“I don’t believe any statistics that I haven’t falsified myself,” Sir Winston Churchill once said. Good thing those days are long gone. Today, statisticians have become accustomed to transparently disclosing which setting wheels they have turned in order to ultimately obtain a result with which their own positions can be better represented. Everyone accuses the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) of louder motives when a current study finds a speed limit more effective today than the study from the previous year.
The media are now citing the UBA study, which underscores the benefits of a speed limit. “The models show that a speed limit on motorways would save significantly more climate-damaging carbon dioxide than previously assumed by the authority itself,” writes “Spiegel online”.
According to UBA, at a maximum speed of 120 kilometers per hour, 6.7 million tons of CO2 equivalents can now be saved in Germany per year. That would correspond to a 4.2 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from road traffic. The setting wheels, among other things: Because of 120 km/h, the Autobahn becomes boring and unattractive. People switch to country roads or even to buses and trains. And when the electric car drivers, with their concerns regarding the range, slow down the speed on the freeways even further…
4.2 percent of car emissions correspond to around two percent of road traffic emissions and half a percent of all traffic emissions in Germany. So it’s no statistical miracle if someone comes up with numbers that say the opposite. Adjusting wheels are plentiful.
We now know that not only every kilowatt hour but also every ton counts when it comes to solving the energy crisis and the climate problem at the same time. A pedagogical measure such as a speed limit can have a positive effect on the driving behavior of individuals and encourage them to take shorter routes. It’s just stupid that we derive the accident risk from the safest roads in the republic, from the autobahns, to accident-prone routes. But wasn’t safety once the argument for introducing a speed limit on motorways?
But if they all switch to the federal highways, then the speed limit on the train doesn’t do anything in terms of safety. But beware! With this thought an endless loop begins. However, that might have been interrupted long ago if it was only regarding the climate. We have had sustainably produced biofuels and other climate-neutral fuel alternatives for a long time. But Brussels doesn’t want that. And we follow – statistically so well justified that any reference to Churchill can be perceived as malicious. (Peter Schwerdtmann/cen)