The Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Transport, Daniela Kluckert (FDP), rejected the request. “We did not explicitly agree on a speed limit on motorways in the coalition agreement, and this decision stands,” Kluckert told the Handelsblatt. She referred to the “overall package” already agreed in the coalition to relieve the burden on citizens. This also includes lowering ticket prices for local public transport. “If more people now use public transport, this also saves energy,” explained Kluckert.
The co-chair of the Greens, Ricarda Lang, had called for a temporary speed limit. Lang told the editorial network Germany that no measure will immediately end the dependency on oil. “And because there are otherwise hardly any measures that take effect quickly, we now need a temporary speed limit on motorways – for example for nine months and thus until the end of the year, i.e. the time by which we want to become independent of Russian oil at the latest. “
Environmental experts emphasize the advantages of a speed limit
During the coalition negotiations between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP, the introduction of a general speed limit on motorways failed because of resistance from the liberals. A speed limit was also missing from a package of energy-saving measures recently adopted by the coalition leaders.
Environmental groups have been calling for the introduction of a general speed limit for a long time. Jürgen Resch, Federal Director of the German Environmental Aid (DUH), recently called for 100 km/h on the freeway, 80 outside of town and 30 in the city. “A speed limit reduces Russia’s oil dependency and saves 3.7 billion liters of diesel and gasoline and 9.2 million tons of CO2 per year,” he said.
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Every third liter of oil that is currently imported from Russia to Germany could be saved immediately, which is also the result of an analysis by the environmental protection organization Greenpeace. Limiting the speed on autobahns to 100 kilometers per hour would save around two percent of Germany’s oil imports.
The Federal Environment Agency (UBA) also recently made a calculation. If motorists reduced their speed to a maximum of 100 kilometers per hour on freeways and to 80 km/h on roads outside of town, that would save around 2.1 billion liters of fossil fuel – even if one assumes that not everyone adheres to it and some individuals faster are on the way, according to an analysis by the authority. After all, this immediately saves around 3.8 percent of the fuel consumed in the transport sector.
Economics Veronika Grimm also advocates a speed limit. “I think that’s the way to go now,” said Grimm. The economist emphasized that it is important to set signals that indicate that there could be an explosive situation if Russian energy supplies were to be stopped. Such a signal could be the introduction of a general speed limit on motorways.
However, the FDP is reluctant to do so. The designated Secretary General of the Liberals, Bijan Djir-Sarai, accused the Greens of using the war in Ukraine to implement their own symbolic themes. “In this difficult situation, the coalition has a great responsibility for the whole country,” warned Djir-Sarai. And he warned: “Now is definitely not the time for partisan ideology.”
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