Germans divided over diesel vehicle ban ahead of landmark court ruling

Germans are divided on the issue of urban driving bans on diesel vehicles, as the Federal Administrative Court is poised to assess the issue on Thursday, a survey has found.


According to the survey published on Wednesday by internet-based market research and data analytics firm YouGov, 43 percent of German citizens favor such bans, while an equal number of respondents oppose them.

The German Government recently admitted that at least 20 of its cities would fail to comply with European Union limits for nitrogen oxide emission levels by 2020. This has renewed calls to forcibly remove older, polluting diesel vehicles from the most heavily affected urban areas.

Although respondents in the YouGov poll were evenly split on diesel driving bans, 70 percent of them said the automotive industry has not done enough to lower its negative environmental impact so far, while 10 percent said they had trust in German carmakers.

On Thursday, the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig will assess earlier verdicts from courts in Stuttgart and Duesseldorf which favored removing older diesel vehicles on the ground of the risk their nitrogen oxide emissions pose to citizens' health.

 (chinamedia)

22/2/18