Speed Topic

So there is this debate which erupted in Germany over the past two weeks....following a commision suggestion that the speed limits should be changed.  The Transportation Ministry?  They weren't exactly enthusiastic over the suggestion.  In fact, they tried to accept the recommendation and then just file it.

The basic suggestion?  On autobahns.....top speed of 130 kph (80 mph).  On secondary roads....80 kph (50 mph).

Here's the general situation, and it has been this way for the past fifty-odd years.  I would suggest that around 50-percent of all autobahn roads are 'unlimited'.  The rest range from 130 kph, 100 kph (in highly urbanized areas), and 60-to-70 kph (construction zones on the autobahns).   As for the B-roads and local highways?  Mostly 100 kph, although some regions have put in a 80-to-90 kph range if roadkill episodes occur on a frequent basis and safety conditions require it.  Within city limits?  Fifty kph is normal, and in a highly used area.....it can go down to 30 kph.

There are general opinions by Germans, and the polls are hard to suggests as being reliable.  Those who drive 100 kilometers one-way each day to work.....would prefer no speed limit changes. 

ARD (public TV) brought up this interesting statistic today.

In 2017, there were 3,180 people (not all included Germans) who died on German roads, autobahns and streets in a car accident.  Oddly enough, it was the lowest number in 60 years.

The West German rate in 1970?  Well, this gets to an interesting point.  Roughly 20,000 people died in car accidents that year.

I sat and paused over this.....talking to my Germany wife.  She brought up one curious thing that happen in 1970.....that was the year that they mandated ALL new cars had to have seat belts (no longer an option).  From that year on.....German cars had seat belts in the front.  Back-seat belts?  That didn't come until 1979.  But there were still people driving cars from the late 1970s with no belt.  Curiously, with the 1970 statistic.....almost an entire city of population died yearly from car accidents. 

ARD brought up several other improvements.  Strict rules on alcohol consumption?  That came up in the 1980s, and is strongly enforced today.  Improved road and traffic design?  I can vouch for that....having driven around German in 1978.  The mandatory requirement for kid-seats?  That changed the situation as well.  Improved tires and safety design?  That made things different as well.

The use of helicopters to get people rapidly to hospitals after an accident?  That was another plus-up.

I'm not really convinced that the speed limit chatter will do much.  It will increase public forum topics and get Green Party folks all hyped up.  But most Germans will ask questions and wonder about the negative consequences.