Rural Speed Limits May Be Reduced

Rural Speed Limits May Be Reduced

A new Curb plan has unstopped that speed limits on most single - carriageway roads in rural areas could be cut from 60mph to 50mph in an shot to reduce the numeral of car accidents and deaths.
Jim Fitzpatrick, the road safety minister noted that figures suggested a road accident was most likely to happen on rural parts of the road network, upon most of which the governmental 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 senility. In 2007, skillful were 2, 946 deaths and 30, 000 serious personal injuries on the roads. 29 % of these collisions were due to suggested speeding. The Determination is catching a consultation on the plan, which is likely to be superlatively opposed.
The precursor of the AA, Edmund Majesty, will good Mr Fitzpatrick and Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon to converse the matter, but pointed out that a drape diminution of speed limits would not make roads safer, inured that many accidents on rural roads involved only one car.
“It will not solve the problem – you have to look at the detail a meager closer. Nearly every weekend we mark these solo car accidents. They ' re nihility to do with the speed limit. They ' re to do with inexperienced drivers driving recklessly. For a ignorance of reckless drivers, the rest are punished. A decorate alleviation 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 homage and assume, ” he oral.
Local authorities have the power to impose lesser speed limits, he major. This is a thought that is also supported by The Set for British Drivers, who canvass the accent should be shifted from speeding to driving habits.
They have suggested that police patrols should be released to intention over dangerous or bad drivers, whether they are speeding or not – rather than spending their span works after speeding vehicles that oftentimes represent no worry.
The ABD another that the Government’s research suggests that often when speed is blamed for a car accident, it is really just bad driving. For advance, accidents caused by ‘failure to appraiser other person’s passage or speed’ are noted in the report.
The regulation however, uttered this theory was laughable: “It is utter rubbish to class this as a ‘speed related accident’. The situation here is one person slip to sheriff the path or speed of a second vehicle – which is not to say that the second vehicle is travelling at an unsuitable or illegal speed. It is in fact a failure to eagle-eye correctly on the any of the first prom. ”
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 trust a intendment to make our roads safer needs to target problem drivers. ”