Plans to reduce the speed limit on single carriageway roads in Scotland from 60mph to 50mph will not be taken forward, Transport Scotland has announced.
Between November 2024 and March 2025, Transport Scotland held a public consultation as part of its National Speed Management Review (NSMR).
A total of 19,584 responses were received, with most respondents (77%) feeling that the current national speed limit of 60mph on single carriageway roads ‘was about right’.
Additionally, 90% of respondents did not think that a reduction in the national speed limit on single carriageway roads would address national casualty reduction targets.
As a result, Transport Scotland says ministers will not be taking forward changes to reduce the speed limit on single carriageway roads.
Further work will be undertaken to continue to analyse the impact on road casualties and journey times of a speed limit change on different standards of single carriageways.
However, in relation to Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) speed limits, work will be undertaken to progress steps to increase speed limits on single and dual carriageways for this vehicle type.
This change aims to reduce the speed differential between HGVs and other vehicles, helping to reduce driver frustration and improve journey time reliability.
Fiona Hyslop, Scotland’s cabinet secretary for transport, said: “The National Speed Management Review provides important evidence on how speed limits can help reduce road deaths and serious injuries, and is helping us work towards our ambitious goal of making Scotland’s roads the safest in the world by 2030.
“The next steps have been informed by the huge number of responses to the public consultation. Work will be undertaken to further analyse the impact on road casualties and journey times of a speed limit change on different standards of single carriageways and this will inform any future transport policies.
“We must never lose sight of the fact that one death on our roads is one too many. These proposals represent a vital step towards making Scotland roads safer.”
As the average speed on single c/way roads is typically below the national speed limit of 60 anyway, reducing it to say 50 is not going to significantly affect the overall range of speeds. On roads such as these, there is a misconception that the posted speed limit reflects the actual speeds of the majority of vehicles which it doesn’t. Saying the limit of 60 ‘is about right’ is therefore meaningless.
Hugh Jones, South Wirral
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This seems like common sense to me. The “speed” question has been a major distraction for much of the time I was in harness. Any fool can say “reduce the speed limit”. Wiser fools (which might possibly include me) will recall the multi-factorial nature of road traffic accidents and, perhaps, look a little deeper. Safer 2026 to you all.
Andrew Fraser, STIRLING
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