Motorway speed limit could be cut from 70mph to 60mph to reduce emissions
- Thread starter chaparral
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Soldato
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My local town was failing traffic emissions guidelines. So they changed the traffic lights so traffic queued the other way, out of reach of the tests. 
Not been on the Autobahn?
Not been on the Autobahn?
His point is clearly in relation to UK drivers, and I have to agree with him. Given the amount of lane hogging, tail-gaiting, mindless cruise control morons on our motorways, who pull out to overtake without even a seconds thought or care for anyone behind them, I dread to think what effects a complete de-restriction might have.
Hawaii has a 30mph limit.. and coming back here after 2 weeks felt like everything was in a time warp.
So:
a) Diesel is too nasty.. so make everything petrol
b) Oh.. petrol at high speeds results in lots of output of CO2
c) Ah yeah, make everything slower to reduce CO2 etc
The fact that it takes hours to get anywhere in congestion is worse for a distance vs total pollution.
Not been on the Autobahn?
Have you seen accidents on the autobahn.. most are self reducing due to death. Should I say that 2/3 of germany's energy bill is renewable as of easter time.. so the fast road is made up by the lack of non-road pollution perhaps..
Having to walk as part of my commute in london, you an see the number of vehicles that shove out soot.. why because they've been de-DPF'd. I have a diesel. It's euro6 rated and the majority of time gets used for long distance. Who and what is the first thing to ensure is acted upon based on fact rather than opinion.
Remember when there was a blockade of the fuel depots and everyone was driving at 50mph along the motorway.. oddly people made their fuel last longer and decided if they needed to make a trip?
Remember on the 9/11 when no planes flew - the air pollution dropped and fewer clouds appeared as a side effect?
Soldato
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god damn germans, constantly doing things that make sense....
Was just about to comment the same.
There's no need to reduce the limit to 60, general traffic conditions at the end of the M5 (N) means you'd be lucky to do a third of that speed.
For a diesel, the particulate filter will regain at 70mph (well seems to on my euro6 engine). Put them in a city centre and they'll simply block the DPF..
Also petrol also has particulates.. smaller in size but still has them. I wonder how long that's going to be before that's tied to health problems too.
Also petrol also has particulates.. smaller in size but still has them. I wonder how long that's going to be before that's tied to health problems too.
Soldato
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its true the taxi's are all brand new merc's, although the pricetags match, a taxi that would cost £3 in the uk is more like 16-18 euros.
that said, it's balanced by many of the cities having frankly excellent public transport- trams subways and busses that cover the vast majority of places folk would want to go, seems most only bother driving if they need to carry something heavy.
Caporegime
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i'm happy with them tripling the cost of taxi's. so long as cheap, decent public transport is in place. taxi's IMO are too cheap, there are millions of them on the roads and i see a queue of single benefit mums waiting for them outside asda, tesco, etc. when they could be using the bus stop 100 yards away. it's actually cheaper to get a taxi than it is a home delivery from a takeaway.
problem is our rail network is using outdated infrastructure. you would really need to start from scratch and there isn't the funds nor the space available to do so. Germany, France, and the rest of europe don't have that issue as all their bridges and rail infrastructure was destroyed during WW2. so they got to all rebuild it from scratch again.
i don't think anything can be done to fix the mess public transport is in other than sky trains above the current road infrastructure.
Soldato
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Theres plenty could be done, but like dealing with the power stations our government hasnt got the cajones to face the nimbys and get it sorted.
As you say, expensive taxi's arent an issue here as for the most part all they do is prey on folk out partying after the rest of the public transport network has stopped, and for the most part folk just share the cost.
Tbf there's an element of geography at play too, where i am at least its incredibly flat, and cycling is not only a valid option but a vastly popular one, couple that with a much nicer attitude to cycle lanes and traffic dealing with cyclists /pedestrians in general and you really can live perfectly well without a car.
Caporegime
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it takes 15-30 mins in a car to get to where i work and that is using 95% motorway. i'm not spending 3 hours cycling it every day down small roads through towns, especially in the rain, snow, hail, etc. also how do buy anything heavy or large from the shops with just a bike? cycling isn't the answer unless you work right next to where you live and don't leave the house much.
once a fortnight i get the train to work. i need to drive to the train station in order to get a train. then i have the issue of there isn't enough parking at any train station near me as everyone else does this also. so i go to the one nearest and park on a road nearby then walk the rest of the way. again there is no chance of me cycling it. it's a 5-10 minute drive up a very large steep hill at one point. it would take me 20-30 mins to cycle to the train station. i'd also be soaked in sweat with that large hill.
basically cycling would add hours onto my commuting time and i'd hate it. public transport also adds time onto my commuting time. for me using a car is the quickest and cheapest way of travelling. the public transport network here is terrible and it's expensive. it's like £20 for a return to edinburgh from glasgow (30-45 minute journey on a train). if i was ever offered a job in edinburgh. the fact it would take 1-2 hours longer every day and cost me £20 more per day i'd want double the salary i'm on now before i'd even contemplate it. i'd be out of pocket £10K a year most likely more if I was forced to move now on my current salary when you take into account my time and the money spent on travelling.
it costs me £2.50 a week currently to get to work as I car share. I pay £0 for 9 days out of 10 I travel by car and £5 once a fortnight on the train.
Yea cycling isnt an option for most people and public transport often cost more than running a car, smells bad, uncomfortable, full of ill people, and is slow.
They also cut a lot of the bus routes, I'd have to take 3 busses to get to work just 12 miles away. So screw that. I'll just run my 31mpg car and it still only costs about £25 a week to get to work. Plus a car is freedom and I actually like driving.
But yea, unless you live and work in the middle of London, you need a car in the UK if you actually want to work a half decent job. Or at least be able to drive a company car.
They also cut a lot of the bus routes, I'd have to take 3 busses to get to work just 12 miles away. So screw that. I'll just run my 31mpg car and it still only costs about £25 a week to get to work. Plus a car is freedom and I actually like driving.
But yea, unless you live and work in the middle of London, you need a car in the UK if you actually want to work a half decent job. Or at least be able to drive a company car.
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Soldato
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This is the key difference, currently it'd take me the same time to go via bike as to go via tram, and whilst taking the tram is the better option for going shopping (and even then i do miss having a car so you can buy in bulk and chuck it in the boot), cycling is a realistic option for getting about. The german geography, driving attitudes and public transport mean having a car, or at least needing to have a car in the cities is much less of an issue.
At home though its a different story, my commute is ~20 mins on clear roads, more like 40 with traffic, but easily over an hour on public transport and cycling is a non starter.
At home though its a different story, my commute is ~20 mins on clear roads, more like 40 with traffic, but easily over an hour on public transport and cycling is a non starter.