Could a European speed limit be a German election issue?

by Letizia Orlandi - 2013.05.15

For Peer Steinbrück, the SPD candidate for German Chancellor in the 2013 elections and challenger to Angela Merkel, everything is about the vote in September. He has thrown his weight behind a proposal that has been on the table in Europe for some time, of reducing the speed limit for all EU countries to 120kmph. Numerous road safety organisations support this, as well as environmental campaigners and politicians. Steinbrück points to research from the Norwegian Institute of Economy and Transport, based on data from more than 100 studies in more than a dozen countries. It shows that an increase in average traffic speed of just three miles per hour causes more than 25 extra deaths per year and more than 100 additional serious injuries. The higher the speed, the greater the road fatalities. In Germany, 67% of road fatalities occurred on stretches without a speed limit while 33% were on roads with a limit of about 81 mph. However, those calling for an EU-wide speed limit say that differences between countries should be taken into account, in terms of style of driving, the extent of the motorway network, average traffic flows, the geographic characteristics and, above all, the quality of transport infrastructure in general.