Eight years since it was last mooted, the issue of raising the motorway speed limit to 80mph has once again surfaced on the political agenda – but what do road safety professionals and other stakeholders think of the idea?
Speaking at the Conservative party conference earlier this month, transport secretary Grant Shapps said he is exploring the idea of increasing the limit on motorways and some dual carriageways, according to the Telegraph.
Steve Horton, Road Safety GB director of communications, is concerned that raising the limit will give out the wrong message about speeding.
Steve Horton said: “Road safety professionals have spent decades reminding drivers and riders about the link between speed and severity of collisions and casualties.
“We have rightly tried to help drivers understand the dramatic increase in stopping distance and the greater demands on response times that even a small increase in speed can have.
“My worry here is that in one move we could undo all of those efforts and allow so minded drivers and riders to turn around and say ‘see, there can’t be a problem with speed if we are raising limits’.”
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