More than half of the VVD members want to reduce the maximum speed during the day to 130 kilometers per hour. According to VVD member Robin Kersbergen, driving at 100 km/h ‘doesn’t save a farmer’. Because nitrogen and CO2 emissions have to be reduced, the maximum speed on the highway was lowered two years ago.
A majority of VVD members spoke out at the party congress against the cabinet’s nitrogen plans. Robin Kersbergen of the party submitted a motion to restore the 130 km/h. That gave him a support of 52 percent. This increases the average consumption per kilometer by a quarter.
According to Kersbergen, with the current maximum speed of 100 km/h during the day ‘no farmer is saved’. “Two years ago it was decided to lower the maximum speed to 100 km/h during the day, so that farmers and builders would have more space for their activities. The judge ruled two months ago that the speed reduction would not help. turns out to be so negligible that, according to the judge, no residential area or farmer can be saved with it.”
Criticism
Not everyone is equally enthusiastic about the idea. Kersbergen receives a lot of criticism online and former VVD leader Ed Nijpels also finds it a shameful display. The fuss is also due to the timing: a day earlier, VVD minister Van der Wal announced the plans for the agricultural sector.
Minister Van der Wal for Nature and Nitrogen says that in the Netherlands we will continue to drive at a maximum of 100 kilometers per hour during the day for a very long time. According to her, it remains ‘desperately necessary’ for nature to keep the speed at 100 during the day.