Simson as a Role Model: Minister Wants a 60 Speed Limit for Mopeds

Saxony’s Minister of Transportation, Regina Kraushaar, wants to extend the current special regulation for GDR mopeds such as the Schwalbe and S51 to other vehicles. “Anyone who rides a moped doesn’t understand why the speed limiter on one vehicle ‘chirps’ at 45 km/h, while another, identical model can reach 60 km/h,” explained the CDU politician. She said a regulation is needed based on the principle: same technology, same speed. To this end, she intends to launch an initiative in the Bundesrat through the state government. 

Thanks to a special provision in the Unification Treaty, mopeds built in the GDR can reach speeds of 60 km/h. However, this does not apply to re-imports—that is, identical two-wheelers that were once sold to other countries. According to EU rules, a maximum speed of 45 kilometers per hour applies to them.

Bundesrat Initiative for Equal Treatment of Mopeds

According to Kraushaar, European law must be amended to achieve this. They want the Bundesrat to call on the federal government to advocate for this at the EU level. However, the new regulation should apply not only to mopeds from the GDR era but also to newer vehicles regardless of the manufacturer, they said. 

Even more than 35 years after the fall of the GDR, Simson mopeds remain an important part of the East German way of life and are firmly anchored in youth culture. This is evident not only in many schoolyards between the Baltic Sea and the Ore Mountains. The two-wheelers from Suhl stand out, on the one hand, for their higher speed. On the other hand, their design makes them popular with mechanics and ensures they are very durable.

It’s not just in Saxony that these mopeds have caught the attention of state policymakers. In Thuringia, according to earlier reports, the state government intends to take steps to ensure that the special provision in the Unification Treaty applies at least to re-imports as well. Thuringia will address the issue at a cabinet meeting with the EU in Brussels in early September, Minister President Mario Voigt (CDU) had stated in July.