Filed under: MPG, Legislation and Policy
No Autobahn speed limits? Not so fast say German Social Democrats!
Just days after German Chancellor Angela Merkel apparently shot down the idea of imposing across the board speed limits on the autobahn, the issue is back. Merkel leads the Christian Democrats who are in a coalition with the Social Democrats in the German parliament. At the SPD party congress the majority of delegates voted in favor of a 130 km/h speed limit on German highways. The resolution is non-binding and no speed limit law is likely to pass anytime soon without the support of a significant portion of Merkel's party which does not appear to be forthcoming. Nonetheless, with polls showing sixty percent of Germans in favor of the limits, the pressure looks set to increase. Environmental groups that are pushing the proposal say the limits would help cut CO2 emissions by fifteen percent over the long-term and five percent immediately.[Source: Automotive News - Sub. req'd]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Joseph 1:38AM (11/04/2007)
A speed limit ont he Autobahn is ridiculous.
First of all, not all of the autobahn is speed limit free.
Second, not that many drivers drive at high speed. The vast majority are driving at normal speeds, such as in America.
Third, people driving fast, appearently, isn't a safety problem. Driving in Germany, as I've heard, is very structured, no one breaks the rules. People almost NEVER use the autobahn as a roadtrack. Going 100mph (not km) is the usual "no speed limit" speed. Going 125mph (not km) is very rare.
Now, this is what from I've heard from some different people I know who lived in Germany. I
cannot say this for myself. The only benefit, would be some fuel saved. I know, this is autobloggreen, this is all about saving fuel. But can you really get rid of this? This is part of what Germany is. (From what I've heard, almost all the cars are new. It's a car obssesed country.) I know you can compare what I'm saying with saying that, "You can't get rid of SUVs, it's part of America." Well, IMO, it's a little different. High speeds allow for quicker transportation, which is sometimes needed. Well, I actually don't have many reasons against the autobahn speed limit, but I can dismiss the benefits (except fuel savings) and I can say that it won't have as large as animpact as one may think, since not that many people drive fast on the autobahn anyway.
I don't know, maybe I'm just a gearhead at heart. (Hmm...BMW speeding at 110mph)
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Sam Abuelsamid 6:54AM (11/04/2007)
Joseph, You are right, the vast majority of Autobahn drivers don't go flat out and there have been limits of 100-130 km/h in the areas around cities were there is more traffic for many years. Germans (Europeans in general) get a lot more training before getting their license than Americans and tend to obey lane discipline (stay right except to pass) and other rules of the road more than we do. Accident rates even with the higher speeds have generally been equal or lower than in the US. While a universal speed limit would reduce emissions and consumption from the small percentage of cars that go at those high speeds, I'm skeptical it would make as much difference as supporters claim. An immediate five percent drop is unlikely with one to two percent more likely at best.
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Nils 8:18AM (11/04/2007)
Having lived in Germany for some time, I can say that indeed not so many people are driving at interstellar speeds. 130 seems to be some sort of moral limit respected by many(kph that is). The few who do drive faster usually drive faster cars and are gearheads anyway. One positive point about the no-limit highway is that people CAN drive fast if they want to and as such they tend to respect the speed-limits everywhere else on th road much better than neighbouring countries. It is a fact that Germans are respecting road-regulations far better than any other country in the world (okay, apart from Norway maybe...). Having driven in America for some time as well, it struck me that people have forgotten the primary rule on a road and that is to drive on the right. In the states people 'hold their lanes', a concept that I don't understand. Please enlighten me as to the purpose of this behavior.
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rgseidl 8:58AM (11/04/2007)
I seriously doubt that 60% of Germans favor a general speed limit on the autobahn. The polls I've seen suggest the opposite, 60-70% preferring the status quo. Germans tend to cherish their right to drive as fast as they like as much as Americans tend to cherish theirs to bear arms. In Swabia (Stuttgart area), they refer to cars as "heilig's Blechle", local dialect for "holy sheetmetal".
Besides, the success of and employment opportinities in Germany's car industry depends to some extent on the fact that people do drive faster than elsewhere in Europe and buy vehicles that are up to the job - engine, suspension, tires, NVH etc. all need to be beefed up to make driving fast a safe and pleasant experience. In addition, driver training has to be more rigorous than in e.g. the US.
In Southern Germany especially, 90-100mph are fairly common speeds on unrestricted stretches of the autobahn, with diesel saloons dominating the vehicle fleet. The quality of the road surface also has to be high, one reason there are so many roadworks on the autobahn network. Having to drive through those slowly encourages drivers to make up for lost time at the next opportunity.
In other words, driving fast costs a lot of money all round. While this props up the German car industry, it's legitimate to ask if that is the only or even the primary policy objective in this context. For social democrats, as always, there is an element of "social fairness" a.k.a. envy involved - their supports can ill afford shiny new premium cars. The Greens and environmental NGOs put the issue of climate change front and center. Traffic safety is a subordinate argument in this context.
Those that propose a general speed limit are also hoping it will eventually lead to more demand for smaller cars with less powerful engines. After all, German police do enforce the law. If you cannot drive fast, there's no point in owning a car that is powerful enough to comfortably sustain such speeds for long periods of time.
Unfortunately, the example of the US shows that the opposite may be true: if consumers cannot drive fast, they spend more on comfort. In particular, they demand more interior space, automatic transmissions, softer suspensions etc. Already, SUVs are the fastest-growing vehicle segment in Europe, especially among older drivers.
This shift in consumer preferences adds more weight. Maintaining acceleration performance off the line means the engine still has to be as powerful as ever, if not more so and, powerful engines are inefficient in low-speed city driving. Hybrids involving an electric motor + batteries or even a second ICE could address that but only at high cost.
Bottom line: a general limit of autobahn speeds for the sake of the environment may not be as effective as its proponents claim, except in the short term.
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