German motorways

Well there goes Topgear's last refuge of driving at top speeds on Motorways and not getting done by the Cops! or perhaps not...

(2nd story of the day about Germany, god they are on a roll today! Tune in tomorrow, when we choose another European country at random directly)
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German motorways may get speed limit

Germany's speed limit-free motorways may fall victim to fears of global warming after the Social Democrats unexpectedly voted in favour of introducing a top speed of 130kmh.

Studies showing Germany's CO2 output from cars could be cut sharply with a speed limit helped convince a majority of SPD delegates to ignore their leaders at a party congress.

The autobahns were built without speed limits by the Nazis and, after World War 2, Germany's influential car industry pressured lawmakers against introducing any national limit.

During the Cold War, West German carmakers used the slogan "Freie Fahrt fuer freie Buerger" (Free travel for free citizens) and they argue high speeds help them sell Porsches, Mercedes and BMWs worldwide - and protect German jobs.

Opinion polls show about 60 per cent of Germans are in favour of a speed limit. Environmental groups have said a speed limit would cut vehicle CO2 output by 5 percent overnight and 15 percent long-term once more fuel-efficient cars were used.

Nobel laureate Al Gore last week criticised Germany in a Berlin speech for not having motorway speed limits.

The SPD is in coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU). Saturday's non-binding measure has little chance of becoming law any time soon because Merkel is firmly against a speed limit despite her efforts to persuade other countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

"It's an important symbolic issue," said Environmental Minister Sigmar Gabriel. "But it will probably be hard to pass into law because we won't find a majority for that with (Merkel's) Christian Democrats."

CDU general secretary Ronald Pofalla said the measure had no chance of becoming law.

"There won't be any such patronising from the CDU," he said. "It's another scary proposal from the SPD."

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/4253388a4560.html

Random Story of the Day

Matters of size slows hoons across Tasman By IAN STEWARD - The Press Tuesday, 16 October 2007

Kiwi car hoons will not be insulted about the size of their "gearsticks" despite the tactic proving a huge success across the Tasman.
The New South Wales campaign implies young men who speed do so to compensate for having small penises.
A recent survey shows the campaign is one of the state's most successful anti-speeding efforts.
Land Transport advertising manager Paul Graham said New Zealand would not be following suit, however, with testing of the concept "not going down well here".
The "Speeding – No-one thinks big of you" ads show boy racers peeling off from traffic lights and other dangerous behaviour while pretty girls raise crooked pinkie fingers and exchange knowing looks.
A survey commissioned on the campaign showed 76 per cent of people thought the ads increased awareness about the problem and 61 per cent of young males believed the campaign had made them think about their driving behaviour.
The Australian Advertising Standards Bureau has received complaints that the ads demean men with small penises, but NSW Roads Minister Eric Roozendaal said the campaign was "about saving lives – not pride".
"If it dents a few egos but helps save a life, then it's worth it. Wiggling your pinkie has cut through to that crucial age group of young drivers. They're using it as a way to slow their mates down and stop them acting recklessly on our roads."
Roozendaal said the ads were a "calculated break from the tradition of crash and shock images", to which research indicated young people were becoming desensitised.
Auckland University psychologist Dr Niki Harre, who has researched road safety campaigns, said: "Making dangerous driving completely unglamorous is what we need to do. When the concept becomes embedded in the culture – that's when something takes off."
Graham said New Zealand had tested similar concepts, including trying to find a "symbol" that youth might take up to prevent speeding, but the ideas were not received well.
"We're not quite where they are in Sydney. Give us another few years."
New Zealand was screening three speeding ads that targeted different sectors of society.
Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/4238841a4560.html