Alliance pressures for speed limits for climate protection and safety

For more climate protection and increased road safety, a broad alliance of associations is pushing for the immediate introduction of a general speed limit in Germany. "Although the climate targets for 2030 are foreseeably going to be missed and the high number of road deaths in Germany has recently even increased," the federal government continues to maintain its blockade stance, criticized the alliance of environmental and road safety associations as well as the Police Union of NRW in Berlin. Numerous other European countries, on the other hand, have tightened existing speed limits.

The alliance had already called for the introduction of a general speed limit on highways after the Bundestag election in 2021. However, the FDP categorically rejects such a limit. And in the joint coalition agreement with the SPD and the Greens, it states: "There will be no general speed limit."

What Speed Limits Are Being Demanded Where

In addition to a speed limit of 100 kilometers per hour on highways, the German Environmental Aid (DUH), as part of the alliance, is pushing for the maximum speed outside of towns to be reduced to 80 kilometers per hour and for a standard speed limit of 30 kilometers per hour to be introduced in urban areas. These measures could save more than eleven million tons of CO2 annually, said the DUH's federal managing director, Jürgen Resch. Although the amendment to the road traffic regulations (StVO), which is on the agenda of the Bundesrat today, does not go far enough for him, cities must nonetheless consistently utilize the new opportunities.

The reform envisages, among other things, that authorities will in the future be able to more easily impose speed limits of 30 kilometers per hour - for example, in the so-called gap closure between already existing 30 km/h zones or in front of playgrounds and highly frequented school routes. "If implemented consistently, our cities can at least become a bit safer, quieter, and cleaner," said Resch.