Criticism from Salzburg calls for a speed reduction
Traffic
The Austrian Traffic Club (VCÖ) is calling for the speed limit on motorways to be reduced from 130 to 100 km/h. But the Salzburg vehicle and traffic engineer Gerhard Kronreif puts it into perspective – the reduction does not bring the hoped-for savings in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
The energy crisis has reignited the debate about reducing the maximum speed to 100 km/h on motorways and expressways.
“Measurement data from Salzburg show a different picture”
According to vehicle and traffic engineer Kronreif, measurement data from ASFINAG on the Tauernautobahn (A10) between Salzburg and Golling (Tennengau) have already shown in recent years that the average speed in the 130 km/h section is just under 110 km/h. At 100 km/h, the average speed is slightly higher.
Kronreif makes it clear: three instead of 23 percent savings
“That means the reduction in average speed is less than ten km/h and the result is a mere three percent reduction in pollutants,” says Kronreif.
Therefore, the CO2 and fuel savings cannot be as announced by the Ministry of the Environment and VCÖ at 23 percent, criticizes the Salzburg vehicle and traffic engineer. The VCÖ recently motivated a speed limit on motorways and expressways – according to the automobile club it is a simple but effective step. With a reduction from 130 to 110 km/h, consumption drops by 17 percent, and at 100 km/h by as much as 23 percent, the VCÖ calculated.