Rural Speed Limits May Be Reduced

Rural Speed Limits May Be Reduced

A new Domination plan has open that speed limits on most single - carriageway roads in rural areas could be cut from 60mph to 50mph in an struggle to reduce the quantity of car accidents and deaths.
Jim Fitzpatrick, the road safety minister noted that figures suggested a road accident was most likely to materialize on rural parts of the road network, upon most of which the public speed limit of 60mph applies.
Dangerous roads
Great Britain had one of the best road safety records in the world, but this has slipped in recent senescence. In 2007, polished were 2, 946 deaths and 30, 000 serious personal injuries on the roads. 29 % of these collisions were due to suggested speeding. The Upper hand is haul a consultation on the plan, which is likely to be tremendously opposed.
The foreman of the AA, Edmund King, will timely Mr Fitzpatrick and Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon to canvass the matter, but pointed out that a swathe lowering of speed limits would not make roads safer, inclined that many accidents on rural roads involved only one car.
“It will not solve the problem – you have to look at the detail a mini closer. Partly every weekend we recognize these solo car accidents. They ' re zippo to do with the speed limit. They ' re to do with inexperienced drivers driving recklessly. For a immaturity of reckless drivers, the rest are punished. A decorate reduction could lead to some roads having a lower speed limit than necessary. That could lead to dangerous overtaking. The best speed limits are those motorists ovation and surmise, ” he uttered.
Local authorities have the power to impose inferior speed limits, he aggrandized. This is a thought that is also supported by The Covey for British Drivers, who weigh the weight should be shifted from speeding to driving habits.
They have suggested that police patrols should be released to fling over dangerous or bad drivers, whether they are speeding or not – fairly than spending their instant flurry after speeding vehicles that often represent no stress.
The ABD extra that the Government’s research suggests that oftentimes when speed is blamed for a car accident, it is really just bad driving. For name, accidents caused by ‘failure to magistrate other person’s corridor or speed’ are noted in the report.
The system however, uttered this theory was laughable: “It is utter drivel to class this as a ‘speed related accident’. The situation here is one person blunder to evaluator the path or speed of a second vehicle – which is not to say that the second vehicle is travelling at an troubled or illegal speed. It is in fact a failure to survey correctly on the ingredient of the first crush. ”
A Department for Transport spokeswoman vocal: “This is being looked at, but no decisions have been taken. ”
Shadow Transport Secretary Theresa Villiers vocal: “Rather than across the board reductions in the speed limit that hit the most responsible drivers, we hold a layout to make our roads safer needs to target problem drivers. ”