The question of speed limits on motorways is not only raised in France, it is also the case in Germany. It is about the end of the Autobahn without speed limit.
The speed limit has always been a point of contention. Just see the dispute around the 80 km/h limit in July 2018 to figure it out. And, while the French government wants to reduce the country’s energy expenditure, the question of lowering the speed to 110 km/h on French motorways is resurfacing. This idea does not date from today, it had been proposed in 2019 by the Citizen Climate Convention.
Towards a speed limit in Germany?
In France, the debate is therefore raging. But this is also the case with our German neighbours. For many years now, the idea of remove unlimited portions on the Autobahn comes back into the discussion. Some personalities, like Sebastian Vettel, even got involved, the latter then campaigning for the establishment of a speed limit.
Since this speech in October 2021, nothing has happened. Despite the context, it seems that this is not yet for tomorrow. Asked in the political podcast “Lage der nation”translated as “the state of the nation”, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (FDP) and Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner was not very open to this measure.
Uyy… Germany’s Porsche-driving Finance Minister Christian Lindner said he’s OK to reduce speed on the Autobahns if the Greens slaughter a holy cow, too.
“I would be ready right away to say that we introduce a speed limit in Germany if the nuclear power plants run longer.”
— Hans von der Burchard (@vonderburchard) November 10, 2022
Known to be a Porsche enthusiast and accused of having close ties with the manufacturer, he said he was in favor of setting up a speed limit, but on one condition. This last demands that nuclear power plants operate longerwhile Germany decided to close them one by one.
He therefore calls The Greens, and in particular the Minister of the Economy Robert Habeck, who should not then accept this request. However, in October German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced extending the operation of its three power plants remaining at least until April 2023. It remains to be seen whether Christian Lindner will go after his idea or if it was just a simple provocation.
When in France?
With us too, the idea of lowering the limit on the motorways is gaining ground. As part of its energy sobriety plan, the government has decided to limit speed to 110 km/h on expressways, but only for “ public officials using their service vehicle for non-emergency business trips“As explained in an official document from the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
According to him, this measure would reduce fuel consumption by 20% and 25% CO2 emissions. On the other hand, no indication on the means to control the application of this measure has been announced. Since for the time being, the radars are not able to make the difference between an official in service and other motorists.
Could this new obligation for public service agents soon concern everyone? For now, the government has not commented on the issue. But, according to a recent study conducted by Ebabe and published by The Parisian, 68% of French people would be in favor of lowering the speed limit to 110 km/h on motorways. A result that reminds us of the Ifop poll published last July, in which 63% of respondents were also in favor of a similar reduction in speed. Two weeks ago, 10 personalities including Yann-Arthus Bertrand and Cyril Dion signed a forum asking for a lowering of the limit to 110 km/h.
A few weeks earlier, we wanted to know what the impact of this measure would really be. For this, we used a route planner to analyze various parameters such as charging time, consumption or time spent on the road depending on the vehicle on a Paris-Marseille trip. As a result, driving slower is generally beneficial to fuel consumption. It remains to be seen what the same exercise would give in practice, with all the constraints inherent in driving an electric car like those used during our test.
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