Germany’s speed limit–free Autobahns have been granted a stay of execution by Chancellor, Angela Merkel.
After a coalition of her own party won a vote to introduce 80mph limits, she publicly announced that the Autobahn would not be shackled on her watch.
Safety and the environment are cited as the main reasons for the re-think by the Social Democratic Party – 645 people died on the Autobahn last year and vehicles spew out high quantities of CO2 as their engines push them to high speeds.
But, Merkel has said that a few speeding drivers are much less of a problem than long traffic jams and aims to concentrate on them instead.
I have driven on the Autobahn once and the experience was uncanny – overtaking a Polizei vehicle full of armed officers at 100mph without being hunted down was a liberating feeling. As I thought I was ‘living the dream’ humble Volkswagens cruised past at well over 120mph.
It never felt dangerous. When the rain started to fall it was impossible to miss electronic signs warning of poor conditions and even introducing a speed limit until things cleared up. Traffic jams were indicated well ahead of time too, allowing you to slow down in complete safety.
Have you experienced the Autobahn? Should they get speed limits? What do you think of the 70mph limit on British motorways?
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Iam a german living in london and support merkel on this.if you want low emissions the goverment should lead the way ,most vehicles are run by buisinesses or goverments and company cars .Look at london if all buses ,taxis, vans, and all other buisiness owned vehicles would be run on electric or fuel cell vehicles what agreat place .instead of smelly old diesels.
Keep motorways speedlimit free ,
PS :they are only free in certain places not at motorway junctions etc.
Should do the same here!!!!!
Jake from Dagenham
Just leave as it is. Normal people don’t “force” their car to go faster than it is good for the engine and for the driver. By the way if they go faster the emission takes less time becouse they will reach the destination sooner. To help the enviroment we need cleaner cars/engines (for example hibrid, energy cell, etc.) not slower. Beside that most of the drivers drives doesn’t go faster than here in the UK just they do it legally…
Going at a steady 140mph would be much better for the environment than revving up and braking here and there – I managed to get 67mpg out of a 2.0 diesel Mondeo on a trip the other week with a constant speed and no doubt my carbon footprint was far better than that of a cow for a day.
The developing world is more of an issue for CO2 with China devouring coal and other resources quicker than the rest of the world put together. Small beans, this one, no doubt to appeal to greenies who haven’t a clue about the real issues but are looking for a low-emission bandwagon to jump on.
I actually don’t mind carrying some of the financial cost of CO2 reduction as an individual. It is in our children’s best interest to do so. But this here is rubbish because there is no real benefit to be expected. If all it does is bring down our nation’s CO2 emissions by .5 percent, it is the wrong way to go, since there are so many other quick and relatively affordable ways of saving up to 20 times that.
There was a documentary on BBC four the other week about the introduction of a blanket speed limit on UK motorways in the late 1960s. The main reason in those days was that a series of horrible accidents with considerable fatalities had occurred. But as I said in my previous post, even without a speed limit, our road safety statistics unarguably rival those of almost all other developed countries with a fixed limit.
Luckily, stiff opposition within the federal government is being voiced as we speak, and there is hope yet that the issue will be shelved again – much to the dismay of the leftist environmentalists who kicked off the current debate.
However, if you wish to do so, make sure to plan your next trip to Germany for the near future, because even if the speed limit will be fought off for now, it is likely to be imposed after all within, say, the next five years.
The environmental argument is a joke. CO2 levels dramtically increased in the 90′s, not because the number of cars neing driven fast on European roads had suddenly jumped, but because massive-scale industrial fishing methods led to life being stripped out of the ocean. The oceans had been trusted to absorb a colossal amount of CO2 each year.
Where are the enviromental campaigns to stop modern industrial oceanic destruction methods?
It doesn’t matter how or what we drive, if the oceans die, we’re all in serious trouble.
But governments like to place the blame firmly in the hands of individuals. Why? Because punishing the individual allows them to raise revenue to fund their own projects.
Forcing down CO2 emissions will, ultimately, do nothing but place costs on individuals. It will not save the world. It will just raise some cash for politicians to waste.
This proposal is utter nonsense. I am a German living in Germany, and I have spent the last three days scratching my head in disbelief. These left-wing politicians do know that nothing in terms of CO2 reduction or even increased road safety will come of a blanket speed limit, given the way road and traffic conditions have been over the last couple of years.
Consider: Despite the lack of a speed limit on two percent – yes, a mere two percent – of German roads in total, statistics show that the German Autobahn is no less safe than similar road networks in other European countries, and even most of the developed world.
Well over two thirds of all Autobahn stretches already have either a fixed speed limit (a measure that has been notably on the increase in recent years!) or computer controlled traffic guiding systems with variable limits depending on current traffic, weather, and overall road conditions. On top of that, except for a few remote rural areas, the Autobahn is so crowded most of the time that speeds in excess of 140 kph (86 mph) are virtually impossible, speed limit or not. All in all, given these conditions, projections indicate that CO2 emission can be reduced by no more than .5 to 5 percent, depending on which study you quote. There is even much reason to believe that slowing down traffic like this will produce even more CO2 because it would make traffic jams more frequent.
Looking at these facts, leaving everything the way it is should be a non-issue. Imposing a general speed limit, however, has great symbolic value and would have left-wing environmentalists jeering gleefully over yet another successful assault on their declared enemy that is motorists and the German car lobby. It’s a feather in their cap they have been longing to have.
Rubbish…. I am against speed limits on the motorways. Ok, so you may say that i an only 16(17 in 2 months) but i feel that it is in the human nature to go faster than the speed limit suggests. On the derestricted autobahns, there are no limits to try and ‘beat’, therefore, drivers will drive at their own pace. I think that it is only the careless drivers who cause danger on the roads, not fast ones. I do agree, however, with the 30mph speed limits in residential areas, and the 60mph limit on A roads.
making a speed limit on the autobahn is pointless and the logic of implementing one is silly angela was right and it does cut down emmsions compared to traffc jams and if someone had a high performance car for exAmple a gtr skyline and they want to do 330+km/h its a nice and controlled place to do it its the last refuge of the speed freak and car manufacturers test their new prototypes at midnight
Yet again we see green parties looking at the motors to reduce CO2, why?? My view is this would do little, if nothing to reduce the levels…. When will people wake up! The fact is that the only time governments are interested and back these results is when it suits. We have it pushed down our throats here in the UK. Why? Because it’s a great vehicle to introduce more taxes. The only true way to control waste etc is through population control… and it has been reported that one volcano erupting gives off 10′s of years of CO2 and climates have always changed…. God when I was a kid I remember scientists saying an ice age was coming! Remember these scientist are often backed by companies/governments that these facts suit! The more you give away the harder it is to get back…. Just look at what the FBI are up to, now that’s taking your civil libs from under your nose! Sorry fed up of this CO2 issue already!
Steven! I could not agree more with you, mate. I personally think that all this CO2 nonsense is merely designed to divert attention from real pressing issues (such as the fact that every three seconds someone dies of poverty). Climate change (if it is actually happening) is inevitable anyways.
I think they should leave it as it is , its not like you want to kill your self, people will push the car to there own comfort zone. Iv been on autobahn in R32 as a passenger but never the less its owns.
And lets be honest who sticks to the 70mph on british motorwayes hay? it should be increased to at least 80/90 which every one seems to be driving at. But saying that the roads are over populated