> 00:23:56,769 that cities begin putting them all over. 524 00:23:56,769 --> 00:23:58,187 But American cities 525 00:23:58,187 --> 00:24:01,148 in the 1910s and 20s are actually really bad places 526 00:24:01,148 --> 00:24:03,025 for these things. 527 00:24:03,025 --> 00:24:05,486 - [Hakeem] Initially, the pumps were placed roadside 528 00:24:05,486 --> 00:24:07,196 right on the curb like a mailbox. 529 00:24:07,196 --> 00:24:10,115 And so the driver would pull up to fill their tank. 530 00:24:10,115 --> 00:24:12,076 Cars would pile up behind them. 531 00:24:12,076 --> 00:24:13,452 The other drivers would have to swerve around. 532 00:24:13,452 --> 00:24:15,371 It just creates a big mess. 533 00:24:16,497 --> 00:24:19,291 - [Dan] And let's say a driver accidentally bumps 534 00:24:19,291 --> 00:24:20,960 into the gas pump. 535 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:23,045 It's what happens after the gas leak 536 00:24:23,045 --> 00:24:24,880 that you need to worry about. 537 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:28,300 - A few teaspoons of liquid gasoline becomes liters 538 00:24:28,300 --> 00:24:31,220 of gasoline vapor and it's denser than air, 539 00:24:31,220 --> 00:24:35,182 so there's a layer of gasoline vapor covering the ground. 540 00:24:36,433 --> 00:24:38,310 - [Dan] And here's where things really go sideways. 541 00:24:38,310 --> 00:24:41,605 American cities have lots and lots of sparks. 542 00:24:41,605 --> 00:24:45,359 - [Don] There are streetcars everywhere raining little hails 543 00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:47,569 of fire whenever they make a hard turn 544 00:24:47,569 --> 00:24:49,488 and don't forget smoking. 545 00:24:49,488 --> 00:24:52,658 - [Hakeem] All it takes is one spark from a backfiring car, 546 00:24:52,658 --> 00:24:54,785 a cigarette, a streetcar, 547 00:24:54,785 --> 00:24:57,746 and wooh, somebody's going to get crispy. 548 00:24:59,081 --> 00:25:03,043 - [Dan] The early 20s are full of these ridiculously scary 549 00:25:03,043 --> 00:25:06,880 stories of gas pump disasters like the pipe smoking trucker 550 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:10,384 who in 1925 accidentally tossed a lit match 551 00:25:10,384 --> 00:25:12,344 into a puddle of gas. 552 00:25:12,344 --> 00:25:16,015 His pump and three other pumps nearby exploded together 553 00:25:16,015 --> 00:25:17,641 in a giant wall of flame. 554 00:25:18,809 --> 00:25:20,686 - [Edward] So as a consequence of all this chaos, 555 00:25:20,686 --> 00:25:21,937 New York takes on the problem 556 00:25:21,937 --> 00:25:24,273 and in 1923, says you can't have a pump 557 00:25:24,273 --> 00:25:25,482 on the side of the road. 558 00:25:25,482 --> 00:25:27,234 You have to put it in a designated lot. 559 00:25:27,234 --> 00:25:30,779 - [Don] Once gas pumps are forced into their own area, 560 00:25:30,779 --> 00:25:33,866 it births a new kind of business, the gas station. 561 00:25:33,866 --> 00:25:37,286 - [Martin] And now when you pop in to get some gas, you're going 562 00:25:37,286 --> 00:25:40,205 to get a snack, a big fountain beverage, 563 00:25:40,205 --> 00:25:43,125 and probably lotto tickets. 564 00:25:43,125 --> 00:25:44,585 - Today, the only thing challenging 565 00:25:44,585 --> 00:25:45,878 about filling up your tank is the cost. 566 00:25:50,674 --> 00:25:51,842 - [Henry] Today, when there's road work, 567 00:25:51,842 --> 00:25:53,719 we use reflective signs, flashing lights, 568 00:25:53,719 --> 00:25:57,473 and bright orange cones to keep drivers and workers safe 569 00:25:57,473 --> 00:25:58,932 but there was once a time 570 00:25:58,932 --> 00:26:02,394 when road crews used something else to alert drivers, 571 00:26:02,394 --> 00:26:04,396 and it was kind of a bomb. 572 00:26:06,398 --> 00:26:09,651 - [Martin] In 1916, Woodrow Wilson signs a bill providing 573 00:26:09,651 --> 00:26:13,363 $75 million for paving roads across the country. 574 00:26:14,323 --> 00:26:15,699 This means that motorists are going 575 00:26:15,699 --> 00:26:18,494 to encounter road construction 576 00:26:18,494 --> 00:26:21,163 more than they have ever encountered it before. 577 00:26:21,163 --> 00:26:23,082 And how do you alert motorists 578 00:26:23,082 --> 00:26:27,878 to the presence of construction teams after dark? 579 00:26:27,878 --> 00:26:30,881 - [Austin] At first, road crews improvise 580 00:26:30,881 --> 00:26:35,010 from an unlikely source, citrus farmers. 581 00:26:35,010 --> 00:26:37,888 Citrus farmers utilize these metal cans 582 00:26:37,888 --> 00:26:40,891 with an open flame called smudge pots 583 00:26:40,891 --> 00:26:44,478 to keep their groves warm at night. 584 00:26:44,478 --> 00:26:46,897 The road workers take these and repurpose them 585 00:26:46,897 --> 00:26:49,733 as roadway signaling devices. 586 00:26:49,733 --> 00:26:51,276 - [Martin] They weren't ideal 587 00:26:51,276 --> 00:26:53,403 and that's because all it takes is a little bit of rainfall 588 00:26:53,403 --> 00:26:55,197 or maybe even a gusting wind 589 00:26:55,197 --> 00:26:58,659 and the smudge pot will be blown out. 590 00:26:58,659 --> 00:27:03,705 - [Austin] In 1929, a better smudge pot emerges in 591 00:27:03,705 --> 00:27:04,915 Toledo, Ohio. 592 00:27:04,915 --> 00:27:06,583 It's made by the Toledo Pressed Steel Company, 593 00:27:06,583 --> 00:27:08,585 and it's called the Toledo Torch. 594 00:27:08,585 --> 00:27:11,088 - [Adam] The design is a sphere that has a weighted bottom 595 00:27:11,088 --> 00:27:13,924 so it can right itself if it ever gets tipped over 596 00:27:13,924 --> 00:27:17,594 and it has the wick tucked inside so it's protected. 597 00:27:17,594 --> 00:27:22,057 And most impressively, it can burn for about 48 hours. 598 00:27:22,057 --> 00:27:25,644 - [Henry] Soon, smudge pots are lighting up detours, digs 599 00:27:25,644 --> 00:27:28,105 and damp pavements across America. 600 00:27:28,105 --> 00:27:29,356 They remain the standard 601 00:27:29,356 --> 00:27:31,108 throughout the road building boom 602 00:27:31,108 --> 00:27:35,153 of the 1950s, but they aren't foolproof. 603 00:27:36,488 --> 00:27:39,157 - [Martin] The problem is that they burn at a thousand degrees 604 00:27:39,157 --> 00:27:42,911 and the smoke contains toxins that are carcinogenic 605 00:27:42,911 --> 00:27:46,456 and sometimes they're close to a playground of a school. 606 00:27:47,624 --> 00:27:49,209 - [Adam] So imagine you're a kid, 607 00:27:49,209 --> 00:27:50,878 you're hanging out with your friends, 608 00:27:50,878 --> 00:27:54,590 and suddenly you come across something that looks like this. 609 00:27:55,799 --> 00:27:57,718 - [Austin] This looks like something that would blow up 610 00:27:57,718 --> 00:27:59,136 in a Looney Tunes' character's face, 611 00:27:59,261 --> 00:28:03,056 which means it would be particularly compelling to steal 612 00:28:03,056 --> 00:28:05,517 and play with, with your friends. 613 00:28:06,602 --> 00:28:08,520 - It looks like a fun cartoon bomb. 614 00:28:09,646 --> 00:28:11,523 - [Henry] The result is a series of incidents 615 00:28:11,523 --> 00:28:15,986 that almost seem like cartoon chaos. 616 00:28:15,986 --> 00:28:20,198 - In 1955, a kid throws a rock at a pot, hits it, 617 00:28:20,198 --> 00:28:23,118 and it explodes flames everywhere. 618 00:28:23,118 --> 00:28:25,454 - In 1958, a couple of kids decide 619 00:28:25,454 --> 00:28:27,247 to roll one like a bowling ball 620 00:28:27,247 --> 00:28:29,499 and it rolls toward one of the construction trucks 621 00:28:29,499 --> 00:28:32,044 at the site, it gets lodged underneath the tire 622 00:28:32,044 --> 00:28:34,171 and then sets the whole thing on fire. 623 00:28:34,171 --> 00:28:37,257 - [Hakeem] In 1960, a truck in Arizona is carrying a load 624 00:28:37,257 --> 00:28:42,304 of 40 of these pots when it suddenly bursts into flames. 625 00:28:42,304 --> 00:28:44,473 Luckily, the driver thinks quickly 626 00:28:44,473 --> 00:28:46,934 and drives directly to a fire station. 627 00:28:46,934 --> 00:28:49,728 As these flare pot accidents continue to rack up, 628 00:28:49,728 --> 00:28:52,272 the authorities begin to look for alternatives 629 00:28:52,272 --> 00:28:55,859 and by the 1970s, they find it. 630 00:28:55,859 --> 00:28:58,153 - [Martin] Eventually, construction sites settle on 631 00:28:58,153 --> 00:29:00,697 non-hazardous and non-toxic ways 632 00:29:00,697 --> 00:29:03,659 of alerting traffic to dangers on the road. 633 00:29:03,659 --> 00:29:06,828 - Smudge pots were just one roadside hazard 634 00:29:06,828 --> 00:29:07,913 of the last century. 635 00:29:07,913 --> 00:29:10,415 Another was an iconic ad campaign 636 00:29:10,415 --> 00:29:14,753 that was so captivating drivers just couldn't look away. 637 00:29:14,753 --> 00:29:19,174 - [Adam] In 1925, there is a little shaving cream company 638 00:29:19,174 --> 00:29:20,592 out of Minnesota 639 00:29:20,592 --> 00:29:22,052 and they want to make a name for themselves, 640 00:29:22,052 --> 00:29:26,431 in particular, a product they have called Burma-Shave. 641 00:29:26,431 --> 00:29:28,016 - [Don] They want to advertise 642 00:29:28,016 --> 00:29:32,104 so they put up billboards all along the side of the highway 643 00:29:32,104 --> 00:29:35,565 to capitalize on the rise of the country's auto industry 644 00:29:35,565 --> 00:29:37,275 but they need to stand out 645 00:29:37,275 --> 00:29:39,736 from all the other billboards popping up 646 00:29:39,736 --> 00:29:41,446 so they try a bold approach. 647 00:29:42,656 --> 00:29:44,074 - [Natalia] The first step pops up on Minnesota highways 648 00:29:44,074 --> 00:29:46,952 and they have these cute little rhymes like, 649 00:29:46,952 --> 00:29:49,705 "My job is keeping faces clean 650 00:29:49,705 --> 00:29:52,082 and nobody knows the stubble I've seen. 651 00:29:52,082 --> 00:29:53,458 Burma-Shave." 652 00:29:53,458 --> 00:29:56,253 - [Don] Each billboard is set about 100 feet apart 653 00:29:56,253 --> 00:29:58,171 and each one has a single line of a joke. 654 00:29:58,171 --> 00:30:01,133 So you got to read each billboard 655 00:30:01,133 --> 00:30:03,051 and you got to read the very last one 656 00:30:03,051 --> 00:30:05,637 if you want the whole joke plus the punchline. 657 00:30:05,637 --> 00:30:09,349 So that's a lot of time with your eyes off the road. 658 00:30:10,517 --> 00:30:12,144 - [Edward] Once you start reading one of these billboards, 659 00:30:12,144 --> 00:30:14,438 it's almost impossible to not read to the end. 660 00:30:14,438 --> 00:30:15,689 It's just human nature. 661 00:30:15,689 --> 00:30:17,566 Our brains hate to leave a task unfinished. 662 00:30:17,566 --> 00:30:19,443 So drivers become almost hypnotized, 663 00:30:19,443 --> 00:30:21,319 locking their eyes on the side of the road 664 00:30:21,319 --> 00:30:23,030 instead of in front of them. 665 00:30:23,030 --> 00:30:24,781 - [Henry] By the late 1930s, 666 00:30:24,781 --> 00:30:28,869 there are 42,000 Burma-Shave signs scattered 667 00:30:28,869 --> 00:30:31,747 across more than 40 states. 668 00:30:31,747 --> 00:30:33,790 - [Martin] Burma-Shave kind of owns the marketplace 669 00:30:33,790 --> 00:30:34,958 at the time. 670 00:30:34,958 --> 00:30:37,210 It's just ever present. 671 00:30:37,210 --> 00:30:38,837 People mentioned it constantly 672 00:30:38,837 --> 00:30:41,840 and there were even references to it in movies. 673 00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:43,633 - [Edward] They even have a gag contest. 674 00:30:43,633 --> 00:30:46,970 Rip a fender off your car, mail it in for a half pound jar. 675 00:30:46,970 --> 00:30:48,597 So you might wreck your car, 676 00:30:48,597 --> 00:30:51,391 but the consolation is you'll get a free jar of Burma-Shave. 677 00:30:52,601 --> 00:30:53,894 - [Natalia] The thing about these advertisements is 678 00:30:53,894 --> 00:30:55,062 they were almost too good. 679 00:30:55,062 --> 00:30:57,564 Once you start reading, you can't stop. 680 00:30:57,564 --> 00:31:00,233 It is like early days distracted driving. 681 00:31:00,233 --> 00:31:04,196 - [Jason] In the 1930s, this is a very risky thing to do. 682 00:31:04,196 --> 00:31:06,031 Roads are becoming more perilous. 683 00:31:06,031 --> 00:31:07,949 Every time you come up onto these things, 684 00:31:07,949 --> 00:31:09,701 you increase your chances of rear-ending a vehicle, 685 00:31:09,701 --> 00:31:12,162 going off the road, going into oncoming traffic. 686 00:31:12,162 --> 00:31:16,917 I mean, these things are creating hazards. 687 00:31:16,917 --> 00:31:20,045 - [Henry] In 1937, the motor vehicle death rate 688 00:31:20,045 --> 00:31:22,297 hits the highest year on record, 689 00:31:22,297 --> 00:31:26,009 30 deaths per 100,000 Americans. 690 00:31:26,009 --> 00:31:28,637 - So the executives at Burma-Shave feel like they have 691 00:31:28,637 --> 00:31:31,723 to do something to address the growing dangers of the road, 692 00:31:31,723 --> 00:31:34,434 but their solution is to keep doing exactly 693 00:31:34,434 --> 00:31:35,852 what they've been doing 694 00:31:35,852 --> 00:31:39,397 but now the signs are going to be safety themed. 695 00:31:39,397 --> 00:31:42,234 - [Adam] "Don't take a curve at 60 per. 696 00:31:42,234 --> 00:31:45,362 We'd hate to lose a customer. 697 00:31:45,362 --> 00:31:46,947 Burma-Shave." 698 00:31:46,947 --> 00:31:48,949 - [Edward] The signs are still distracting. 699 00:31:48,949 --> 00:31:51,409 Only now you can read a helpful message about road safety 700 00:31:51,409 --> 00:31:54,621 before smashing into the car in front of you. 701 00:31:54,621 --> 00:31:57,457 - [Henry] Burma-Shave eventually veers away 702 00:31:57,457 --> 00:31:59,626 from their iconic roadside signs, 703 00:31:59,626 --> 00:32:01,795 but not for the reason you'd think. 704 00:32:02,963 --> 00:32:05,590 - Eventually Burma-Shave loses its dominance, 705 00:32:05,590 --> 00:32:08,593 not because of concerns about safety and their ad campaign 706 00:32:08,593 --> 00:32:11,096 but because more and more ad money is going into TV 707 00:32:11,096 --> 00:32:12,597 and into radio. 708 00:32:12,597 --> 00:32:14,349 - [Jason] The fact that highways become faster 709 00:32:14,349 --> 00:32:16,434 and faster makes it impossible 710 00:32:16,434 --> 00:32:18,311 to read the jokes in the same way. 711 00:32:18,311 --> 00:32:20,647 No one's going to slow down to read a joke anymore 712 00:32:20,647 --> 00:32:22,190 because they got places to be. 713 00:32:23,441 --> 00:32:26,945 - For years, we worried about distracting billboards 714 00:32:26,945 --> 00:32:29,698 and then came the smartphone. 715 00:32:29,698 --> 00:32:30,866 Some call that progress. 716 00:32:35,245 --> 00:32:36,997 - Driving cross country has long been a rite of passage 717 00:32:36,997 --> 00:32:41,168 and a chance to experience our nation's beauty up close 718 00:32:41,168 --> 00:32:44,504 but for the first drivers who attempted the trip, 719 00:32:44,504 --> 00:32:47,549 it was less about scenery, more about survival. 720 00:32:48,717 --> 00:32:50,927 - [Lance] In 1913, some prominent industry leaders 721 00:32:50,927 --> 00:32:53,305 are celebrating a brand new milestone. 722 00:32:53,305 --> 00:32:55,307 They are opening the nation's first 723 00:32:55,307 --> 00:32:58,894 coast to coast highway for cars. 724 00:32:58,894 --> 00:33:01,438 - [Edward] The route runs 3,400 miles from Times Square 725 00:33:01,438 --> 00:33:03,857 in New York City to San Francisco, 726 00:33:03,857 --> 00:33:06,151 and it's known as the Lincoln Highway. 727 00:33:06,151 --> 00:33:08,737 - [Lance] This is really a landmark moment for the country. 728 00:33:08,737 --> 00:33:10,113 Previous to this, 729 00:33:10,113 --> 00:33:11,281 the only way you could get across country was 730 00:33:11,281 --> 00:33:13,658 to get on a slow and expensive train. 731 00:33:13,658 --> 00:33:16,661 Now for the first time, you can get into your own vehicle 732 00:33:16,661 --> 00:33:19,122 to drive across the country without having 733 00:33:19,122 --> 00:33:22,334 to sit in a train car with dozens of strangers. 734 00:33:22,334 --> 00:33:24,961 - [Henry] Traffic on the Lincoln Highway starts slow, 735 00:33:24,961 --> 00:33:29,633 but it eventually surges to 20,000 cars per year. 736 00:33:31,051 --> 00:33:34,554 - [Rutledge] Part of what's luring drivers is the ads are 737 00:33:34,554 --> 00:33:36,306 saying, "Hey, this is the best way to travel. 738 00:33:36,306 --> 00:33:38,642 If you want to see the coast, do it in the luxury 739 00:33:38,642 --> 00:33:40,352 of your own vehicle." 740 00:33:40,352 --> 00:33:41,728 - [Jason] There's also this idea 741 00:33:41,728 --> 00:33:44,064 that taking the Lincoln Highway is a patriotic act. 742 00:33:44,064 --> 00:33:47,734 Like America wants you to take the Lincoln Highway 743 00:33:47,734 --> 00:33:51,154 and prove that we are ready for the 20th century of travel. 744 00:33:52,447 --> 00:33:54,783 - [Henry] But when the motorists actually hit the road, 745 00:33:54,783 --> 00:33:57,077 they find something very different 746 00:33:57,077 --> 00:34:00,789 than the scenic joyride they were sold. 747 00:34:00,789 --> 00:34:02,791 - [Natalia] What's sort of hilarious is that the first clue 748 00:34:02,791 --> 00:34:05,001 that the Lincoln Highway may not be exactly 749 00:34:05,001 --> 00:34:09,089 what it's marketed as is in the promotional guide itself. 750 00:34:09,089 --> 00:34:11,757 There's a packing list of what to bring. 751 00:34:11,757 --> 00:34:13,426 Any potential driver 752 00:34:13,426 --> 00:34:15,219 of the Lincoln Highway should have been a little suspicious 753 00:34:15,219 --> 00:34:17,264 about the claims of great luxury. 754 00:34:17,264 --> 00:34:19,933 - [Rutledge] They say bring multiple days of provisions 755 00:34:19,933 --> 00:34:22,768 for food and don't wear nice shoes. 756 00:34:22,768 --> 00:34:25,772 I'm sorry, what kind of road is this? 757 00:34:25,772 --> 00:34:28,149 So you want me to bring an axe? 758 00:34:28,149 --> 00:34:29,775 I don't know what I'm going to dig up 759 00:34:29,775 --> 00:34:33,571 or bury with this shovel, but also bring three days of food? 760 00:34:33,571 --> 00:34:35,907 This does not sound great. 761 00:34:35,907 --> 00:34:39,286 - [Edward] On a map, the Lincoln Highway looks amazing. 762 00:34:39,286 --> 00:34:41,663 It's a nice thick line all the way from Times Square 763 00:34:41,663 --> 00:34:44,581 all the way across the country to San Francisco. 764 00:34:44,581 --> 00:34:47,835 In reality, the Lincoln Highway is nothing more than a bunch 765 00:34:47,835 --> 00:34:50,922 of small roads that are sort of stitched together 766 00:34:50,922 --> 00:34:52,632 in the imaginations of the highway builders 767 00:34:52,632 --> 00:34:54,467 to make it a highway. 768 00:34:54,467 --> 00:34:55,592 - [Henry] The Lincoln Highway 769 00:34:55,592 --> 00:34:58,888 isn't actually a highway at all. 770 00:34:58,888 --> 00:35:00,473 - [Martin] When it's introduced, less than half 771 00:35:00,473 --> 00:35:03,310 of the Lincoln Highway is actually paved. 772 00:35:03,310 --> 00:35:07,105 There are things that are left over from the 19th century 773 00:35:07,105 --> 00:35:09,858 when Pioneers cross the American West trying 774 00:35:09,858 --> 00:35:11,443 to get to California. 775 00:35:11,443 --> 00:35:14,029 Old wagon trails that have been stitched together 776 00:35:14,029 --> 00:35:16,615 and then labeled the Lincoln Highway. 777 00:35:16,615 --> 00:35:17,991 - [Rutledge] Most of the travelers 778 00:35:17,991 --> 00:35:19,993 that are taking a trip like this are kind 779 00:35:19,993 --> 00:35:22,078 of your upper echelon. 780 00:35:22,078 --> 00:35:25,415 You know, like they're fancy and they want some adventure. 781 00:35:25,415 --> 00:35:27,792 What they don't realize is once they get west 782 00:35:27,792 --> 00:35:30,503 of the Mississippi, the trip's going to turn a bit. 783 00:35:31,630 --> 00:35:33,131 - [Lance] Every day is physically exhausting. 784 00:35:33,131 --> 00:35:36,217 The slightest rain turns the entire road into mud. 785 00:35:36,217 --> 00:35:39,596 The cars flood as you try to ford rivers. 786 00:35:39,596 --> 00:35:41,598 The frame is broken or cracked 787 00:35:41,598 --> 00:35:43,808 as you try to climb up rocky hills. 788 00:35:43,808 --> 00:35:45,477 - [Jason] If you make it to the west, you can get lost 789 00:35:45,477 --> 00:35:47,062 in a sandstorm. 790 00:35:47,062 --> 00:35:49,314 On a snowy mountain pass, you can go right off the road 791 00:35:49,314 --> 00:35:51,274 because there are no guardrails. 792 00:35:51,274 --> 00:35:54,653 You are at the complete mercy of the elements. 793 00:35:54,653 --> 00:35:57,739 - [Henry] In 1919, the Lincoln Highway Association 794 00:35:57,739 --> 00:36:02,869 comes up with an idea to give the road's reputation a boost. 795 00:36:03,703 --> 00:36:05,664 - [Martin] A publicity stunt is staged 796 00:36:05,664 --> 00:36:08,833 in which an army convoy of 81 vehicles, 797 00:36:08,833 --> 00:36:12,671 including 34 heavy trucks, will drive to California 798 00:36:12,671 --> 00:36:14,339 on the Lincoln Highway. 799 00:36:14,339 --> 00:36:15,715 The idea here is that 800 00:36:15,715 --> 00:36:18,093 if the Lincoln Highway can sustain the weight 801 00:36:18,093 --> 00:36:20,762 of a military convoy weighing 400 tons, 802 00:36:20,762 --> 00:36:22,472 well, it can certainly handle the weight 803 00:36:22,472 --> 00:36:24,641 of your family in a four-door sedan 804 00:36:24,641 --> 00:36:26,309 as you journey to California. 805 00:36:27,519 --> 00:36:29,270 - [Edward] It is not ready. 806 00:36:29,270 --> 00:36:30,814 The US Army actually has a worse trip 807 00:36:30,814 --> 00:36:32,148 than maybe anybody else. 808 00:36:32,148 --> 00:36:34,609 They get stranded in quicksand in Nebraska. 809 00:36:34,609 --> 00:36:37,070 They get stopped in a salt marsh in Utah. 810 00:36:37,070 --> 00:36:39,364 All in all, there are 21 serious injuries, 811 00:36:39,364 --> 00:36:41,700 including concussions and broken bones. 812 00:36:41,700 --> 00:36:43,243 - [Martin] By the time that they finally limp 813 00:36:43,243 --> 00:36:46,079 into San Francisco after 62 days on the road, 814 00:36:46,079 --> 00:36:49,207 they look less like a triumphant military force 815 00:36:49,207 --> 00:36:51,376 that's just completed this epic journey 816 00:36:51,376 --> 00:36:55,046 than something that has just rolled off of a battlefield. 817 00:36:55,046 --> 00:36:56,589 - [Edward] So if the Army can't handle it, 818 00:36:56,589 --> 00:36:58,675 the family car doesn't have a prayer. 819 00:36:59,926 --> 00:37:02,762 - [Henry] With all this exposure, more funding pours in 820 00:37:02,762 --> 00:37:07,851 and by 1935, the entire route is paved. 821 00:37:08,560 --> 00:37:10,562 - There is one silver lining which is that one of the people 822 00:37:10,562 --> 00:37:12,647 that participated was a young officer 823 00:37:12,647 --> 00:37:14,733 named Dwight D. Eisenhower. 824 00:37:14,733 --> 00:37:16,609 And when he becomes president of the United States, 825 00:37:16,609 --> 00:37:18,361 he will push for 826 00:37:18,361 --> 00:37:20,405 and oversee the passage of the Interstate Highway Act, 827 00:37:20,405 --> 00:37:24,117 which will build a massive modern highway system 828 00:37:24,117 --> 00:37:25,285 from coast to coast. 829 00:37:26,369 --> 00:37:28,538 - Next time you're on a long road trip, 830 00:37:28,538 --> 00:37:31,875 just be glad you don't need an axe and a shovel. 831 00:37:35,253 --> 00:37:36,880 - They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. 832 00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:39,048 Turns out our roads were once paved 833 00:37:39,048 --> 00:37:41,760 with something a bit more troubling. 834 00:37:43,052 --> 00:37:45,555 - [Lance] In the early 1960s, American automotive culture 835 00:37:45,555 --> 00:37:47,015 is getting very, very cool. 836 00:37:47,015 --> 00:37:49,684 We become sort of the muscle car country. 837 00:37:49,684 --> 00:37:51,436 They have much bigger engines. 838 00:37:51,436 --> 00:37:53,855 They're much heavier and that's wreaking havoc 839 00:37:53,855 --> 00:37:58,401 on roads and streets, many of which were laid decades before 840 00:37:58,401 --> 00:38:01,404 with a much more primitive and fragile form of asphalt. 841 00:38:03,114 --> 00:38:04,824 - Highway authorities are looking for a way 842 00:38:04,824 --> 00:38:07,118 to make pavement stronger and more resilient 843 00:38:07,118 --> 00:38:09,329 so that roads won't need to be paved as often. 844 00:38:09,329 --> 00:38:12,040 And they hear about this miracle ingredient, 845 00:38:12,040 --> 00:38:14,000 something that could prevent potholes 846 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:17,337 and make road repairs a thing of the past. 847 00:38:17,337 --> 00:38:19,380 - [Hakeem] It's cheap, abundant, 848 00:38:19,380 --> 00:38:21,508 and made of these super thin fibers 849 00:38:21,508 --> 00:38:22,801 that are flexible and strong. 850 00:38:22,801 --> 00:38:24,511 Mixing just a bit of this stuff 851 00:38:24,511 --> 00:38:27,222 into the asphalt will make roads more stable 852 00:38:27,222 --> 00:38:28,765 and crack resistant. 853 00:38:28,765 --> 00:38:30,391 - [Dan] And one of the big selling points is how easy it is 854 00:38:30,391 --> 00:38:34,270 to work into the existing process of making asphalt. 855 00:38:34,270 --> 00:38:36,648 They don't need any special equipment at all. 856 00:38:36,648 --> 00:38:39,067 - [Announcer] The addition to the asphalt mix calls 857 00:38:39,067 --> 00:38:40,527 for little change in operations. 858 00:38:40,527 --> 00:38:44,572 On the job, the mix requires no special handling. 859 00:38:44,572 --> 00:38:47,325 - [Lance] Soon more than 150 highway authorities 860 00:38:47,325 --> 00:38:49,619 across the United States and Canada start 861 00:38:49,619 --> 00:38:53,081 to use this more resilient new road surface. 862 00:38:53,081 --> 00:38:56,376 It's spread across cities, suburbs, and interstates. 863 00:38:56,376 --> 00:38:58,378 - And for drivers, this is amazing. 864 00:38:58,378 --> 00:39:00,171 Driving on these new improved roads, 865 00:39:00,171 --> 00:39:03,091 no more potholes, that is awesome. 866 00:39:03,091 --> 00:39:05,677 - [Henry] But this powerful ingredient is more 867 00:39:05,677 --> 00:39:07,512 than it's cracked up to be. 868 00:39:07,512 --> 00:39:10,098 - [Negin] So the material comes from this small town 869 00:39:10,098 --> 00:39:11,933 in which it's mined just over the border 870 00:39:11,933 --> 00:39:16,187 in Canada called Asbestos. 871 00:39:16,187 --> 00:39:18,982 The town is called Asbestos, Canada 872 00:39:18,982 --> 00:39:23,236 Many, many, many miles of American road are lined 873 00:39:23,236 --> 00:39:26,489 with this toxic material, asbestos. 874 00:39:28,283 --> 00:39:30,076 - [Dan] The thing that makes asbestos 875 00:39:30,076 --> 00:39:31,661 so valuable to highway engineers, 876 00:39:31,661 --> 00:39:35,832 its thin, flexible, incredibly strong fibers, turns out 877 00:39:35,832 --> 00:39:39,460 to also make it super deadly when it's inhaled. 878 00:39:39,460 --> 00:39:41,921 Those fibers can get stuck in your lungs and kill you. 879 00:39:41,921 --> 00:39:44,215 - At first, there are no regulations 880 00:39:44,215 --> 00:39:46,759 around working with asbestos. 881 00:39:46,759 --> 00:39:48,052 You don't have to wear a mask. 882 00:39:48,052 --> 00:39:49,637 You don't have to wear gloves. 883 00:39:49,637 --> 00:39:52,140 No protection is needed whatsoever. 884 00:39:52,140 --> 00:39:53,975 There's a reason why today 885 00:39:53,975 --> 00:39:58,271 asbestos removal workers are wearing hazmat suits. 886 00:39:58,938 --> 00:40:00,815 It's extremely dangerous. 887 00:40:00,815 --> 00:40:02,817 - [Hakeem] It becomes clear in the 1970s 888 00:40:02,817 --> 00:40:05,987 that working with asbestos is completely toxic 889 00:40:05,987 --> 00:40:08,031 and these road workers across the United States 890 00:40:08,031 --> 00:40:10,283 and Canada are bearing the brunt of the cost 891 00:40:10,283 --> 00:40:12,452 and they're getting really sick. 892 00:40:12,452 --> 00:40:14,162 - [J Mack] And it's not just the construction workers 893 00:40:14,162 --> 00:40:16,289 that are getting affected by this. 894 00:40:16,289 --> 00:40:17,874 Over time, wear and tear 895 00:40:17,874 --> 00:40:20,960 of the roads will send these asbestos fibers into the air 896 00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:25,298 that are then inhaled by pedestrians and by motorists. 897 00:40:25,298 --> 00:40:26,883 - Driving itself is bad enough. 898 00:40:26,883 --> 00:40:29,719 You're moving at high speeds. You can have collisions. 899 00:40:29,719 --> 00:40:31,262 It's known to be dangerous, 900 00:40:31,262 --> 00:40:33,556 but now the road itself is dangerous. 901 00:40:34,807 --> 00:40:36,851 - [Dan] During the '70s and '80s, 902 00:40:36,851 --> 00:40:38,937 the federal government tightens restrictions 903 00:40:38,937 --> 00:40:40,438 around working with asbestos. 904 00:40:40,438 --> 00:40:43,191 So it gets phased out of road construction altogether. 905 00:40:43,191 --> 00:40:46,653 - [Negin] Also, the town of Asbestos, Quebec 906 00:40:46,653 --> 00:40:50,239 ends up renaming itself to Val-des-Sources 907 00:40:50,239 --> 00:40:54,369 and so far, no toxic chemicals have been associated 908 00:40:54,369 --> 00:40:56,913 with the term Val-des-Sources. 909 00:40:56,913 --> 00:40:58,289 - It's hard to believe 910 00:40:58,289 --> 00:41:00,083 there was a time when asbestos wasn't just allowed 911 00:41:00,083 --> 00:41:01,292 to be in our streets, 912 00:41:01,292 --> 00:41:04,003 but celebrated for being in our streets. 913 00:41:04,003 --> 00:41:07,090 In this 1960s promotional film, the narrator's asking 914 00:41:07,090 --> 00:41:09,759 what probably seems like a thoughtful question at the time. 915 00:41:09,759 --> 00:41:11,094 - [Announcer] What will our present techniques 916 00:41:11,094 --> 00:41:14,263 look like 50 years from now? 917 00:41:14,263 --> 00:41:17,517 - Today, we know the answer is totally insane. 918 00:41:18,643 --> 00:41:21,521 - Looking back at life on the open road, 919 00:41:21,521 --> 00:41:22,981 whether we were lining the highway 920 00:41:22,981 --> 00:41:24,732 with flaming smudge pots, 921 00:41:24,732 --> 00:41:27,235 racing across the country at breakneck speeds, 922 00:41:27,235 --> 00:41:30,655 or drifting into a trance behind the wheel, 923 00:41:30,655 --> 00:41:34,492 when we hit the gas, things didn't always run smoothly, 924 00:41:34,492 --> 00:41:36,202 but that sense of freedom is 925 00:41:36,202 --> 00:41:39,497 what made our hazardous history worth a few bumps 926 00:41:39,497 --> 00:41:40,289 in the road.