End of an Era? Bremen is the first German state to limit Autobahn speeds
Its a cliché, but any car enthusiast will tell you why Germany has been a Mecca for speed freaks for years. In Germany, you can drive as fast as you like on the motorway. No speed limits, just let your engine rip and look out behind you for the even-faster speed-nut filling your mirrors.
In fact it's not quite like that. It's only certain stretches of the network, mostly long inter-urban roads, where free speeds are allowed. But over the years it has been something of a sacred cow in German politics. It gets linked with personal freedoms, human rights and arguments about nanny-states. It takes a brave politician to declare against the freedom of the Autobahn.
But it appears that times are changing. Germans are weaning themselves off the speeding habit, and the reasons are as much environmental as safety-based. The State of Bremen has become the first German state to limit speed universally by declaring a maximum speed limit of 120kph.
Rainer Loske, Bremen's environment minister, cited environmental concerns as the principal reason behind the decision. Bremen's state government is made up of the center-left coalition of the Greens and Social Democrats, which took power in the state in 2005.
Loske called the move "a signal for the protection of the environment and climate. Bremen is a pioneer." Reducing speeds on the autobahn will make a small but positive contribution to CO2 reduction. Road safety will also be improved.
In practical terms it does not make much difference. Bremen is a tiny city-State and the new statute only affects 11 kilometres of autobahn; the rest of the network is already speed-controlled. But it does seem a symbolic move.
The States of Bremen, Berlin and Brandenburg are co-sponsoring proposed changes to national legislation that would introduce a universal speed limit of 130kph. Often talked of before, it now seems as if the public mood is finally willing to accept the change.
