LexFather

HAMBURG, Germany, Oct 27 (AFP) Oct 27, 2007
The Social Democrats, partners in Germany's "grand coalition" government, called Saturday for a speed limit on the country's legendary autobahns in a bid to slash harmful carbon emissions.
A motion to impose a 130 kilometres (80 miles) per hour maximum speed on the freeways passed at a party congress here with a wafer-thin majority that surprised SPD leaders, who had opposed it.

Speed is king on German highways, with restrictions only enforced in congested areas, near road works or in special circumstances. A government policy currently "recommends" drivers keep the speedometer below 130.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative alliance swiftly dismissed its coalition partners' proposal.

"This fine specimen from their new chamber of policy horrors is not the only thing we won't go along with," the parliamentary leader of the Christian Social Union, Peter Ramsauer, told the B.Z. am Sonntag newspaper.

Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel of the SPD argues that the focus on a speed limit distracts from measures that would be more effective in capping greenhouse gas emissions such as pressing the auto industry to roll out more fuel-efficient models.

But the opposition Green party, which governed Germany with the Social Democrats until 2005, welcomed the SPD motion.

"We feel vindicated," Greens' chief Reinhard Buetikofer told AFP.

"Now we hope they will really see it through."

Environmental groups argue that at least 40 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions could be prevented by 2020 with a speed limit of 120 kph.

And consumer advocates note that 70 percent of all deadly automobile accidents occur on stretches of the autobahn where no maximum speeds apply.

A round-table on environmental measures in France last week failed to adopt a suggestion for a 10 kph cut in speed limits on main roads, where the maximum speed allowed on motorways is 130.

The SPD also approved a motion calling for the elimination of tax breaks for company cars which guzzle petrol, as well as for a requirement that new power plants have "green" technology allowing the simultaneous production of heat and electricity.


http://www.spacedaily.com/2006....html

mmarshall

Well, the political arguements, on the surface, seem to be centering around the gas mileage and emission issues...mileage usually goes down with increased cruising speeds, and emissions go up. But both mileage and emissions usually are even worse with constant stop-and-go driving......at least when you are on the Autobahn, in uncongested conditions, engines are running at comparably good efficiency even with higher speeds.

The real problem, I suspect, (and article didn't go into this much) is the tremendous impact forces that occur when you hit something at triple-digit speeds, one reason why almost all of the legal speed limits in the U.S. are below that range. I have seen videos of cars going out of control on the Autobahn well above 100 MPH and flipping over literally dozens of times (sometimes end over end).....one reason why German cars have such strong roll cages. But hit something head on in that speed range (at least in a street car) and I don't care how many air bags you have, how well the seat belts and shoulder harnesses are designed, and how good the frame is designed, you are going to have some DAMAGE.

A general rule of thumb (and this is taught in physics classes) is that impact force increases at the square of the speed......so when you double the speed, you increase the kinetic energy and impact force four times. So if that nice, big, strong Mercedes S-Class or Volvo S80 you're riding in (two icon machines known for safety) holds up OK in, say, an 80 or 90 MPH crash, when you double that speed to say, 160 or 170 MPH (some cars on the Autobahn actually go that fast), the car could be so mangled it is unrecognizable...or the gas tank explode and burn to a crisp.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Typical b.s. 'statistic'. Of course given the speeds involved OF ACCIDENTS THAT DO OCCUR on the autobahn they're more likely to be fatal, but this factoid doesn't present how many accidents of all kinds there are on the autobahn vs. 'regular' roads. If 5% of all accidents are fatal and 70% of those occur on autobahns we're talking about putting speed restrictions to only POTENTIALLY REDUCE (it certainly won't eliminate) all accidents by at most 3.5%.

MORE IMPORTANT FACTOID - Europe's doing all these 'green' initiatives because they want their countries to be less dependent on oil and because they can get a giant tax windfall in the process. CO2 emissions have NOTHING to do with it.

mmarshall

Well, yes.....I agree, and tried to make that point in my last post.

The political arguments on the surface may have involved gas mileage and emissions, but, I agree, have little or nothing to do with it. The accident severity at high speeds, on the other hand, is not something than can easily be brushed off.

And is it a B.S. statistic? Maybe...maybe not. Depends on how you look at it. Accidents at triple-digit speeds often involve a lot of impact force and a lot of damage, whether it is on a speed-regulated road where people are breaking the law, or an unregulated road where they can drive those kinds of speeds legally. The laws of physics don't change just because road signs do. All else equal, the faster you go, the worse a potential accident becomes...speed limit or not. So they are essentially arguing laws and politics, not necessarily actual traffic safety.

mmarshall

It also, to an extent, gets back to the vast, tax-supported health-care system they have in place in Germany, which you (and sometimes me) have criticized so much. The more people that get hurt and killed in those high-speed accidents, the more state money they have to spend on treatment and funerals...and many of the taxpayers, in general, are finally stating to revolt.............they've had enough.