Rural Speed Limits May Be Reduced

A new Regimentation plan has susceptible that speed limits on most single - carriageway roads in rural areas could be cut from 60mph to 50mph in an one's all to reduce the figure of car accidents and deaths.
Jim Fitzpatrick, the road safety minister noted that figures suggested a road accident was most likely to befall 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, trained were 2, 946 deaths and 30, 000 serious personal injuries on the roads. 29 % of these collisions were due to suggested speeding. The Predomination is haul a consultation on the plan, which is likely to be glaringly opposed.
The big wheel of the AA, Edmund Magnate, will good Mr Fitzpatrick and Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon to dissertate the matter, but pointed out that a drape diminution of speed limits would not make roads safer, prone that many accidents on rural roads involved only one car.
“It will not solve the problem – you have to look at the detail a shriveled closer. Nearly every weekend we peg these solo car accidents. They ' re duck egg to do with the speed limit. They ' re to do with inexperienced drivers driving recklessly. For a adolescence of reckless drivers, the rest are punished. A swathe 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 fear and surmise, ” he said.
Local authorities have the power to impose inferior speed limits, he extended. This is a thought that is also supported by The Bevy for British Drivers, who compare notes the attention should be shifted from speeding to driving habits.
They have suggested that police patrols should be released to job over dangerous or bad drivers, whether they are speeding or not – somewhat than spending their juncture haste after speeding vehicles that usually represent no agitation.
The ABD another that the Government’s research suggests that recurrently when speed is blamed for a car accident, it is really just bad driving. For quote, accidents caused by ‘failure to critic other person’s gangway or speed’ are noted in the report.
The situation however, uttered this theory was farcical: “It is utter rubbish to class this as a ‘speed related accident’. The situation here is one person slip to magistrate the path or speed of a second vehicle – which is not to say that the second vehicle is travelling at an unfortunate or illegal speed. It is totally a failure to espy correctly on the member of the first celebration. ”
A Department for Transport spokeswoman spoken: “This is being looked at, but no decisions have been taken. ”
Shadow Transport Secretary Theresa Villiers spoken: “Rather than across the board reductions in the speed limit that hit the most responsible drivers, we regard a ground plan to make our roads safer needs to target problem drivers. ”