DPA
130 nationwide on German motorways? The federal government rejects that
The Germans are divided on the issue, the federal government has now committed. It rejects a general speed limit on motorways for reducing traffic pollutants.
The Federal Government has given a speed limit on highways a clear rejection. The government plans no general speed limit on German highways, said government spokesman Steffen Seibert on Monday. “There are smarter controls than a general speed limit.”
The Federal Government is now waiting for the results of an expert working group on more climate protection in transport. Then the government will work on measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in traffic. A general speed limit on German motorways, included in a climate protection bill announced for 2019, is now no longer part of these possible measures, contrary to what Seibert said last Monday.
Recently, considerations of the working group became known, which included a speed limit of 130 kilometers per hour on highways. This had triggered a broad debate. Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) had strictly opposed a speed limit. There are no recommendations from the Commission, they should be available at the end of March.
Federal Environment Ministry provides for irritations
An interview by Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) on the ZDF program “Berlin direkt” on Sunday caused a stir. There, Schulze had several times referred to a working group on climate protection in traffic and to Transport Minister Scheuer, without explaining how she herself stands. For this she earned ridicule and criticism especially in the network Twitter. Environment Secretary of State Jochen Flasbarth defended the Minister: A refusal of a speed limit is now “just as wrong as consent”.
The news agency afp again quotes an unnamed spokesman for the Federal Environment Ministry with the statement that a “speed limit for the carbon footprint brings very little”. According to the current state of knowledge, a speed limit is therefore not an “outstanding instrument for climate protection,” according to the spokesman. At a party congress in 2007, the SPD decided by a narrow majority to work for a speed limit of 130 kilometers per hour.
Climate-damaging greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector have not fallen in recent years.
Scheuer: German motorways are the safest
Scheuer had referred to the safety of German motorists in a global comparison. “German highways are the safest roads in the world,” the CSU politician told Bild am Sonntag. He also said that the system of guideline speed worked well and proved its worth.
In a poll, meanwhile, half of Germans (51 percent) spoke out in favor of the introduction of a speed limit of 130 kilometers per hour on German motorways – 47 percent of citizens are opposed to a speed limit.
Thus, the mood compared to November 2007, when the issue was also discussed in public, has not changed, it was recently in the current German trend in the ARD morning magazine.