The controversial fine dust alarm in Stuttgart is abolished. More and more air measurement data also indicate a possible misjudgment by the authorities regarding diesel driving bans with regard to nitrogen oxides. First politicians are calling for the driving bans to be abolished.
No traffic, no noise, clean air - the Corona crisis is currently pleasing many residents of normally congested streets in large cities. But it has been the nitrogen oxide spread that has been in focus in recent years that has caused surprises: despite the lower traffic volume due to the corona crisis, nitrogen dioxide levels in German city centers are still comparatively high. As a random evaluation of the FOCUS magazine of air quality data by the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) over the past ten weeks shows, the nitrogen oxide values at Stuttgart's Neckartor and Landshuter Allee in Munich initially decreased gradually after the corona shutdown on March 23, but increased then on again.
The assertion that it is only older diesel cars that are responsible for exceeding the EU nitrogen oxide limits is at least questionable. But that was exactly the legal basis on which cities like Stuttgart, Hamburg or Berlin imposed driving bans - and want to expand them in the future. This raises the question of whether these cities acted proportionately in their decisions.
