End of the road for German speedsters?
Posted: Wednesday, October 31, 2007 3:02 PM
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Mainz, Germany
By Andy Eckardt, NBC News Producer
As long as I can remember, I have never had any of my overseas colleagues or friends make editorial inquiries about a regular party conference of Social Democrats party. But suddenly this week Germany’s internal politics touched an international nerve.
A proposed speed limit for Germany's super highway – the autobahn – was put on the political agenda at the Hamburg party Congress. Once the news hit the front pages of papers across Europe, it immediately triggered questions from many of my American colleagues.
Apparently many had been day-dreaming about a high-speed journey in a powerful Porsche, whizzing past Cinderella-like castles, racing toward an ice-cold beer at one of Munich's famous beer halls – and they were afraid those dreams might be prematurely dashed.
Road rules reality
Unfortunately, I have to put an end to the myth of good times speeding along Germany’s roads unhindered by speed limits.
Germany is not the biggest race track in the world – speed limits have been in place for quite a while! Most stretches of the 7,600-mile highway network are marked with speed limits of 65 to 80 miles per hour. The regulations are often enforced by mobile radar traps – all too often leading to the painful fines arriving in mailboxes across the country.
And the very few roads in Germany that still allow you to press the gas pedal all the way through the floor are either congested with heavy traffic or supplemented by very narrow construction sites.
In the past car lovers from Great Britain have organized illegal races with ultra-powerful sports cars across central Europe. Guess where they were stopped by the police this year? Yes, in Germany!
Arguing environmental concerns
Germany's Social Democrats, junior partners in the grand coalition of Chancellor Angela Merkel, have argued the introduction of a speed limit would reduce both CO2 emissions and the accident rate.
In fact, statistics show that most of last year's accidents occurred on stretches with no speed limits.
But, while the SPD's own environmental experts argue that a speed limit of 80 mph could reduce CO2 emissions by 9 percent or more, other experts say that common traffic congestion and large combustion engines are just as harmful to the environment.
Merkel opposes the nationwide speed limit and says that Germany would be better off improving traffic circulation in order to reduce the amount of time cars spent in traffic jams.
The solution in this debate, which has been going on for years, may be simpler: Further introductions of even more environmentally friendly cars or just more train rides. (That is, if German train drivers don't go on strike again!)
And for visitors from foreign countries who are still seeking a high-speed adrenaline rush, the former formula one race track, the famous Nuerburgring, offers open roads on weekends for anybody who wants to catch the Indy 500 feeling in their own private – or rented – vehicle.
