Bremen, Germany’s smallest city-state, has decided to impose a 120km/h speed limit on the section of the autobahn speedway running through it as of 9 April 2008. It is believed that limiting drivers who currently speed in excess of 250km/h could reduce road deaths by 30% and cut vehicle emissions by 5% immediately and 15% over the longer term. For now, only 5km of autobahn has been limited, with the rest of the city state’s 60km to follow soon.
Environmentalists have been promoting a speed limit on this famous stretch of German highway, first built in 1932 by the Nazi government and pre-quell to the US interstate system. Traditionally, the only thing that limited driving speed was the amount of juice under the bonnet – i.e. how deep your pockets could go. A widely held view is that this feature has (in part) been instrumental in helping the German Teutonic three (BMW, Audi and Mercedes) develop their superior driving characteristics.
The move by Bremen was promoted by its Environment Senator Reinhard Loske, a member of the ultra-left Green Party. His efforts to have the whole autobahn speed-limited will however has little success at present, as Chancellor Angela Merkel of the Christian Democrats is strongly opposed to the idea.
Relevance for South Africa. Very little. The German’s main aim with this plan is to cut vehicle emissions. Our government pays little to no attention to smoke belching vehicles on our roads.
By Christie Viljoen
Sources: AutoNews; Bloomberg; Motor Trend; The Earth Times; Reuters;
Pictures courtesy of International Trading Company and The Motor Report
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