Two European countries will increase the maximum speed on their motorways to 150 km/h. A measure which however has no chance of becoming a reality on our French network, while the trend is rather to reduce the limitation.
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It has been many years since speed is at the heart of debates in France. And for good reason, since the lowering of the limit to 80 km / h on certain roads of the secondary network, the government continues to want to reduce the speed on our roads.
An amazing measure
In 2020, we remember, for example, that the Citizens’ Climate Convention recommended lower the limit to 110 km/h on all highways. As a reminder, the maximum speed on the expressways is currently 130 km/h, provided that it is not raining. At that time, the government rejected this proposal, which has since returned to the table.
If France tends to want to slow down its drivers, other countries have decided to do the opposite. This is the case of Italy and the Czech Republic, which have taken the decision to increase the speed limit on their motorways. 130 km/h like at home, it should therefore go to 150 km/h over the next few months.
The decision has even already been taken in the Czech Republic, as explained by the journalists of Automotive Magazineand it will come into force from January 1, 2024 on some sections. These will only be 2X3 lane sections with an emergency lane. The others will keep their initial limitation. Among our transalpine neighbors, the time is still up for debate for the moment, and for more than a year.
Transport Minister Matteo Salvini believes that this increase would not pose any safety problem, since most accidents occur on the secondary network. This measure would again concern certain portions only, and subject to good road conditions. The accidentology data will also have to be good enough for this idea to be applied.
And in France ?
Of course, the question that burns our lips is now the following: when will such a measure be taken in France? We’re not really taking any chances in saying that the answer is likely to be “never”. Indeed, the last few years have shown us that the trend was rather downward in our country. At the end of last year, the government even had asked officials to drive at 110 km/h on the highways.
A measure announced as part of the energy sobriety plan. So seeing a 150 km/h limit arrive, in other words, it is only a utopia for speed-loving motorists. Especially since we know that driving faster is harmful to the environment. This was proven by a study conducted in 2014 by the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME).
This asserted that driving 20 km/h slower makes it possible to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides and fine particles by 20%. For our part, we had proven during a test using a route planner that driving faster greatly increases the electricity consumption of an electric car, which inevitably has an impact on the total cost of the trip, since recharging is more frequent.
Traveling at 110 km/h consumes about 15% less energy, even if it would be less economically profitable, as researcher Christian Gollier had asserted. However, most motorists make short daily trips and only drive long distances six times a year on average. In other words, reducing your speed only has advantages, both in terms of consumption and for the environment. So much so that the German government is considering lowering the limit on the famous unlimited Autobahn.
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