HAMBURG, GERMANY — Members of one of Germany’s governing parties Saturday backed a proposal to introduce a speed limit on highways, a measure that would revoke a cherished freedom in this rule-bound country and was likely to be met with resistance.
A majority of delegates at a conference of the center-left Social Democrat party backed a resolution stating that “a fast and unbureaucratic path to climate protection is the introduction of a general speed limit of 130 kilometers per hour,” or 80 mph.
Many stretches of German autobahn have no speed limits. However, the current surge in concern over carbon-dioxide emissions has put that tradition under renewed scrutiny. Earlier this year, EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas suggested introducing a speed limit, drawing a cool response from Berlin.
Saturday’s decision has no binding effect on government policy, and the party’s conservative coalition partners have regularly rejected calls for an overall speed limit.
The Associated Press
