Diesel driving ban in Berlin?

Court decides on Tuesday

Is Berlin the next city that will impose a ban on driving diesel vehicles? A court will decide on this on Tuesday. The reason is the excessive air pollution in the federal capital.

In Hamburg, two roads have already been closed for old diesel vehicles, and in Stuttgart a ban on driving diesel cars is planned for 2019. A court had also ordered a ban on cars with diesel engines in Frankfurt am Main. This will also apply from 2019.

If the Berlin Administrative Court agrees with Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DHU), the Grand Coalition’s package of measures could also apply to the capital. The concept aims to reduce air pollution through alternative propulsion systems and technical retrofits.

DUH rejects individual road closures

However, this approach has been criticized since it is initially intended to apply only to cities where the annual average nitrogen dioxide load exceeds 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air. According to the law, an annual average of at most 40 micrograms is permitted. In 2017, Berlin was only slightly below the limit of 50 micrograms. Another point of criticism: the large car manufacturers do not want to participate in the technical retrofitting.

The Deutsche Umwelthilfe therefore wants to enforce a comprehensive ban on driving diesel cars in Berlin’s city center. The DUH managing director Jürgen Resch rejects a ban for individual streets, since this only shifts the problem: “But we don’t want any incentives for slalom races around closed streets”.The Deutsche Umwelthilfe therefore wants to enforce a comprehensive ban on driving diesel cars in Berlin’s city center. The DUH managing director Jürgen Resch rejects a ban for individual streets, since this only shifts the problem: “But we don’t want any incentives for slalom races around closed streets”.