The Speed Limit Story

So I'm going to tell this little story....referencing part of it back to the Berliner Morgenpost newspaper, which laid out the basic story.

A number of years ago....the EU stepped up and made some 'laws' that limited the amount of nitrogen oxide particles in the air.  For 95-percent of the German landscape....the limit law really didn't matter much.  For urbanized zones (like in Hamburg, Frankfurt, Munich, or Berlin).....it matters because of traffic, and the heavy use of diesel cars, trucks and buses.

So one of these serious law infractions was going to be into effect on Berlin.  They sat around and thought about the implications, and the number of diesel cars to be affected, and said that the better solution was to limit speed limits on much of Berlin (an awful lot of the city)....to 30 kph (19 mph).

Now, one has to be honest here and admit....there is zero scientific proof that lesser speed means lesser nitrogen oxide particles.  You can ask for facts, but there's nothing there except for the fact of lesser vehicle traffic, or enforced muffler-action.....which leads to a better (lesser) oxide score.

So in the last month, numbers were added up and there's marginally a cutback on the numbers of oxide (4-percent).

Here's the funny thing....the city is patting itself on the back, saying the program is a success....with the lesser speed. 

The odds of more buses running in a non-diesel way?  That might be part of the sequence.  Maybe even having cars use other routes helped....to achieve the 4-percent cut.

The sad thing here is that folks will cite this, and suggest that other cities ought to cut the speed limit from 50 kph to 30 kph.