Alcohol at the wheel: Transport Minister Schnieder against lowering the blood alcohol limit

Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder does not want to lower the blood alcohol limit to 0.0 per mille. "Of course, I recommend getting behind the wheel completely without alcohol," the CDU politician told the Funke Media Group newspapers. However, he considers the current 0.5 per mille limit to be "sufficient and effective." "At many social events, people toast each other out of politeness and take a sip – without immediately endangering road traffic," Schnieder said. The minister considers another drug more problematic: "I am very critical of cannabis . I consider its effect on traffic to be relatively unpredictable. We need to take a close look at this during this legislative period." Schnieder does not believe a speed limit is necessary. "The average speed on German motorways is not even 115 kilometers per hour," he told the newspapers. There are already many speed limits, and construction sites and traffic jams are also a problem. "In Germany, you can only drive really fast on a few stretches of road. Therefore, I consider a general speed limit on motorways unnecessary."

The slogan “free travel for free citizens”, also a product of National Socialism, loses its meaning not only in traffic jams at the start of the holidays – but also due to automation.

The minister, who privately drives an electric car in his home region of the Eifel, is equally skeptical about mandatory driving tests for older drivers: " Seniors do not pose any particular risk in road traffic. If we compare age groups, we tend to have a problem with the very young." The Federal Statistical Office found for 2023 that, relative to their share of the total population, older people were involved in traffic accidents less frequently than younger people – for example, because they no longer drive to work. However, when seniors were involved in an accident resulting in personal injury, they were more often primarily at fault than younger drivers, according to statistics – especially if they were over 75 years old.