October 2021

Fines in Germany too low

When comparing the fines for traffic offenders in Europe, it is striking how little one actually has to pay in Germany. This also applies to unauthorised entry into environmental zones or other closed roads. In the past, there was even a point in Flensburg for this, but this has been abolished in the meantime, as the road safety of road users is not considered to be at risk. Nevertheless, the question arises as to the efficiency of environmental zones when, firstly, there are hardly any checks and, secondly, fines are rarely collected.

Austria: Stricter environmental zones for all trucks and cars

Austria's current climate plan will not be enough to meet the EU targets by 2030 and thus reduce CO2 emissions by 7 percent. Now it is being discussed whether the rules of the environmental zones should be tightened. Then, for example, only trucks with a registration from 2020 would be allowed in Tyrol. But that will not be enough to combat air pollution. One solution would be to extend the rules to other vehicle classes such as passenger cars.

Temporary Low Emission Zones in France explained

In France there are both permanent and temporary environmental zones. The temporary zones are only activated when pollution levels are particularly high. They are called air protection zones (Zones de Protection de L'Air = ZPA). As with permanent zones, you have to stick the appropriate sticker on your windscreen for temporary zones. When temporary zones are activated, the rules of "differentiated traffic" come into force, in French "circulation différenciée".

6 billion euros for dirty company cars

Dirty company cars are being subsidised too much, complain the Öko-Institut in Freiburg and the think tank Agora Verkehrswende. According to the institutes' calculations, the subsidies paid by German taxpayers for privately used company cars amount to up to six billion euros annually. Since it is mainly fuel-guzzlers with high engine power that are purchased by companies for their employees, this unnecessarily complicates the transport transition.