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Autobahn Speed Limits? Voting With Lead Feet

It seemed like a no-brainer: Lower Germany’s embarrassingly high carbon emissions at no cost, and save some lives in the process.
這聽起來是個不費腦筋的好主意：不須付出成本，便減低德國高得使人羞愧的碳排放量，還可以順道拯救人命。

But when a government-appointed commission in January dared to float the idea of a speed limit on the autobahn, the country’s storied highway network, it almost caused rioting.
Irate drivers took to the airwaves. Union leaders menacingly put on their yellow vests, hinting at street protests. And the far-right opposition used the opportunity to rage against the “stranglehold” of the state.
然而，當政府指派的委員會元月大膽提出在德國名聞全球的高速公路上設速限的構想時，卻幾乎引發暴動。
暴怒的開車族在廣播裡抱怨，工會領袖意帶威脅地穿上黃背心，暗示將上街抗議。極右派反對黨趁機對國家的「箝制」大事撻伐。

A highway speed limit was “contrary to every common sense,” the transport minister, Andreas Scheuer, swiftly declared, contradicting his own experts.And that was that.
德國運輸部長安德烈・舒爾很快就宣布，給高速公路設速限「完全違反常情」，立場和自己的專家團隊相牴觸。此事就此打消。

As far as quasi-religious national obsessions go for large portions of a country’s population, the German aversion to speed limits on the autobahn is up there with gun control in America, whaling in Japan and sovereignty in Britain.
就一國高比例人口近乎宗教信仰式的執念而言，德國人對高速公路限速的反感之深，一如美國人對於槍枝管制，日本人對於捕鯨，和英國人對於主權。

With few exceptions, like Afghanistan and the Isle of Man, there are highway speed limits essentially everywhere else in the world.
世界上除了阿富汗和英國曼島等極少數例外，其他地方的公路基本上都有速限。

But this is Germany, the self-declared “auto nation,” where Carl Benz built the first automobile and where cars are not only the proudest export item but also a symbol of national identity.
但這可是自詡為「汽車王國」的德國，卡爾·賓士在這裡造出第一輛汽車，汽車不僅是令人驕傲的出口品，還是國家身分的象徵。

It’s also the country where, in darker times, Hitler laid the groundwork for a network of multilane highways that in the postwar years came to epitomize economic success — and freedom.
同樣的這個國家，在它較黯淡的時代，希特勒打下多車道高速公路系統的基礎，而這系統在戰後年月裡成為經濟成就和自由的典範。

Call it Germany’s Wild West: The autobahn is the one place in a highly regulated society where no rule is the rule — and that place is sacred.
把它想成德國的「大西部」吧：在一個受到高度規制的社會裡，高速公路是唯一沒有規矩就是它的規矩的地方，而此處神聖不可侵犯。

“It’s a very emotional topic,” confided Stefan Gerwens, head of transport and mobility at ADAC, an automobile club with 20 million members, which is opposed to any speed limit.
So emotional, apparently, that facts and figures count for little.
「這是個高度情緒化的議題。」全德汽車俱樂部的運輸流動主任史帝芬・葛文如此坦承。全德汽車俱樂部是有兩千萬會員的汽車社團，他們徹底反對給高速公路設下速限。這個議題顯然太具情緒性，以致事實和數據都變得無關痛癢。

Germany is woefully behind on meeting its 2020 climate goals, so the government appointed a group of experts to find ways to lower emissions in the transport sector. Cars account for 11 percent of total emissions, and their share is rising.
德國距離達成2020年的氣候目標已大幅落後，因此政府指派了專家團隊以找出減低運輸方面碳排放的方法。車輛的碳排放量佔去總排放量的一成一，而且比例還在增高。

A highway speed limit of 120 kph, or 75 mph, could cover a fifth of the gap to reach the 2020 goals for the transport sector, environmental experts say.
環境專家說，給高速公路設置時速120公里（或75英里）的速限，可以在交通方面填補五分之一的缺口，協助達成2020年的氣候目標。

“Of all the individual measures, it is the one that would be the most impactful — and it costs nothing,” said Dorothee Saar, of Deutsche Umwelthilfe, a nonprofit environmental organization that has lobbied for a speed limit.
「在所有個人可以達成的事項裡，這是最具影響力，也不須花費成本的方法。」非營利環保組織「德國環境救援」的朵樂絲・薩爾說，此組織長年力促給高速公度限速。

“But when it comes to cars,” Saar sighed, “the debate tends to become irrational.”
「可是一談到車，」薩爾嘆息道：「辯論往往就變得不理性了。」
Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/337656/web/

About cars - Man in Germany drives to driving test

A man in Germany has discovered the hard way that it’s best to get a driving license first before trying to use it.
德國一名男子從教訓中學到：在試圖使用駕駛執照之前，最好先拿到它。

Police in Bergheim, near Cologne, said Tuesday that the 37-year-old drove himself to his driving test, parking an Opel Zafira outside the test center in front of an astonished examiner.
科隆附近的貝格海姆警方週二說，這名37歲民眾自己開車赴駕駛執照考試，在一名驚訝的監考官面前，把一台歐寶Zafira車款停在考試中心外。

They said he told police officers who were called to the scene on Monday that he had only driven because he wanted to make sure to get to the driving test on time.
他們說，他告訴週一被叫到現場的警官們說，他開車只是因為想要確保及時抵達那場駕駛執照考試。

His test was immediately called off. The man now faces an investigation for driving without a license. Police also opened an investigation of the car’s owner.
他的考試立刻被取消。這名男子現在因無照駕駛面臨調查。警方也對車主展開調查。

Next Article

Danish police confiscate luxury sports car caught speeding 丹麥警方沒收超速的豪華跑車

Danish police have confiscated a high-performance luxury car after its new owner was caught speeding as he drove it home from Germany to Norway.
丹麥警方沒收了一輛高性能的豪華汽車，在它的新車主超速被逮以後，當時他開著它從德國回挪威家。

The man, an Iraqi citizen resident in Norway who was not identified, was registered Thursday as driving at 236 kph in his Lamborghini Huracán on a stretch of highway where the top speed is 130 kph.
這名男子是個居住於挪威的伊拉克公民，身分未明，週四在一段最高時速130公里的高速公路上，被紀錄到以每小時236公里速度駕著他的藍寶堅尼「颶風」。

Under a new Danish law, police can seize the vehicles of reckless drivers and auction them off, with the money going into Danish coffers.
根據丹麥一項新的法律，警察可沒收魯莽駕駛人的車輛並拍賣它們，錢則進丹麥國庫。

The Nordjyske newspaper said the man had bought the car hours earlier in Germany for 2 million kroner.
《北日德蘭報》說，這名男子幾個小時前在德國以200萬克朗購入這輛車。

The car owner will also be fined for speeding in due course.
車主當理也將因超速被罰。 Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1486857 ; https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1478842

Truck Makers Face Choice: Go Battery or Hydrogen？

Even before war in Ukraine sent fuel prices through the roof, the trucking industry was under intense pressure to kick its addiction to diesel, a major contributor to climate change and urban air pollution. But it still has to figure out which technology will best do the job.
在烏克蘭戰爭導致燃料價格飆漲之前，卡車運輸業就面臨擺脫柴油成癮的巨大壓力，但它仍須弄清楚哪種技術最能勝任此事。柴油是氣候變遷與城市空汙的主要原因。

Truck makers are divided into two camps. One faction, which includes Traton, Volkswagen’s truck unit, is betting on batteries because they are widely regarded as the most efficient option. The other camp, which includes Daimler Truck and Volvo, the two largest truck manufacturers, argues that fuel cells
that convert hydrogen into electricity — emitting only water vapor — make more sense because they would allow long-haul trucks to be refueled quickly.
卡車製造商分為兩個陣營，包括福斯卡車部門Traton在內的一派看好電池，因電池被廣泛認為是最有效率的選項。另一個陣營則包括戴姆勒卡車和富豪這兩家最大的卡車製造公司，他們認為將氫轉化為電能僅排放水蒸氣的燃料電池更有意義，因為它們可讓長途卡車快速充電。

The choice companies make could be hugely consequential, helping to determine who dominates trucking in the electric vehicle age and who ends up wasting billions of dollars on the Betamax equivalent of electric truck technology, committing a potentially fatal error. It takes years to design and produce new trucks, so companies will be locked into the decisions they make now for a decade or more.
這些公司做出的選擇可能會帶來重大影響，並且有助於確認在電動車時代，誰將主宰卡車運輸業以及誰最終會在電動卡車版的Betamax技術浪費數十億美元，犯下潛在致命錯誤。設計和生產新的卡車需耗時數年，因此企業在未來10年或更長時間裡，將受制於現在做出的決定。

“It’s obviously one of the most important technology decisions we have to make,” said Andreas Gorbach, a member of the management board of Daimler Truck, which owns Freightliner in the United States and is the largest truck maker in the world.
全球卡車製造龍頭戴姆勒卡車的管理層成員哥爾巴赫說：「這顯然是我們必須做出的最重要技術決策之一。」該公司在美國擁有福萊納卡車品牌。

The stakes for the environment and for public health are also high. If many truck makers wager incorrectly, it could take much longer to clean up trucking than scientists say we have to limit the worst effects of climate change. In the United States, medium- and heavy-duty trucks account for 7% of greenhouse gas emissions.
環境和公眾健康面臨的風險也很高。若許多卡車製造商押錯寶，清理卡車運輸業所需的時間，恐比科學家所說人類必須限制氣候變遷最壞影響的時限還要長。在美國，中型與重型卡車占溫室氣體排放量的7%。

Although sales of electric cars are exploding, large truck makers have only begun to mass-produce emission-free vehicles. Daimler Truck, for example, began producing an electric version of its heavy-duty Actros truck, with a maximum range of 240 miles, late last year. Tesla unveiled a design for a battery-powered semitruck in 2017 but has not set a firm production date.
儘管電動車銷量爆炸性成長，但大型卡車製造商才剛開始大規模生產零碳排車輛，例如戴姆勒卡車公司去年底開始生產重型卡車Actros的電動版本，最大行駛里程達240英里。特斯拉在2017年發布一款電池動力的卡車Semi，但具體生產日期未定。

Cost will be a decisive factor. Unlike car buyers, who might splurge on a vehicle because they like the way it looks or the status it conveys, truck buyers carefully calculate how much a rig is going to cost them to buy, maintain and refuel.
價格將會是一項決定性因素。卡車買家會仔細計算整套配備的價格、維護及補充燃料費用，不像汽車買家，可能會因為喜歡車的外觀或者能夠顯示他們的地位而揮霍。Source article: https://udn.com/news/story/6904/6260402

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