Two-thirds of Germans support a speed limit on highways
Two out of three Germans believe that the maximum speed on highways should be limited, Reuters reports. According to a survey by German TV channel ZDF, 54% of German citizens think the maximum speed should be 130 kilometers per hour, and another 10% favor a stricter limit.
Currently, only a third of German highways have a speed limit. For the remaining sections, there is only a recommendation to drive no faster than 130 kilometers per hour, but drivers may legally exceed this limit.
Environmental activists are pushing for the introduction of restrictions, believing that high-speed driving leads to unjustified energy waste. The German Transport Ministry currently opposes any restrictions. Additionally, German automakers fear that a ban on fast driving would reduce demand for powerful cars.
Recall that at the end of 2006, the Australian authorities decided to impose speed limits on rural highways. If Germany also abandons unlimited highways, such roads will remain only on the Isle of Man in the UK and in India.
Radar traps to be set up on England's roads
A law has come into force in the UK allowing police to install speed cameras anywhere on any road, writes the Daily Mail. So far, only one county—Cumbria in northwest England—has exercised this right, and if the practice proves successful, authorities will try to extend it to the entire kingdom.
The previous speed control system in the UK only allowed radars to be used on road sections where several serious accidents had occurred in the last three years. Police say that the number of accidents at these spots did indeed decrease. On the other hand, because drivers knew where the cameras were located (some navigation systems even provide this service), they freely exceeded speed limits where no fixed cameras were installed. Thus, the number of serious accidents increased on 'uncontrolled' road sections.
According to authorities, mobile cameras should solve this problem. In addition to being in unexpected places for drivers, police intend to use radars in pairs to catch drivers who speed up after passing a speed control point.
The UK uses a 'points' system, similar to the 'holes' in driving licenses that existed in the USSR. Currently, about 6 million Britons have points on their driving licenses. After mobile cameras are deployed nationwide, experts estimate that the number of 'marked' drivers will rise to 10 million. Insurers believe that this system will then become completely useless, as the number of points for speeding already hardly correlates with accident risk. And thanks to the new measure, even the most law-abiding Britons will formally become 'serious offenders'.