Motorists in the land where unrestricted driving is regarded as a birthright are furious at calls from environmentalists to impose a general speed limit on motorways.

The German Environment and Transport ministries joined the country’s main motoring organisation to denounce any such move. The outcry followed comments from Stavros Dimas, the European Environment Commissioner, who said: “There are so many areas in which we waste energy and burden the climate. A simple measure in Germany could be a general speed limit on highways.”

He told Bild am Sonntag: “Speed limits make a lot of sense for many reasons and are completely normal in most EU states, as in the US.”

But Sigmar Gabriel, the German Environment Minister, responded by saying that speed limits would have a negligible impact on the environment. “We’d simply be wrecking the climate at 130km/h (80mph) instead,” he told reporters.

Wolfgang Tiefensee, a spokesman for the Transport Minister, said: “Herr Dimas is disregarding all the facts. Imposing a limit of 100km/h on German motorways would reduce CO₂ 0.6 per cent.”

Environmentalists have been demanding speed restrictions for years, but successive governments have rejected the calls, mindful of the powerful motor industry, which employs 750,000 workers. It argues that limit-free roads encourage manufacturers to develop safer cars.

More than a third of Germany’s autobahns already have a speed limit, while the rest carry a recommended speed of 130km/h. High-performance BMWs and Mercedes hurtling down the fast lane at speeds in excess of that remain a common sight – and a disturbing one when they appear out of nowhere in one’s rear-view mirror with headlights flashing.

The VDA German motor industry federation said: “Germany needs no lessons in efficient climate protection from Brussels, especially when the proposals are merely symbolic.” It said that Germany had reduced its CO₂ emissions from road traffic by 15 million tonnes, or 9 per cent, since 1999. “No other country can present comparable results – despite the absence of a speed limit,” the VDA said. “It has been repeatedly proven that the potential CO₂ savings resulting from a speed limit would be very small.”

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