This is a fascinating topic because it shows the power of stereotypes. A majority of the general population has supported a general speed limit for decades. But the anti-limit minority is very vocal and has managed to present their preference as a matter of national identity.
And as fellow Europeans we then reinforce such stereotypes about Germans.
Liar
A majority of the general population has supported a general speed limit for decades
ADAC graph in article clearly shows that this is only the case for the last 4 years by a margin of ~5%
The ADAC members do not represent the general population… The survey was among ADAC members (a motorist organization).
The ADAC is certainly representative, because that’s just people using cars. People that do not use cars and are not affected by a speed limit (e.g. people living in larger cities) are irrelevant.
Also you did 0 research and consolidated 0 resources for your claims:
There is a very slight majority in the recent years depending on the height of the limit. But certainly not for decades…
ADAC members are people who joined the motorist organization, it’s not just people driving cars.
If you think that the opinion of the general population does not matter, fine. But the ADAC members still do not represent the general population.
Your Wikipedia reference does not support your claim that there hasn’t been a majority for decades. It only lists surveys from the last few years. But that does not mean that there weren’t majorities before that.
Given that this has lingered on far too long, I’d even say speed limit for ICE cars only is an improvement.
High speed is a waste of energy regardless of the power source. Air resistance increases quadratically with speed. And half of the yearly produced electricity in Germany is generated using fossil fuels. Plus electric cars are not yet mainstream for the masses as prices are higher, only 4% of all cars in Germany are fully electric. I don’t think giving privileges to a select few is ethical.
A maximum speed limit is a sane idea and reduces both pollution and accidents. As all countries know except for Afghanistan and Germany.
The majority of “Germany” if for speed limits for decades. But like with every other topic we are held hostage by corrupt politicians, the industry bribing them and the pensioneers voting for them again and again and again.
For the same reason “Germany” (your definition this time) will always fight tooth-and-nail against any restriction on or required medical evaluation for driver’s licenses of our senile overlords. We have simply given up and just take the daily accidents with black humor (see: https://feddit.org/c/rentnerfahrenindinge)
I very much know that, this speed ideology extends even to railways - speed is prioritised over traffic reduction, i.e. analysis of separation of needs is blocked, because speed is given priority of thought.
The de facto situation is exactly the reason why I think temporary subsidies by privilege is necessary, because change with privileges worked in Norway. The legal de facto situation is that (ICE) cars are still being subsidised via staff car privilege, diesel subsidies and commuter flat rate and over the last ten years, nothing has changed about any of this substantially despite heavy confrontation, so we have to take the opportunities where they are.
A reasonable solution would be to introduce a tempo limit, but set it so high that nobody would be bothered by it. Like, the new top speed on the Autobahn could be 500 km/h.
As a German the name Lutz Leif Linden pleases me