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NEWS
Poms to increase highway speed limit
UK pollies propose an increase in highway speed limits from 110 to 130km/h and say millions of dollars of benefits await...The United Kingdom is set to raise its highway speed limit from 70 to 80mph (110-130km/h).
The British government announced this week that it would: "Consult on raising the national speed limit on motorways". It intends to launch a full public consultation of the move later in 2012 with a view to implementing changes in early 2013.
In an official release from the UK Department of Transport, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond stated: "I want to make sure that our motorway speed limit reflects the reality of modern vehicles and driving conditions, not those of 50 years ago.
"While we must ensure that our roads remain among the safest in the world, we must also consider the huge economic benefits that can be created by shortening journey times," Hammond opined.
The Department of Transport's release reads thus: "Vehicles have changed dramatically since the current national speed limit was set in 1965. Technological advances mean that cars are significantly safer than they were -- contributing to a fall of more than 75 per cent in the number of people killed on British roads since 1965. That is why the Government feels it is now time to look again at whether the speed limit set in 1965 is still appropriate."
Though the Department states road safety is a ‘top priority’ for the UK Government, it also says: "Safety cannot be the only consideration when setting speed limits."
"Previous analysis shows that raising the motorway speed limit would generate significant economic benefits, worth hundreds of millions of pounds per year from savings of travel time... Initial work by the Department suggests that setting the motorway speed limit at 80mph is likely to represent the best balance of costs and benefits and it is similar to the motorway speed limit in other EU countries."
Secretary Hammond stated: "Increasing the speed limit on motorways from 70 to 80mph for cars, light vans and motorcycles could provide hundreds of millions of pounds of benefits for the economy and I will put forward formal proposals for making these changes later this year."
In the UK it is estimated around half of drivers regularly break the 70mph motorway limit.
In stark contrast to local Australian authorities' attitudes, the Department of Transport's releases states: "Ministers believe that raising the limit to 80mph would mean that millions of otherwise law-abiding motorists would be brought back inside the boundary, restoring the moral legitimacy of the system."
The proposal would apply only to cars and motorcycles. Trucks are subject to lower motorway speed limits in the UK and it is not proposed to change them. The consultation process will seek views "about the position related to vans/light goods vehicles on motorways".
The limit would not apply to all motorways but multi-lane dual carriageway roads engineered to suit higher speeds.
What do you think? Does the proposed raising of the speed limit reflect the reality of modern vehicles and driving conditions?
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Written byKen Gratton
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