Germany caught in EU speed trap

The Times of London reports that Germany's days of no-speed-limit roadways may be numbered.

The European Union’s energy commissioner has called for a 100kph — 62mph — speed limit to be adopted throughout Europe. Andris Piebalgs said roads in all 25 member states should be posted with a uniform limit to cut accidents and save fuel. His suggestion follows a recommendation by the International Energy Association in Paris and is seen as a quick way to cut energy consumption in response to depleted oil reserves.

"If in Germany cars are speeding at 200kph (124mph) they are using too much petrol," said Piebalgs. He was speaking at a meeting in Germany, where motorists enjoy the only speed-limit-free roads in the EU.

Too much by whose standards, Piebalgs?

A comment on the website of Der Spiegel, the German news magazine, said: "With those speed limits we would be castrated."

That comment misses the point. Germany's real loss of vitality came when it decided to submit itself to the authority of the European Commission. To complain about a bureaucracy using the power it has been given is naïve.