Bad air in Munich – despite diesel driving ban
A stricter diesel driving ban has been in effect in Munich since Wednesday morning. Around 70,000 Munich drivers are no longer allowed to drive on the Mittlerer Ring or in the city center with their Euro 4 diesel vehicles. While residents within the Mittlerer Ring will benefit from exceptions for the time being, people who live outside and have to cross the Ring or into the city center have a problem.
It is doubtful whether there will actually be less traffic on the Mittlerer Ring and in the city center on day one of the driving ban. The ban cannot be checked from the outside, because there is no special sticker for diesel vehicles in emission class 5. It usually requires a look at the vehicle registration document. However, if you get caught, you have to pay a fine of exactly 128.50 euros.
The exceptions to the driving ban are still being worked on
As far as extra checks are concerned, both the police and the city are rather reluctant. For one, there is a multitude of exceptionswhich, however, must be approved by the responsible district administration department (KVR).
Around 2,000 applications were registered there at the beginning of the week. It will also take a while until these are fully processed. On the other hand, the Munich City Council will deal with the exception concept again on Wednesday. At the request of the SPD, shift workers, like residents or craftsmen, should be automatically released from the driving ban. It’s not all set and dried yet either.
140,000 cars a day on Landshuter Allee
Nevertheless: A certain proportion of residents of Landshuter Allee, which is generally considered the dirtiest street in Germany, will certainly be happy about the new ban. Volker Becker-Battaglia also lives on this street, on which around 140,000 cars drive every day. “Well, I think it’s crazy! It’s now a constant stream of cars driving through here from morning to night. You can’t even imagine the burden on the residents,” he complained in October, shortly after the city publicly announced the tightened diesel driving ban had made.
At Landshuter Allee, the EU limit values for nitrogen dioxide are regularly exceeded. In 2022, the mean value at the air monitoring station of the State Office for the Environment was 49 µg/m³. At another measuring point in the city of Munich in 2021 at 45 µg/m³. According to the EU limit value, a maximum of 40 µg/m³ is permitted.
Several pollutant levels are too high on Munich streets
None of this arouses pleasant feelings in residents like Volker Becker-Battaglia, because according to the Federal Environment Agency, nitrogen dioxide is a corrosive irritant gas which, in high concentrations, can lead to shortness of breath, coughing, bronchitis and cardiovascular diseases.
But Landshuter Allee is not the only street where the city limit is exceeded. Exceedances are also regularly found on Tegernseer Landstraße (43 µg/m³) and Trappentreustraße (41 µg/m³). This has damaging effects on the health of many people, according to the responsible municipal officer for climate and environment, Christine Kugler. That obliged the city to act, according to Kugler.
“Mobile in Germany”: 140,000 diesel drivers are blocked
Michael Haberland from the “Mobile in Germany” car club sees things differently. The air quality has improved so much in recent years that a driving ban is not justified, says the car lobbyist. If you add up the Euro 4 drivers who are now affected and the Euro 5 drivers who may be affected by the ban from October, according to Haberland, there are around 140,000 drivers in Munich. These people lock the man out from one day to the next, he finds.
The fact that Munich’s diesel driving ban is in fact moving people’s minds can also be seen at an information event organized by the car club last Monday at the Hanns Seidel Foundation, which is close to the CSU. The approximately 360 seats were quickly all occupied, and the indignation about the driving ban was great.
At the event, the “Mobil in Germany” boss then called on the audience to to participate in model lawsuits organized by the car club. Quite a few complied with this request and signed up for lists.
Criticism: Driving ban in Munich disproportionate
The lawyer who wants to file these lawsuits before the Munich Administrative Court is the Berlin administrative lawyer Claus-Peter Martens. If it were up to him, the city of Munich would have to lift the driving ban immediately. According to Martens, the Federal Administrative Court did allow diesel driving bans, but only with the reservation of proportionality – and that was not the case in Munich.
According to the lawyer, the nitrogen dioxide levels in Munich have improved so much that a zonal driving ban is no longer the method of choice. According to the Berlin administrative lawyer, driving bans are only permitted by the highest court if the nitrogen dioxide values are above the 50 µg/m³ mark. that’s why they want to submit seven model lawsuits to the Munich Administrative Court on February 1st – this Wednesday.
City: driving ban legally in order
The city, however, is relaxed. According to Christine Kugler, the principle of proportionality improved by the Federal Administrative Court was observed. For one man have a step model. That means: First Euro 4 driving bans would be issued; and if the values do not improve, the Euro 5 ban will follow. On the other hand, a large number of exceptions have been allowed. In principle, according to Kugler, driving bans in other German cities were also taken as a basis.
First driving ban in the north
After the Federal Administrative Court declared diesel driving bans permissible in 2018, Hamburg was the first federal state to issue a route-related driving ban. Accordingly, according to the ADAC, vehicles with the diesel emissions standard Euro 1 to Euro 5 can no longer be driven on two roads. Violations are subject to a fine of 25 euros for normal cars and 75 euros for trucks.
The Hamburg driving ban mainly applies to trucks and buses. Residents, emergency services and tradespeople are usually exempt.
Diesel driving ban Darmstadt
In 2018, Hesse and the Deutsche Umwelthilfe had agreed in an out-of-court settlement to introduce diesel driving bans in Darmstadt. According to the ADAC, diesel drivers with the Euro 1 to 5 emissions standard and class 1 and 2 petrol engines have been affected since 2019.
Exceptions apply here for ambulances, garbage disposal, craftsmen with permission and retrofitted vehicles. However, the driving ban only applies to two streets. If someone turns into die in one of the two streets without permission, a fine of 108.50 euros is due.
Largest zonal driving ban to date: Stuttgart
Due to court rulings, a diesel driving ban has been in force in Stuttgart since 2019, which was tightened again in 2020 in the valley basin and in Bad Cannstatt.
According to the Stuttgart city administration, driving with a Euro 4 diesel is prohibited throughout the city. In the Stuttgart basin and in Bad Cannstadt, the so-called small environmental zone, there is a zonal driving ban for diesel vehicles in emission class Euro 5 and lower. There are also exceptions in Stuttgart. According to ADAC, the fine for violations in the state capital of Baden-Württemberg is 108.50 euros.
Berlin Senate lifts driving bans
In 2018, the Berlin administrative court ordered route-related driving bans in the federal capital. In June 2019, a driving ban for diesel from Euro 1 to 5 was issued in eight Berlin streets. In the meantime, however, the Berlin Senate has lifted the driving bans. The reason: According to the Berlin city administration, the nitrogen oxide values have improved enormously.
It will probably be a while before people in Munich can build on the conditions in Berlin. According to calculations by the city’s climate department, the EU limit value for nitrogen dioxide will not be implemented until 2024 at the earliest with the diesel driving ban. Perhaps the Munich Administrative Court will take the decision from the city.