Netherlands forced to slash speed limit to reduce emissions
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-50396037
62 mph in daytime.
Will we do the same ?
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"Forced"?? Nice to see the BBC maintaining the quality of their reporting.
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Something the Germans have steadfastly refused to do!
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The Dutch Government are bound by a court order to quickly reduce N emissions. There are few if any other options open to them in th short term. “Forced” seems a reasonable word to use. I don’t think anyone imagines they made the decision at gunpoint.
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>>
>> “Forced” seems
>> a reasonable word to use. I don’t think anyone imagines they made the decision at
>> gunpoint.
I thought that too.
Governments are obliged to react to court orders. It's the court not the EU that's forcing action.
IIRC there are 'issues' in UK because our government has NOT reacted effectively to court orders based on EU limits for NoX etc.
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...from my somewhat limited but recent experience (I've transited into/out of Europe via Rotterdam or The Hook in a good number of the last few years), speed isn't the major problem on the Netherlands roads; congestion is.
The article does allude to it, but for a couple of hours or more around the morning and afternoon rush hours, the whole central portion of the motorway network becomes a huge, virtually-unmoving car park.
I know commuting creates problems everywhere, but the regular traffic jams exceed anything in my experience elsewhere (and believe me, the German Autobahn can be bad), and are a product of nothing extraordinary (roadworks, accident, etc.) over and above sheer volume of traffic.
You're lucky if you move once every ten minutes or so, let alone do 100km/h.
Outside these conditions and locations, I doubt the reduced limit will improve emissions data by very much at all (though frankly, such a reduction wouldn't overly-concern me).
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I'm surprised really, it is flat and the roads not as busy as here. One would expect emissions to be the lower end of the scale. I suspect it is more to do with them being pathetic cuckolds.
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>> ...from my somewhat limited but recent experience (I've transited into/out of Europe via Rotterdam or
>> The Hook in a good number of the last few years), speed isn't the major
>> problem on the Netherlands roads; congestion is.
yes and its not new, Missed a boat* coming home from Amsterdam once because of it and that was about 2003.
And the Dutch have always been a bit funny about speeding, country who invented speed cameras remember.
*Shows you how long ago it was the Sea Cat to Harwich.
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Speed reductions have a material effect on emissions, what with drag increasing with the square of the speed. They should also have an additional indirect effect if they reduce congestion.
I live near the section of the M1 with what seemed like a permanent 50 limit for years. It was still a horrible road but it improved the traffic flow no end.
Dutch roads are so good that for anyone habituated to ours, driving is a pleasure at almost any speed. In four days there last year I saw one pothole, and that was on a private road.
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>>*Shows you how long ago it was the Sea Cat to Harwich.
Now it may be me, but I don't remember Sea Cat (on that route).
Do you mean the Stena HSS?
Brilliant way of crossing quickly, especially during the day, but killed off by fuel cost and probably encroaching emissions issues.
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>> Do you mean the Stena HSS?
I do, wasn't that a big cat? possibly wasn't.
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...indeed it was a catamaran, the biggest at the time.
It's just that "Sea Cat" was used as branding for a different service and a smaller set of vessels.
(Just being slightly pedantic and also interested to see if I had forgotten something. I have a historical 'connection' to the Harwich - Hook service)
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>> ...indeed it was a catamaran, the biggest at the time.
>>
>> It's just that "Sea Cat" was used as branding for a different service and a
>> smaller set of vessels.
Sea cat has been branded or nicknamed as a service by many HSC operators and is probably in generic use now.
My first experience was Condor 10* in the early 90's, it was known then as the sea cat.
*Jeez that was a flimsy piece of kit.
Last edited by: Zero on Sat 16 Nov 19 at 12:15
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Dutch to slash speed limit to reduce emmissions - No FM2R
