"40 reasons why Germany is slipping" - The speed limit chaos is fragmenting our cities: 20, 40, 30 (until 5 p.m.)
This text is from the book "We can't overdo it! 40 reasons why Germany is being smothered" by Marcus Werner
We and cars. Man, Man, Man, Man, Man. Because gentle driving in built-up areas is still considered odd, there are now countless signs where it is supposedly allowed to go slower in exceptional cases. It's confusing, looks ugly, and is expensive. There is a solution. I'll come to that in a moment.
The Berlin Oranienkiez is so full of speed limit signs, you could probably see it glittering from space. This chaos is only worth dealing with for a traffic light AI that doesn't exist yet.
When you drive through the Oranienkiez in Kreuzberg with your car in the middle of a curve, you need someone on the passenger seat to keep an eye on how fast you're currently allowed to go. Because it changes every few meters on the streets there, and a person can't take that in. After all, you also have to consider the safety of other traffic participants.
... then you can drive 50 for about ten meters
If you drive along the Oranienstraße, the speed limit is 30. Not as a zone, but marked by a small round sign with a red border as a sectional restriction. A few hundred meters further, at the Oranienplatz, it's 50, but only for about 200 meters, then it's 30 again, turn left and you'll be in a 30-zone. If you go west in this street, you'll be in a street where 10 is valid, while to the north a 20-zone begins. If you had driven straight instead of turning left, you would have left the 30-zone and could have driven 50 for about ten meters before having to brake suddenly to 30 again, but not as a zone, but with the time restriction until 5 p.m.
But don't look at the clock too long, it doesn't pay off, because a few meters further on there's a "30" sign without a time restriction. Behind a bend, there's no 30-sign posted anymore, so you can basically drive the estimated 150 meters to the traffic light at a speed of about 50. For this km/h chaos, you need dozens of signs, one of which with a post costs a good and happy 150 Euros (plus installation and cleaning in the following years).
Now I can hear you gasping for breath, shouting "Well done, bureaucrat!" unchecked.
They have to do it this way: Because the law demands it
But come on. The poor signpost planners can't help it. They have to do it this way. Because the law demands it.
On the one hand, 30-zones (those with the large square signs), roughly speaking, should only exist in residential areas. These can be identified by the absence of priority roads, i.e., those with the sign in the style of a four-sided mirror.
If they are, then only triangular signs should be allowed to grant us priority for the next junction. But only three in a row (unless a bus line runs along this street). Otherwise, the gate and door would open for slow driving. And where would we end up in this country? Are we perhaps in Spain?
There should be no traffic lights in the 30-zone. For 30-zones, intersections with Spiegelei-access roads are a paradise. If a Spiegelei-access road intersects the zone, the zone must end at that access road and begin again directly on the opposite side of the street.
You can see it yourself: The 30-zone can only exist where it is clear that no one wants to drive fast. It mainly depends on what people want in their temporary role as drivers. And that applies even where 30 applies for a stretch (round sign with 30 on it). Simply prescribing 30 because 50 is too fast doesn't work. There must be a reason for increased traffic safety or peace, such as schools, kindergartens, or nursing homes nearby.
However, for every occasion, there must be a reason for the speed limit to end after 300 meters. If the next school is 400 meters further, a speed limit of 50 must apply in between. This often results in a section that is only a few meters long. With a manual transmission, you get a clutch problem.
And finally, the pinnacle of the 30-only-where-it-really-can't-be-avoided-Heckmecks is the situation where the 30-zone must end at an access road that itself has a 30-section at that location. In other words: The 30-zone is interrupted by the access road with a 30-zone termination sign (square) and a speed limit sign (round).
All of this is expensive, confusing, and looks regulation-obsessed. The limited horizon of the laws limits us all on the road. There is a solution to this sign madness: a speed limit of 30 kilometers per hour within city limits, except on major traffic arteries.
The ADAC estimates that in Munich, approximately 80 percent of the streets already have a 30 km/h speed limit. Critics of 30 km/h in city limits use this as an argument: "What more do you want?" Answer: less regulation chaos. If 80 percent of the streets are 30-zone areas, we can only imagine how many signs could be removed if a general 30 km/h speed limit were in effect and only major traffic arteries were marked with 50 km/h signs.
Over 1,000 German municipalities are calling for the liberalization of traffic limit laws. The initiative "Livable Cities and Communities" of over 1,000 German municipalities demands that the right to set a 30 km/h speed limit can be exercised where it is considered appropriate locally. And not only where concrete dangers exist and near social institutions. At the end of 2023, a bill on this was still blocked at the Bundesrat. In other words: The people in the Bundesrat want cars to be able to drive fast against the will of the people in the municipalities. Is that crazy? No. That's German. It must not change. Otherwise, we fear the end of our identity.
The ADAC warns that Tempo 30 outside of residential areas may tempt drivers to drive through residential areas, as it is not any slower there. But my dear people, in general: That can't be it that we don't drive slower in German cities, otherwise traffic in residential areas becomes chaotic – and we then don't regulate that either. The largest country in the EU is giving in. Due to ultimate chaos.
Anyone who briefly googles will find solutions for traffic in residential areas: through neighborhood blocks, like those that occur in Barcelona now. Traffic management is adapted so that residential areas do not offer parallels to main traffic arteries, but rather that we keep returning to the main exit road in the car, making such trips into detours and only still makes sense for residents.
Tempo 30: This does not mean that we suddenly drive at night at three o'clock on six-lane roads in industrial areas alone at 30 kilometers per hour. It means less pressure for the desire for deceleration where pedestrians, cyclists, and car drivers share the space. Car drivers are also sometimes cyclists. And the pedestrian of the morning sets himself in his Skoda in the afternoon. We are not enemies on the road! We all want more living quality for all.
In the heart of Kreuzberg, Berlin, navigating Oranienkiez with its labyrinth of traffic signs can be challenging, even for experienced drivers. You might need a co-pilot to keep track of the ever-changing speed limits each few meters.
When driving along Oranienstraße, you'll encounter various speed limit zones that switch frequently, requiring constant attention and adjustments to your speed. This multitude of zones results in overcrowded streets filled with traffic signs, making for a chaotic and confusing driving experience.
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