motorway speed limit to 80mph?
I have mixed feelings about the news that the Department of
Transport (DoT) is to launch a consultation on possibly raising the
speed limit on motorways from 70 mph to 80 mph.
As someone who does a fair amount of driving, I think very
selfishly about how this will benefit me. It may make my life
easier by not having to spend so much time on the road. But will it
really reduce journey times because the road conditions have to be
right to enable you to drive that fast. Will this also involve
investment in the roads infrastructure?
On the other hand, as a Personal Injury lawyer, I see on a
daily basis how accident victims and their families have to cope
with sometimes devastating injuries following car accidents. Should
we risk more people being injured for convenience?
The speed limit was set in 1965 and is described as being out of
date due to huge advances in safety and technology. The DoT also
say that 49% of drivers float the current 70 mph limit. Are these
good reasons to change?
Whilst the number of people killed on our roads has reduced by
70% since the original speed limit was introduced, I wonder how
many more have been injured? I also wonder how many more cars there
are on the roads today, so are we really comparing like with
like?
Will that 49% still driver faster and, if so, are our cars safe
to sustain impacts at 85/90 mph?
There is also an environmental consequence to this proposal.
Whilst drivers traveling 10 mph faster might get them to their
destination quicker, they will use 20% more fuel and emit 20% more
CO2.
Is this really a good idea?
