Filed under: Euro, Government/Legal, Green
German cities introduce zones for eco-friendly cars
Cities in Germany are adopting environmental driving zones called Umweltzonen. The zones will be ranked from 2 to 5, aligned with the Euro emissions scale, and the emissions ranking of your car will decide whether you are allowed to drive in a particular zone. When you register your car, you receive a colored badge that signifies your vehicle's eco-friendliness -- the level 5 badge will presumably be introduced next year, when Euro V legislation goes in effect. There is no badge for level 1, the least environmentally friendly vehicles.
The zones will apply to German cars and foreign cars as well, though the posts (and German translations) don't make it clear if the rules only apply to cars registered in Germany. If you are found driving in a zone above your "rank," you will be fined 40 euros, and points will potentially be assessed on your license. So far, Ilsfeld, Leonberg, Ludwigsburg, Mannheim, Schwäbisch-Gmünd, and Stuttgart have adopted the Umweltzonen, with Augsburg, München, and Nürnberg to adopt them on January 1 2008.
Thanks for the tip, Enzo!
[Source: Bimmerfest]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Avinash machado 8:39AM (8/06/2007)
All these legislations remind me of the Nazis in the 1930's.
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Snark 8:40AM (8/06/2007)
Wow, didn't take long for Godwin's law to get broken here. Congratulations! You're that guy.
Logik 7:54PM (8/06/2007)
@Snark
Wow, didn't take long for someone to point out Godwin's law here. Congratulations! You're that guy.
Vega 8:59AM (8/06/2007)
Problem is, this legislation has been written and implemented very badly, as it was specifically intended to reduce fine paticulates pollution in inner cities, however it also excludes gas engined cars who don't emmit these particulates. It's only a matter of time until this law gets overruled by the courts.
And @Avinash machado: You're right. Banning cars from inner cities is practically the same as killing 5 million people. Good insight! Stupid moron.
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Avinash machado 9:12AM (8/06/2007)
I was not referring to the Nazis killing machine. What I meant was that this legislation seemed a bit dictatorial to me. After all the right to have cars and drive them as long you follow the laws is considered a basic right. By placing restrictins such as these it shows a disregard for motorists rights. I apologise if my earlier statement was not properly worded.
why not the LS2LS7? 11:06AM (8/06/2007)
So you're saying the law is poorly written because it is designed to reduce particulates by allowing only cars that don't produce them?
In what way is that poorly written? Sounds like it'll reduce particulate emissions in those areas to me.
Greg A. 2:13PM (8/06/2007)
"After all the right to have cars and drive them as long you follow the laws is considered a basic right."
So, they're changing one of the laws relating to driving. You may still have a car and drive it as long as you obey this new law as well. (Actually, if you don't obey it, you'll just get fined, you won't lose your car or your license.) Therefore, this right isn't being violated.
Snark 9:21AM (8/06/2007)
Owning a car and driving it is not a basic right. Basic rights are food, safety, security, water, shelter, and clothing. Owning a car is a privilege. With privileges, you're welcome to to take advantage of them as long as they don't infringe on the rights of anybody else - which driving a smut-harfing old POS definitely does.
And excluding really smoky old diesels and two-strokes from, say, city centers and areas of high pedestrian load is not an infringement of rights but a protection of them - specifically, the right for people not to have to choke on soot clouds and suffer increased rates of athsma. Get the distinction now?
Oh yeah, and comparing emissions rules to killing Jews and imprisoning dissidents is hella lame.
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BirdmanSTX 11:16PM (8/06/2007)
I agree! Driving is not a right, it's a privilege. I'm all for big American trucks and SUVs, blah blah blah, so don't think I'm some tree-hugger here.... but just because you decided to buy a certain make or model of car, doesn't mean you get to drive anywhere you want. If the country, state, city, province or whatever, doesn't want you to drive, they won't license you, or won't register your vehicle, or will pass laws to keep you from driving where they don't want you to. And if you don't like that, then move.
Overall, I don't think it's a bad law if done right. And if they did that here in the US, I'd just keep me and my big American pickup out of the zones I wasn't allowed to drive in.
I wonder how the businesses in those zones will think... I wonder if they're worried about loss of business if not all their customers can get to them with their own vehicles. Maybe it will increase use of mass-transit in the higher rated zones.
MikeW 1:36PM (8/06/2007)
Rights are derived from property.
You have the right to drive, if you own your car.
How many people have an MSO (manufacturers statement of origin), instead of a copy of the title (not the actual thing, because the state owns your car)?
How many people own their own home (have an allodial title)? Not many, because if you own property, there isn't a tax on ownership (ala property taxes)
None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free.
Snark 8:04PM (8/06/2007)
"Rights are derived from property."
Oh, give me a break.
AlexP 9:24AM (8/06/2007)
The thing is, as you're well aware, Germany is trying to distance itself as far as it possibly can from the old National-Socialist regime which itself had some pretty deep roots in Fascism, but you see, some of their legislative measures scream Fascism, you should check their stance of video games.
Seriously - what he said makes perfect sense, this legislation is a perfect example of this - while it's true that not all cars pollute equally, taking such action does stink of Fascism in a certain way. They might not pollute equally, but if you're doing it to lower the pollution levels in cities, why not just ban oil-based automobiles from cities altogether? Or simply implement something to what was implemented in London a few years back.
They're basically labeling cars and their drivers, to a certain extent the way the labeled "enemies of the state" prior to and during WW2... Although I honestly don't think it will go as far as exterminating Hummer owners. :P
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gouzizi 10:00AM (8/06/2007)
German cars taxes system is base on Euro emissions scale. But other European cities used different taxes to get inner city with a car. London and Stockholm have chosen a toll system (around 15$ a day in London. 3$ each toll crossing in Stockholm). Paris is using an other way by reducing every years road possibility for cars and so, the municipality is given more place for bus, bicycles or pedestrians.
European cities have been town planning centuries before car was invented. Streets are often narrow and unadapted for driving and there is no parking place in buildings. A Full SUV in Roma will be limited to a couple of main avenue and unable to turn in every streets.
It is time that European cities go back to a nicer environment without thousand of stuck cars around. Public transportation is very often well developed and parking place are available around the principal station.
Nevertheless, a gallon cost 7$, a subway ticket around 1$...
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Val 10:05AM (8/06/2007)
I really don't get the perverted pleasure some people find in saying that the germans are Nazis, like they never abandoned their old ways and hitler is actually still ruling from behind the curtains. These classifications are well known even before you put the sticker on, every car has this certificate and people who know the models and engines could say right away if the car is Euro 3 or Euro 4 compliant, for example. So the cars are already labeled when they leave the factory, and nobody is obliged to stick with his old car. There is absolutely no discrimination here, as drivers are not banned from the cities, they just have to take public transport or use another vehicle. Which is geat for all the pedestrians. And besides, if someone feels like he owns the place and demands his freedom to do whatever he wants, he could just drive into the city and hope that they don't catch him. 40 euros and a few points are a fair price to pay for being a redneck... If this proves successful, probably more cities in germany will adopt it, it is in fact not much different from what they have in london, it is just not that strict as there are no 8-million german cities.
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BILL 10:43AM (8/06/2007)
Taking into account the total morons being elected to high office in the U.S. I am breathlessly awaiting the first edict that vehicles must be pushed by their drivers through certain areas of our most crowded and polluted cities. On the other hand this could be just the physical fitness and vehicle lightness plan we really need. Rather than taking a car for a test drive, prospective buyers will be seen pushing the cars around the sales lot. But, alas, the logical outcome of such legislation will lead to more illegal immigration as illegals flock to our cities to fill the job of pushing vehicles through cities because it is a job Americans will not do.
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nom de plume 11:05AM (8/06/2007)
It is about time this sort of creative thinking reached the USA. Of course, many hyper-individualistic Neanderthals here will insist on their "god-given" right to use up fossil fuel in a reckless way, harm the environment, and ruin other's health. But the fact is that the common good is a billion times more important than anyones desire to drive anywhere.
Having spent a great deal of time in European cities and towns that restrict traffic, there is no doubt that they are far more pleasant places to live than most American cities.
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testa di cazzo 11:21AM (8/06/2007)
that's your opinion. it's not a fact. i hate when people spew their beliefs as fact.
i was born in paris, lived there my childhood, also lived in Milan, Koln, Madrid, Washington, and New York, and i'll tell you that traffic restrictions and rules of motoring don't make Europe any more pleasant a place to live in than the U.S.
In fact, the US is just about the best place in the world to live in (I currently live in Paris)... service is top notch, people are more pleasant, and there is no bureaucracy to deal with in everyday life.
restricting rights of motorists is not going to help with pollution. this is just some more grand gesturing by corrupt politicians who are trying to make names for themselves, kindof like when Hillary said that all Interstate Highways should have a 55mph limit to reduce pollution... thankfully everyone saw through her pandering there
AMGoff 12:04PM (8/06/2007)
"Nein, sie must poot sie stickar on sie auwto!"
I suddenly have the urge to ship my '89 Grand Wagoneer over Germany and drive straight through the middle of Berlin.
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Greg A. 2:22PM (8/06/2007)
It would cost you a pretty penny to ship your Jeep over there and fuel it, so I say knock yourself out.
phil 2:53PM (8/06/2007)
So what does the delivery truck that spews diesel soot do? Or the garbage truck?
While they're busy regulating particulate emissions, they should also ban smoking tobacco. And stop people from cooking at high temperatures. And also stop the trees from releasing pollen.
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