According to a study, a speed limit of 130 kilometers per hour in Germany would have a considerable economic benefit in addition to the climate protection effect. An international group of researchers determined so-called welfare gains of at least 950 million euros per year.

In particular, the fuel saved, fewer accidents, lower supply chain costs and savings in infrastructure are relevant in addition to the climate protection effect, according to the study, which was published in the journal "Ecological Economics". Even without emission savings, there would be a welfare gain of 660 million euros per year. The experts therefore see the speed limit as a win-win situation: good for the climate and with considerable benefits for society.

In economics, welfare is the term used to describe the benefit for individuals or society. How exactly welfare can be determined in detail, for example via gross domestic product or other indicators, is still controversial among economists.

Benefits outweigh costs

According to the information, the experts from Germany, Sweden and Canada relied on publicly available data. With the help of a cost-benefit analysis, they determined the effects of a speed limit on travel times, fuel consumption and subsidies, supply chains, infrastructure expansion and maintenance as well as accidents, land use, emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases. In doing so, they calculated the economic damage and benefits that would result from this.

From the point of view of Udo Becker from the Institute for Transport Planning and Road Traffic at the TU Dresden, the results of the study show that a speed limit is very advantageous from an economic point of view. Drivers would save fuel worth 766 million euros a year through a speed limit. All significant effects were included in the study. "In order to reduce the climate problems as well as the land consumption, exhaust gas and noise problems of traffic, a speed limit on federal motorways is therefore an economically sensible approach," said Becker.

Felix Creutzig of the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) in Berlin called the assumptions and methodology of the study plausible. The assumptions are conservative, especially with regard to the social costs of carbon dioxide emissions.

According to the authors of the study, Germany is still the only major country in the world where there is no general speed limit on motorways. One of the main arguments for this is that lower speeds incur travel costs that are not outweighed by benefits such as a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. From the authors' point of view, the arguments put forward are misleading.