opinion poll ~ 77 percent of Germans do not want any mega trucks

The market research institute forsa carried out a representative opinion poll in Germany on the issue of Gigaliners on Germany's roads and the trial the German government is currently planning with these oversized trucks. The poll was carried out in March 2011 and was commissioned by the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) and the Pro-Rail Alliance (Allianz pro Schiene). The aim of the poll was firstly to find out the level of public awareness of Gigaliners, and secondly  to ascertain whether citizens over 16 were for or against permitting Gigaliners.

The results of the survey were as follows:

• 67% of the public had already heard something about Gigaliners (13% more than 2007)

• 77% of the public were against permitting Gigaliners (4% more than 2007)

• 67% are also against trials with mega trucks on public roads, as currently planned by the German federal government

• 85% of women were against Gigaliners, more then men (68%)

• 69% said the most important reason for rejecting Gigaliners was the vehicles would be a greater accident risk for other traffic users because of their size and weight.

• The second most important reason for rejecting Gigaliners (66%) was that substantial infrastructure costs to the taxpayer would arise because permitting Gigaliners would mean having to upgrade parts of the road network

• Almost as important (65%) is the fact that Gigaliners would lead to freight transport being shifted from the railways onto the roads, which would be damaging to the environment.