Germans ridicule call for speed limits

Germans ridicule call for speed limits
Associated Press

BERLIN -- An EU official called on Germany to give up the famous freedom of its highways and impose speed limits on the autobahn to fight global warming -- a demand that drew angry responses Sunday in a country that cherishes what it calls "free driving for free citizens."
 
The call came as the German government makes action against climate change a priority of its current presidencies of the European Union and the Group of Eight.

Still, the German environment minister showed little enthusiasm for EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas' suggestion, and a group representing the country's auto industry said it needed "no coaching on efficient climate protection from Brussels."

Many stretches of German autobahn lack speed limits. However, the growing concern over carbon dioxide emissions is putting that tradition under renewed scrutiny.

"There are so many areas in which we waste energy in a completely senseless way and burden the climate," Dimas told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

"A simple measure in Germany could be a general speed limit on highways," he added, according to the newspaper.

Dimas' comments drew a slew of largely negative responses Sunday on the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung's Internet site. One respondent described the debate as a "farce"; another demanded "free driving for free citizens" -- quoting one of Germany's most popular and well-known slogans.