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Drivers in one European country will soon be able to legally travel at speeds of up to 93mph on a section of motorway as part of a new trial. It will be used as an assessment to see if the higher limit can cut journey times on a 31-mile (50km) stretch without impacting road safety. Due to arrive within weeks, it will be the first time that a European Union nation has implemented a 150kmh speed limit on motorways in a move that has triggered plenty of excitement, especially among petrol heads.
But it has also raised a few eyebrows, given neighbouring countries have recently lowered their speed limits on pollution grounds. The D3 section of motorway from Prague towards the Linz corridor in Austria will test a 150kmh variable speed limit. Motorists can only legally drive faster in Europe on the derestricted sections of Germany’s Autobahn. This will only be in place during optimal conditions, with 42 digital speed sign gantries – like the ones Britons see on ‘smart’ motorways – allowing for the limit to be reduced back to 130kmh (81mph) during bad weather.
The variable speed limit on the D3 is a pilot scheme that was due to be put in place from the end of the summer holidays towards the close of September. However, the higher 150kmh limit is now expected to be implemented from the beginning of October on the section between Planá nad Lužnicí (Tábor) and České Budějovice due to delays installing the electronic overhead signage. ‘There were issues with the procurement procedure – the submission deadline had to be extended due to numerous enquiries,’ Radek Mátl, head of the Czech Road and Motorway Directorate (ŘSD), told news channel ČT24 in an interview in July.
The installation will reportedly cost 55million Czech Koruna, which is around £2million. The 50km stretch has been chosen because it is relatively new and has few curves. But the 150kmh limit won’t be in place all the time. In fact, the existing maximum 130kmh will continue to be the default.
Only when conditions are favourable will operators up the limit to 150, which will be during clear conditions when roads are dry, congestion levels are low and there are no roadworks taking place. ‘The conditions must be absolutely ideal,’ said Jan Rýdl, a spokesperson for the ŘSD. ‘There must be no queues, no slippery surfaces, and no reduced visibility.’
The system will be controlled from the National Traffic Information Centre. Czech ministers have said the pilot will be used to gather real-world evidence regarding the increase. Transport chief Martin Kupka says the trial will help gauge public reaction and, most crucially of all, test if incident volumes increase.
If the pilot is a success, the Czech Republic would consider extending variable 150kmh limits, with the ŘSD already identifying other motorway sections where it could be implemented, such as the D1 between Přerov and Ostrava or on the D11 near Hradec Králové. However, the ŘSD intends first to analyse the results of the test phase on the D3 and said it will revert to the current 130kmh limit if crash statistics rise. The move has come about following amendments to the law passed in 2023.
The last time the speed limit on Czech motorways was raised was 28 years ago when it was upped from 120kmh (75mph) in 1997. Most drivers in the Czech Republic have backed the increase in the maximum speed limit on this section. However, road safety experts have warned that they could be problematic for inexperienced and untrained drivers.
The move is also a major contrast to other countries where motorway limits have been slashed rather than increased. In neighbouring Austria, the Government trialled 140kmh (87mph) limits on a motorway between Vienna and Salzburg between 2018 to 2020. However, it was scrapped after roadside measurements suggested there had been a significant increase in CO2 emissions as a result. In the Netherlands, ministers lowered the maximum speed to 100kmh (62mph) during the day in 2020 for similar environmental reasons. But, in April this year, Dutch transport authorities partially reversed this move to allow some stretches to reinstate the previous 130kmh limit during daylight hours.
Earlier this month, German police revealed that a speeding driver had been caught travelling on the Autobahn at a staggering 200mph – more than 124mph over the limit . The motorist, whose identity has not been made public, was hauled over during a routine check on the A2 highway near Burg, west of Berlin, on 28 July. Police in Magdeburg said the driver was hit with a €900 (£784) fine, handed a three-month driving ban, and had two points taken off their licence. The car was identified travelling at a ‘highest record speed’ by a stationary radar system known as an Enforcement Trailer. A display on the device showed what police called ‘the highest record speed’.
