Germany news: Call to scrap once-a-day gas price rises

The ADAC motoring association has said that a rule in force since April 1 allowing gas stations to raise fuel prices only once a day, at noon, has not brought down prices and "should therefore be abolished."

Although the rule had greatly reduced the number of price changes throughout a day and made increases easier to predict, the gap between the highest and lowest prices had increased, the ADAC said.

It also said motorists who needed to buy gas shortly after noon, when gas stations have typically jacked up prices, were faced with unjustifiably higher costs.

An economic research institute, ZEW, also found in April that prices were higher on average after the rule was introduced, with fuel prices generally going up after noon and cheaper in the morning.

Fuel prices in Germany and Europe in general have skyrocketed amid the war in the Middle East.

The ADAC reported that average gas prices in Germany hit a record high on Thursday, reaching €2.308 for a liter of super E10 and €2.471 for a liter of diesel ($9.98/US gallon and $10.69/US gallon, respectively)

In its statement, the ADAC, however, welcomed the government's temporary reduction in the energy tax that is planned to go into force on October 1, saying it was the most realistic way to lower the burden on motorists.

The DW newsroom on the banks of the Rhine in Bonn wishes all users of Germany's international broadcaster guten Tag!

The high gas prices largely caused by fallout from the Iran war continue to be a major topic in Germany, with the country's main motoring association, the ADAC, now saying one government measure introduced in April in a bid to reduce the burden on motorists has failed.

And a lifesaving association has sad news after the unusually warm summer, with more drowning deaths from May to mid-September in Germany than in the same period last year.

Read on to find out more about these and other stories.