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Autobahn in Schkeuditz: is the speed limit coming at least temporarily?
Photo: Hendrik Schmidt / dpa
Parts of the CDU are open to a temporary speed limit on motorways.
In the "Bild" newspaper, party vice-president Andreas Jung called for the ban on thinking to be dispensed with.
In view of the energy crisis, he proposed a "power pack for energy security and climate protection" that should contain various measures: "Energy saving pact, nuclear energy, biomass ramp-up and temporary speed limit." His party colleague Thomas Gebhart, chairman of the climate protection committee, agreed with him on the same page to: »We cannot afford to reject certain options from the outset for partisan reasons.
For me, that also means a temporary speed limit of 130 on the autobahn.«
The Greens traffic expert Stefan Gelbhaar welcomed what he saw as "overdue" debate, but warned the German Press Agency: "So far, however, the Union has blocked every proposal for a speed limit in the Transport Committee, but at the latest in the Bundesrat." The Union should prove their seriousness here.
The CDU politician Jung had already said on Deutschlandfunk on Friday that he was open to a temporary speed limit of 130 kilometers per hour on the autobahn.
»But for that we need an initiative from the federal government.
It needs the Federal Chancellor.” He would be willing to promote it in his party.
If an emergency threatens and the Chancellor collects all social forces, "then I think we should also be ready to take such a step".
A general speed limit has been the subject of bitter arguments for years.
As a result of the Ukraine war, it has now come back into focus – as a possible contribution to saving energy.
In the traffic light coalition, the FDP is opposed to such a limit, which it had already rejected in the coalition negotiations.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) recently said: "This government has not agreed on that, and that's why it's not happening."
It is undisputed that a speed limit would be good for climate protection.
It would save almost two million tons of carbon dioxide, according to a 2020 study by the Federal Environment Agency
.
Speed limit could prevent 140 deaths a year
A data analysis by SPIEGEL had already shown in 2019 that a speed limit could prevent up to 140 deaths a year.
According to the study, there are fewer serious accidents on motorway sections with a speed limit, and the number of serious injuries and, above all, deaths is significantly lower here.
Read the full analysis here.
A study from Brandenburg in the same year showed a similar picture.
The number of accidents halved after a speed limit was introduced on a 62-kilometer section of the A24: from 654 accidents in three years without a speed limit to 337 accidents in three years with 130 kilometers per hour.
Studies show that a speed limit would make the freeways safer for every road user.
Regardless of technical progress, high speeds lead to significantly longer stopping distances.
At a speed of 200 kilometers per hour, the reaction and braking distance together add up to around 250 metres.
At a speed of 130, a braking car comes to a standstill after around 118 meters.
"
In accidents, the speed is decisive for the severity of the injuries," confirmed trauma surgeon Christopher Spering to SPIEGEL 2020 in an interview.
mgo/dpa