Motorists expect big changes: new highway fees are coming

Created: 02/24/2022, 11:36 am

By: Malin Annika Miechowski

Anyone who is on holiday on the motorway, for example, has to adapt to the new toll regulations.

Germany – Car drivers can reach many destinations quickly via the autobahn.

However, this is not always free within the EU, such as in Germany's neighboring countries.

So-called tolls or vignettes are due at some borders, as reported by RUHR24*.

In the future, however, there will be a big change for drivers.

Change for motorists: New vignettes should be available in the future

, people who, for example, only want to drive to Austria in between will

soon be able to buy so-called short-term vignettes.

These are then valid for either a day or a week.

So far, there are vignettes for a trip to Austria for a period of ten days, two months or one year.

In the meantime, the badge is no longer just for sticking on, but also online.

It is not yet known how expensive the new versions of the vignette will be.

The price for a ten-day vignette for Austria is currently (as of February 21, 2022) online at 9.60 euros for cars and vehicles up to 3.5 tons.

Whether an EU member state opts for a toll system or vignettes for cars and minibuses is up to the respective country.

Passionate drivers, who now fear newly introduced fees in other EU countries, can take a deep breath.

Because there should be no obligation for marginal costs.

New rules for drivers - major innovation for trucks on the Autobahn

However, if a member state wants to introduce such a system in the future, the new EU rules will then apply.

This also includes the fact that environmentally friendly cars must be “preferred in terms of costs” by 2026, informs

.

There is a big change not only for environmentally friendly cars, such as electric cars (e-cars), as

reports, but also for truck drivers.

In the future, the toll will no longer be based on the time spent on the road, but on the number of kilometers driven.

In this way, the EU wants to ensure that more zero-emission trucks are used instead of diesel-powered vehicles, which currently make up 98 percent (more news about cars and traffic at RUHR24*).

Trucks pollute the environment: the EU reacts with major changes - but there is criticism

This means that the current trucks are quite the air polluters.

A total of 23 percent of traffic-related CO2 emissions in the entire EU are caused by large vans.

However, there has also been criticism of the EU's plans.

, the industry association Common Office fears

that the trucks will have to pay twice or three times as much for the CO2 emitted as a result of additional fees within the country.

Because the member states can, for example, also decide for themselves whether they will burden those affected with additional CO2 costs due to the combustion engines.

For truck drivers there will soon be a change in the tolls on the motorway (symbolic photo).

© Odd Andersen/AFP

An alternative to this would be that trucks powered by batteries or hydrogen would only have to pay half the route fees.

The EU countries now have until 2023 to implement the new regulations.

In addition, the truck vignettes, which depend on the period, should be completely banned for sale by 2030.

New law for truck drivers: more safety on the freeways?

This could also increase safety for drivers on the freeways.

Not infrequently, in addition to gapers among car and truck drivers*, fatigue and stress due to time pressure are also major risk factors for delivery vehicles.