80MPH Limit coming to a motorway near you…..in England
Posted by Roadtrafficlaw · Leave a Comment
Recent news reports seem to indicate that an experiment will be rolled out over sections of motorway in the South of England to establish if an 80mph limit might work. There seems to be merit in a variable speed limit where overhead gantry signs can give motorists plenty of warning of when and where the limit is imposed. DDoes this mean that we can expect people to travel at even higher speeds.We all know that there are plenty of folk out there who look at a speed limit as the “starting price” in the speed -v– safety bargain
The performance of modern cars also argues for a higher speed limit. The average modern car cruises very comfortably at 70 mph, and equally so at 80 mph. In 1964 when the 70 mph national motorway speed limit was introduced, it was set at the “flat-out” speed of most cars on the road. I understand that the old stopping distances were calculated with very low tech components.
As for safety, motorways are the safest roads because they are designed for safety, as are the modern cars that use them. EuroNCAP crash testing has driven consumers to demand 4-5 star cars that make survivability in a crash much more likely than when the 70 mph speed limit was set.
So, at one level there is a compelling case supporting an increase in the speed limit, but of course it is not quite that straightforward. “Loophole Lawyers” might just have a field day with cases when they argued over evidence of the enforceable speed limits for particular cases. Personally I do not think that should stand in the way of a timely idea and it must be time to review speed limits on motorways, by now.
Country roads are a different beast altogether and the Scottish Government needs to be encouraged to keep up the work on educating drivers about the hidden dangers that exist on country roads like the unexpected family of cyclists (Me and my kids!!!) or a tractor or that motorcyclist coming round a corner at 90mph on cm of rubber.
A Labour spokesperson was reported in the Daily Telegraph as saying “We will not oppose an increase in the motorway speed limit to 80mph in certain circumstances provided Ministers drop their blind spot on road safety,” Ms Eagle told The Daily Telegraph.
“However, rather than the blanket rise proposed by the government, the right way to implement this policy is to extend variable speed limits to allow increases as well as decreases depending on local circumstances such as traffic flow and weather conditions.”
Labour would also look for a change in guidelines applied by the Association of Chief Police Officers which normally means a motorist will not face prosecution unless caught driving at 10 per cent plus 2mph above the limit.
“Any new limit must be strictly applied with no speed creep allowing the de facto limit to head towards 90mph and Ministers must explain how they will enforce it at a time of cuts to the police.”
While backing a higher limit, Ms Eagle added that she also wanted the Government to reintroduce targets for cutting deaths and injuries on Britain’s roads. They were scrapped in the Coalition’s safety strategy.
However the policy shift was condemned by Andrew Pendleton, Friends of the Earth’s head of campaigns: ““Hurtling along at 80 mph will make our roads less safe, burn more fuel and make British motoring even more dependent on imported oil. With cash-strapped families and businesses struggling to pay soaring petrol bills it’s a bizarre policy to be championing.”
In the Sunday Times today ( 18th March 2012) the newspaper published a map detailing the expected areas of motorway that we canexpect this experiment to be tried out on.
In Scotland we will have to wait for the Scotland Bill to receive Royal Assent to see what the Scottish Government have in store or us. Personally I would like to see some flexibility on speed limits as there are plenty of motorway stretches up here that could be increased at times of low traffic flow. I recently acted for a man charged with 82mph on a section of motorway at 12:30am. Poor guy faced a “Totting Up” ban for pushing home after a hard nights work yet the powers that be still felt it appropriate to prosecute.
George Galloway’s radio phone in had some interesting comments on the debate. Unusually, perhaps Mr Galloway had little to add that was worth listening too but the callers contributed so I have posted it here for those interested in the points raised.
