Coloring a European map with each country’s speed limits would result in a diverse and varied mosaic, reflecting regulatory differences across the continent. In information published some time ago on this channel we reported on the disparity in maximum speeds on urban, non-urban roads and highways that govern different European countries.
As a general rule, 50 km/h is the generic speed – with certain nuances – that most European countries adopt on urban roads. This almost total unanimity is broken in the case of interurban roads and on highways and highways where greater differences can be seen.
The disparity in speed limits on these latter roads is even more obvious. It oscillates between 90 km/h in Estonia (in some sections it is allowed to travel up to 110 km/h) and the 140 km/h that Poland and Bulgaria have adopted. In Germany, most motorways do not have a speed limit, but traffic authorities recommend respecting a limit of 130 km/h.
Two countries, the Czech Republic and Italy, intend to put themselves at the forefront of the European map of legal speed and establish a limit of 150 km/h to travel on high-capacity roads without fear of being penalized. The authorities responsible for traffic in both countries argue that car safety is not the same as it was years ago when these speed limits were established. In both countries the maximum speed on the highway is 130 km/h.
Both Czechs and Italians value the features offered by the most modern vehicles, especially ADAS systems, to support their claims. They argue that functions such as emergency braking, the lane keeping system or the intelligent speed limiter that new cars are equipped with make them much safer.
The Czech Republic could become the first European country to adopt 150 km/h as the maximum speed on motorways and dual carriageways. Last June, Congress approved with overwhelming support the proposal to raise the limit to those digits in certain sections and it only needs to receive the approval of the Senate. The measure could come into force from January 2024, adopting, however, a two-year trial period to analyze the results.
The Czech Ministry of Transport has announced that driving at 150 km/h will only be allowed on highway sections that are equipped with telematics systems and variable signals. In this way, from a control center the speed can be adjusted to less than 100 km/h in case of adverse weather conditions or reduced visibility.
In Italy, the Minister of Transport, Matteo Salvini, has opened the debate about the possibility of the motorway speed limit going from the current 130 km/h to 150 km/h. The measure that, according to surveys, seduces the majority of Italian drivers, would only be applied on highways that meet a series of requirements.
Salvini’s proposal is not new. In fact, the Italian Highway Code has already stated since 2009, when Silvio Berlusconi was the country’s prime minister, that the maximum speed on the highway may be 150 km/h as long as certain conditions are met. These requirements are that the road has three lanes in each direction and is equipped with telematics technology and adaptive signage.
However, the highway concessionaires that meet the conditions to raise the speed limit have not budged in all this time and maintain the 130 km/h limit. They are not expected to do so now either, so everything suggests that Salvini’s proposal will not cause a significant change in practice.
Spain is, along with Belgium and Switzerland, one of the three European countries that maintain the limit at 120 km/h on highways. Despite this, the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) has already expressed through its general director, Pere Navarro, that it is not considering raising the limit to the 130 km/h that governs most countries, citing road safety reasons.
What’s more, in May 2021, Spain became the first country in the world to implement 30 km/h as the speed limit on streets with only one lane in each direction. Every time Navarro is questioned about the possibility of raising the speed limit on high-capacity roads, he remembers that “speed kills.”
Traffic, in its publications, remembers that excessive speed or inadequate speed is one of the main risk factors on the road. To illustrate the importance of speed in the outcome of an accident, he compares the impact caused with that produced by jumping with the car from a certain building.
Thus, a collision at 50 km/h is equivalent to falling from the third floor; at 120 km/h, from the 14th floor; and at 180 km/h, from the 36th floor.