In the Bundesrat: Saxony Wants a 60 km/h Speed Limit for All Mopeds

Saxony’s Minister of Transportation, Regina Kraushaar (CDU), proposed in the Bundesrat that all mopeds be allowed to travel at speeds of up to 60 kilometers per hour throughout Europe in the future. Her proposal will now be debated in the Bundesrat committees, according to a statement from the Bundesrat session. The bill was referred to the Committee on European Union Affairs, as well as the Committee on the Interior and the Committee on Transportation. Thuringia had already endorsed the motion in advance.

Equal Rights for All Mopeds

The background to the proposal was that GDR-era Simson mopeds, which were put into service until February 1992, had always been permitted to travel at 60 kilometers per hour due to a special regulation. Kraushaar found this incomprehensible, as she stated before the Bundesrat: “Two mopeds are stopped at a traffic light: The Simson moped can chug along at 60 kilometers per hour, while on the other—say, a Vespa—the speed limiter kicks in at 45 kilometers per hour at the latest. That’s the reality on German roads. Legally, it may be explainable—but for our moped enthusiasts, it’s incomprehensible.»

Proposal would have to go to the EU

A uniform Europe-wide speed limit still applies to two- and three-wheeled mopeds and light four-wheeled motor vehicles. They are permitted to travel at a maximum of 45 kilometers per hour. This is regulated by the European Union (EU). To change this, the federal government would have to advocate at the European level for the Bundesrat initiative once it has been adopted. In the future, vehicles in the AM driver’s license class should receive corresponding EU type approval, as Kraushaar proposed.