Report casts doubt on motorway speed limit rise

A new report has put into doubt the government’s proposed plans to raise the motorway speed limit.

Consultations are due to take place regarding the possibility of having the speed limit raised, from 70mph to 80, but the report, from the Road Safety Foundation (RSF), says that the network at the present time is not able to cope with the changes. It says that there would be a greater risk of shunt crashes, while the impact of many collisions would be greater through the increased speed the vehicles would probably be travelling.

The RSF says that while it accepts that the majority of drivers do not stick to the 70mph limit and that many motorists already drive at 80 when they can, the economy would not benefit noticeably from such a change and only would if more focus was placed on repairing the motorways than concentrating on speed. RSF director Joanne Marden said that while cars gave greater protection for their passengers, motorways don’t, with a particular weakness being in run-off protection.

The proposals for a rise in the speed limit first came to light last year and the road minister Mike Penning said that the Department for Transport is looking into the economic, safety and environmental impact of raising the limit. He added that this work was on-going and that no decisions had yet been taken on which sections of motorway would be affected in any proposed trial.