Germany’s transport minister has rejected suggestions that limiting speed on all autobahns would save lives AlamyAngela Merkel’s coalition is torn over proposals to impose a speed limit on the entire autobahn network for the first time since the 1973 oil crisis. Drivers may go as fast as they please on many motorways, and this freedom has been jealously guarded, but as public concern about climate change escalates, the new heads of the Social Democratic party (SPD) are sparring with the chancellor’s conservatives over the establishment of a 130km/h (80mph) speed limit. It is one of the first serious showdowns between the coalition partners since SPD members appointed two relatively obscure left-wingers to lead their party three weeks ago. It will be seen as a test of whether the government can hold together. The right to push the accelerator to the…

Source: The Times December 26, 2019 18:00 UTC