The debate about a speed limit on German highways divides the nation. Opinion polls see a slight majority for it, but the opponents do not want to give up the right to "free ride for free citizens". At the top of their movement, they know the Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU). When at the beginning of the year the SPIEGEL publicized a working group in his ministry, which recommended a speed limit of 130 kilometers per hour for reasons of climate protection, he wiped the whole thing aside with the words that this was "against common sense".
The Greens, however, do not want to let the issue go, but instead, by voting by name on the introduction of a speed limit, they are pushing the members of the Grand Coalition to a personal confession. The vote should be in mid-October. The Greens calculate that a number of SPD parliamentarians are for a limit of 130 kilometers per hour. "A speed limit would be a commandment of reason for an enlightened society in the 21st century," emphasizes the Green Party member Cem Özdemir. "The debate about this is similar in part to our political elite in trying to talk to US Republicans about weapons racketeering restrictions."
Stress test for GroKo
With a speed limit, according to different calculations, one to three million tons of CO² could be emitted less a year. In addition, the proponents hope to reduce the number of fatalities. The majority in the Union and Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU), however, reject a speed limit. The SPD faction is planning to call on its MPs to maintain coalition discipline and vote against the motion.
Achieving the necessary majority is likely to be difficult for the Greens. But that's less of a concern for you, but it would be a symbolic victory to get as many votes as possible from the government camp. From the FDP, they should expect no supporters. "Cars are there to drive, weapons to kill." Those who seek outlandish comparisons between the car as a means of transportation and a weapon as a killing instrument disqualifies itself and makes policy in the AfD style, "said the transport policy spokesman of the FDP parliamentary group, Oliver Luksic, on demand.
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