While the Greens and the SPD want to introduce speed limits on motorways, the Liberals reject it.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin Transport politicians of the FDP reject a general speed limit on motorways. Before a meeting of the leaders of the Greens and FDP on Friday, the transport policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Oliver Luksic, told the German Press Agency: “When it comes to mobility, the election programs are sometimes very different. We liberals also stand up for motorists. Instead of symbolic politics such as speed limits and combustion bans, we are concerned with affordable, sustainable and innovative mobility. We will advocate this in all discussions. “
The FDP traffic politician Daniela Kluckert told the dpa: “We do not want a general speed limit, nor does it make sense for climate protection or road safety, but is purely symbolic politics, which we reject.”
The leaders of the Greens and FDP want to deepen their talks about joint participation in the new federal government on Friday. The second round of so-called preliminary explorations should focus more specifically on the content and goals of a possible future coalition.
The question of whether there should be a general speed limit on German autobahns has been bitterly debated for years. The SPD and the Greens are campaigning for it. Together with the FDP, they could form a government alliance. A coalition of the Union, the Greens and the FDP is also possible. Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) once again clearly rejected calls for a general speed limit on motorways in July.
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The chairman of the Green parliamentary group, Anton Hofreiter, took a step towards the speed limit critics. Hofreiter told the “Rheinische Post” and the Bonn “General-Anzeiger” (Friday): “I do not believe in making individual measures a condition, it complicates the negotiations and does not do justice to our task.”
Hofreiter: “It’s not about dashes now, but about a departure”
Although the Greens went into talks with “our entire positions”, “this also includes a speed limit of 130 on motorways”. However, it is “now not about dashes, but about a departure for climate neutrality, progress and justice”.
The head of traffic policy at the Federation for Environment and Nature Conservation Germany, Jens Hilgenberg, told the dpa: “Parties that are not able to harvest such low-hanging climate fruits as a general speed limit on highways are not ready for climate protection.”
The Left Party also criticizes Hofreiter: “If the Greens don’t even manage the speed limit, what will become of their ambitious plans for an earlier coal exit?”, Party leader Susanne Hennig-Wellsow told the German Press Agency on Friday.
Hennig-Wellsow said that she feared nothing good for climate protection under a new federal government if the Greens questioned even small concrete steps before coalition negotiations. “A speed limit on motorways would be a quick and easy contribution to reducing CO2 emissions and at the same time an effective means of increasing traffic safety.”
The election manifesto of the SPD states: “We will introduce a speed limit of 130 km / h on federal motorways. This protects the environment and significantly reduces the number of accidents. ”
The Greens want a “safety speed” of 130 km / h on motorways. It goes on to say: “If special reasons make it necessary, for example in cities or metropolitan areas or around them, then a maximum of 120 km / h applies.”
The FDP election program says: “Speed limits, diesel or motorcycle driving bans are neither progressive nor sustainable.”
More: Comment: With smart solutions, the FDP and the Greens can achieve a compromise on the speed limit