Dutch motorways cut the speed limit to 100 km/h

A few years ago in Spain we had a summer in which the speed limit on motorways and expressways was reduced to 110 km/h. The uproar was quite big, because the trend at the time was to push for the limit to be raised to 130 km/h, as is the case in other European countries. The idea was to reduce the maximum speed and prevent road accidents. Today, it is in other European countries that there is a drive to considerably reduce that speed limit on motorways and expressways.

In the Netherlands the speed limit on these fast roads is going to be reduced, and it will no longer be possible to drive at 130 km/h. The limit will be set at 100 km/h from 2020 onwards, and this will make driving on the country’s roads more relaxed. But the reason, unlike in Spain, is not to reduce the incidence of road accidents. Or, at least, not only for that.

The main argument for doing this is reducing polluting emissions on Dutch roads. By lowering speed, it is expected that emissions and fossil fuel consumption will drop and air quality will improve around the cities and also in the areas between them.

However, the Dutch government wants to keep this 130 km/h limit during the night, which is quite logical since traffic density is much lower at night. Drivers using the motorways of the Netherlands between 19:00 and 6:00 the following day will be able to keep driving at the previous speed without problems.

Obviously, the stretches of motorway and expressway near the largest cities, such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, will not see much reduction in emissions due to the very high traffic levels, but it will help somewhat in the rest of the country.

The speed limit on fast roads in Europe is usually 130 km/h in most countries, except in Spain, where we have a limit of 120 km/h. If this experiment in the Netherlands turns out well, other European countries could join in. In fact, there has been talk of limiting speed on the German Autobahns, which, as we know, have sections with no speed limit at all.