- Title: GERMANY: FOUR GERMAN STATES BAN DRIVING FOR A DAY AS AIR POLLUTION LEVELS SOAR
- Date: 12th August 1998
- Summary: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, HESSE, GERMANY (AUGUST 12, 1998) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. WIDE OF MOTORWAY 0.07 2. ZOOM OUT SIGN ANNOUNCING "OZONE ALARM" ON BRIDGE ACCROSS MOTORWAY 0.15 3. SV CARS 0.22 4. MV BUS ARRIVING 0.34 5. SV PEOPLE WAITING AT S-BAHN STOP 0.39 6. MV S-BAHN ARRIVING/ PEOPLE GETTING OFF 0.55 7. SV WOMAN SAYING SHE TAKES THE S-BAHN, BUT THE ONLY THING THAT UPSETS HER IS THAT PUBLIC TRANSPORT IS SO EXPENSIVE AND THAT IT IS CHEAPER TO GO BY CAR (GERMAN) 1.03 8. CU ORANGE STICKER ON CAR SCREEN INDICATING CAR HAS CATALYTIC CONVERTER 1.08 9. CLOSE-UP OF EXHAUST 1.12 10. VARIOUS OF CARS IN STREET (2 SHOTS) 1.37 STUTTGART, GERMANY (AUGUST 12, 1998) 11. SCU ERWIN HETGER, POLICE CHIEF SAYING THAT DESPITE THE BAN POLICE DID NOT SEE LESS TRAFFIC IN THE STREETS (GERMAN) 1.57 12. LV CARS ON MOTORWAY 2.01 13. VARIOUS POLICE CHECKING CARS (5 SHOTS) 2.30 14. CU EXHAUSTS (2 SHOTS) 2.39 15. SCU WOMAN DRIVER SAYING SHE DID NOT OBEY THE BAN 2.45 16. SCU WOMAN DRIVER SAYING SHE HAS TO COMMUTE AND THEREFORE NEEDS THE CAR 2.48 17. WS'S MORE CARS ON MOTORWAY (2 SHOTS) 3.00 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 27th August 1998 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, HESSE, STUTTGART, GERMANY
- City:
- Country: Germany
- Reuters ID: LVAABQ1FDBTRS0Q96KRNPBH4F4OX
- Story Text: Four German states have banned driving for a day as air pollution levels soared but so many motorists were exempt that the precaution proved almost meaningless.
Baden-Wuerttemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saar and Hesse imposed the 24-hour ban, in line with a European Union directive.
Commuters said they took public transport, but that it was cheaper to go by car.
Stuttgart's Police chief Erwin Hetger said there were so many exemptions that traffic volume was similar to that on any other weekday.
The ban did not affect commuters and holidaymakers, nor did it include cars with catalytic converters that emit low levels of pollution.Public transport was also exempt.
Some commuters either ignored the ban or said they had to use the car to get from one place to the next.
With unusually high temperatures across Germany, levels of ozone -- a poisonous gas produced by car emissions -- have triggered a health alert.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None