Comments on: Bremen Imposes Speed Limit On The Autobahn

By: red.66mustang

red.66mustang — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:02:50 +0000

Slippery slope (road) in German is: Schlitter bahn

By: Facebook User

Facebook User — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:53:40 +0000

When you are travelling at 250km/hr you are burning a lot of fuel per km and producing corresponding huge amounts of greenhouse gasses. Often you will make better time travelling slower and not needing to stop for fuel. The German politicians book down the Autobahn at high speed with big V8 cars and a blue flashing light on the roof. Like most of the AGW gang they apparently consider the reduction of greenhouse gasses does not pertain to them.

By: Alex Rodriguez

Alex Rodriguez — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:46:25 +0000

So some Euro wanting to save the planet by reducing the speed limit is an idiot, but those rednecks in West Texas with their 80 mile an hour speed limits are gun toting, Bush loving, planet hating idoits.

Makes sense.

By: threeer

threeer — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:32:54 +0000

rutschiger Abhang? Maybe…

Anyway, yeah, there are many stretches of Autobahn that are limited already. The drive from to Stuttgart from Karlsruhe along the A8 has many sections that are limited to 130 km/h (I spent many years living in and working around that area). Still, there are also several stretches where one can ring the living bejeebers out of a car, if one so desires. A 5% reduction is all well and good, but as others have said, this appears more politically motivated than anything else and doesn’t fundamentally alter the current driving conditions in Germany.

By: Orian

Orian — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:21:55 +0000

German moving violations are an order of magnitude more expensive than in America too – they are based on a percentage of your yearly income.

By: schempe

schempe — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:21:36 +0000

Speed limits have already been in place for over 15 years on various stretches when approaching most all major cities. There are still many miles of Autobahn that still have no limit. I don’t see a huge impact one way or another. More than likely this is just another example of more political passengers jumping on the “Green Bandwagon”

By: golden2husky

golden2husky — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:18:04 +0000

Funny thing about Germany’s reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is not that they have decreased, its how. Because of the high cost of labor and energy, much of Germany’s industrial infrastructure is disappearing from German soil. A classic example is one of Germany’s huge steel mills that was located in the Ruhr Valley. A major polluter for years, it is now gone. Gone to China, that is. Bought by the Chinese and reassembled in Handan, it will continue to spew gases for years to come. The global picture is not one bit improved, but Germany’s scorecard has. Now by lowering speed limits, you begin to erase the primary reason why German cars feel and handle the way they are: Safe high speed handling need the attentive design that is given to cars like BMW. Remove that, and you get a car like the new Jetta. Once the portal into the realm of German sport sedans, it is now a softie.

All that being said, it is important to reduce emissions, but do so in a meaningful manner, not using smoke and mirrors. Reviewer Liberman is correct: proper maintenance could achieve the same thing. But lets look further. Is it really emissions that are the target? Seems to me this offers a way to bump the take in ticket revenue under the guise of something else. Wow, I guess the Germans did see somethings in America that they want to copy.

By: Mirko Reinhardt

Mirko Reinhardt — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:47:01 +0000

I think the magical 15% reduction comes from the assumption that, with a nation-wide speed limit, people would further downsize their cars’ engines.
Yeah right. Speed limits = small engines, as seen in the US.

By: GS650G

GS650G — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:32:09 +0000

Environment Minister Rainer Loske gets to brag about his global warming actions, that’s most important. And how dare you question anything that saves the planet? Remember the debate is over.

By: Facebook User

Facebook User — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:19:33 +0000

This is not anything new for the Autobahn. There are limits over hundreds of miles of Autobahn already and there is already a limit when passing through the city of Bremen.

And it would take 12 minutes at 300 km/hr for 60km and the newer cars are governed at 250km/hr.