AP
Berlin city traffic: The environmental aid wants to block the city center for older diesel cars
For motorists in Berlin it goes on Tuesday a lot: A court negotiates whether a Driving ban for older diesel has to come. The German Umwelthilfe (DUH) wants to banish them because of high air pollution from the entire city. Too high values of noxious Nitrogen oxides are a “nationwide problem,” said DUH CEO Jürgen Resch the German Press Agency (dpa). Therefore, it is not enough to block only a few streets for older diesel vehicles.
The administrative court in the capital is negotiating this Tuesday about whether diesel cars are no longer allowed to drive anywhere in the city due to bad air. In a lawsuit against the state of Berlin, Umwelthilfe is requesting that driving bans be imposed within the S-Bahn ring and on some other roads. Resch said that blocking individual road sections for older diesels would only lead to alternative traffic. “We do not want any incentives for slalom races around closed roads.” Only with a driving ban in a large zone, the limit “as soon as possible” can be achieved.
In Berlin, the limit values for nitrogen oxide are exceeded in many places. Among other things, the gases can irritate respiratory tract and eyes. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) can interfere with lung function or cause cardiovascular disease. The annual average permissible load is 40 micrograms of nitrogen dioxide per cubic meter of air. According to the Federal Environmental Agency, the value in Berlin was 49 micrograms last year. Nationwide, the values in many cities are too high. Diesel exhaust is one of the main causes of this.
In Hamburg, two road sections are already closed for older diesel. In Stuttgart, a large-scale entry ban is planned in 2019. Recently, a court had also ordered driving bans for the downtown of the commuter metropolis Frankfurt am Main from 2019. Now Berlin could follow as well.
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According to an internal model calculation of the Senate Department, which is the German Press Agency (dpa) is present in 2020 without driving bans in at least 20 roads the limit still exceeded – despite countermeasures. The Berlin state government from the SPD, Greens and Left has already proposed a number of things to improve the air: new exhaust filters for buses, e-car subsidies for entrepreneurs, switching to electric drive on all buses until 2030. Bike paths are to be expanded for millions.
However, it may be that the Administrative Court impose driving bans, the Senate Traffic Administration said at the end of the week. Resch found it positive that the Berlin Senate, unlike other municipalities in Germany, had signaled that they were ready to drive. According to the court, a verdict could be filed on Tuesday, but the decision would not yet be final.
If the court orders driving bans for Berlin, then the federal government is on the train. The capital could then move into the circle of 14 cities so far, in which the air is particularly bad. The concept of the federal government provides for these cities as well as neighboring districts and commuters two central points: exchange and retrofitting. The carmaker So far, however, refuse to completely pay for modifications to the engine.
dpa / mh