Dutch highway speed limit reduced for environmental reasons

A reduced 100km/h speed limit now applies on the Netherlands’ highways from 6am to 7pm.

The March introduction of the new limit, down from the previous 130km/h one, follows a court ruling that Dutch government policies breached European Union rules relating to protecting nature reserves from ammonia and nitrous oxide.

Vehicles can still drive at the 130km/h limit between 7pm and 6am, a time when about 8-10% of total traffic in the country is on the road.

The new daytime limit follows court action by the Dutch Urgenda Foundation, which aims for a fast transition towards a sustainable society including the acceleration of electric mobility.

The Dutch Supreme Court in December 2019 upheld previous court decisions in Urgenda’s climate case against the Dutch government, finding that the government has obligations to urgently and significantly reduce emissions.

The decision was noted by some as implying that other governments have binding legal obligations, based on international human rights law, to undertake strong reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases.

The Netherlands prime minister Mark Rutte’s VVD party introduced the 130km/h limit in 2013. He later was reported as saying after the limit was cut that he hoped the introduction of EVs would lead to an eventual increase in the speed limit.