Germany stalling on speed limit

There are many rites of passage in Germany, such as encountering public nudity in parks or open-ended drinking in pubs. But none is quite as hair-raising as a speed-limit-free jaunt down the autobahn.

Roaring south out of Munich in a friend’s silver Jaguar XK a quick look at the speedometer revealed 250km/h with no sign of a let-up.

What does he think of speed limits? “I like getting from A to B quickly. Why should the state intervene?”

That, no doubt, is a question being considered by Sigmar Gabriel, leader of Germany's opposition Social Democrats (SPD). Earlier this month he suggested it would make sense to impose a general 120km/h speed limit on the autobahn.

“This is what the rest of the world does,” he said. “All statistics show that the numbers of serious accidents and deaths drop as a result.”

Gabriel's SPD colleague Peer Steinbrück, hoping to oust Angela Merkel in September, was appalled by this solo run. If there is a no-win topic in German politics, it is state interference in private life. And imposing a speed limit is considered by many Germans the worst kind of interference.

“I’ve no interest in starting this debate now,” said Steinbrück.

The debate about capping autobahn speeds began more than 40 years ago when a record 20,000 people were dying annually on West German roads. By comparison, last year a unified Germany recorded 3,760 road deaths – the second-lowest level since records began in 1950.

Unsurprisingly Germany’s equivalent of the AA, the ADAC, dismissed Gabriel’s latest proposal.

“The autobahns are the most secure roads in Germany,” said an ADAC spokesman, noting statistics showing that they carry 31 per cent of German traffic in 2011 but only 6 per cent of the accidents.

But a 2008 report by the European Transport Safety Council found that of the 645 road deaths in Germany in 2006, 67 per cent occurred on on motorway sections without limits and 33 per cent on stretches with limits.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has long since come out against speed limits. In 2009, she said: “We’re long past these fundamental discussions and have intelligent traffic steering systems that we can develop further and which make a general speed limit unnecessary.”

These intelligent traffic systems, in place in 40 per cent of Germany’s 13,000km network, impose variable electronic speed limits based on the traffic situation. So the legend of the free-for-all autobahn speed is nothing more than that, a legend.

Gabriel was visibly alarmed by the negative reaction to his speed limit proposal. Facing anger from Steinbrück and SPD rank and file, it took just days for the SPD leader to hit the brakes.

“This general election will look at other questions than the speed limit,” said Gabriel. “Road safety has to have priority, I didn’t want to say any more than that.”

Germany's Green Party and environment groups are determined to keep the debate alive, saying that greater speed limits would push car companies to develop smaller, more fuel-efficient engines. According to a study by a German state environment agency, a 120km/h speed limit would save 3.2 million tonnes of CO2.

For anyone not raised on free-for-all Autobahns, the current debate – and the warp speed experience – is a disconcerting one.