The British Government has plans to increase the speed limit on its motorways from 70mph (113km/h) to 80mph (129km/h).
The current 70mph was introduced in 1965 and statistics show the rate of road deaths in Britain have dropped by 75% since then. A survey held earlier this year by the Institute of Advanced Motoring revealed over 70% of those surveyed support an increase in motorway limits.
Studies have also shown that 49% of UK motorists admit to breaking the current 70mph limit on a regular basis. While 60% say they would be more likely to adhere to an 80mph limit.
Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond, says: “It is time to put Britain back in the fast lane of global economies and look again at the motorway speed limit which is nearly 50 years old, and out of date thanks to huge advances in safety and motoring technology.
“Increasing the motorway speed limit to 80mph would generate economic benefits of hundreds of millions of pounds through shorter journey times. So we will consult later this year on raising the limit to get Britain moving.”
Before anyone gets too excited about this proposal it’s worth noting the increase is scheduled for 2013 with consultation to commence later this year.
As you would expect environmentalists are concerned over the possible increase in CO2 emissions as well as increased fuel use. We expect safety issues will also be raised during the consultation.
Whatever happens the debate will be interesting and, of course, we’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter and if you think a similar approach would ever be seriously considered in Australia.
[Source: The Guardian & Cars.co.uk | Pic: James Woodward]
6 replies on “UK authorities plan motorway speed limit increase”
Doing 110 km/h on a 2-3 lane highway with little traffic is so mind numbing I’m surprised there aren’t more accidents! Probably because most people are doing about 130 km/h anyway.
If only our state governments would fix our road systems and licencing tests we could band together for a similar system. But unfortunately it’ll never happen with all the ‘speed kills’ rubbish that is forced down our throats. Good on the UK for moving forward as the safety of our cars increases.
If they fix our roads so they are decently surfaced!! We prob could get our speeds to 130km!!!!
That’s a good point. We also have a lot of small exit/entry roads on many of our highways as well, which might make the case for increased speed limits a bit harder.
It will never happen in our nanny country, revenue from speeding fines is too much to give up.
I would support increased limits on dual carriageway highways/freeways in Australia on one condition – that drivers be required to pass the road rules theory test and the on-road drivers test at a maximum interval of five years before being allowed to renew a license. New drivers are required to prove they know the road rules and can drive a car in the presence of an instructor, but as I saw pretty obviously on a trip from Adelaide to Ballarat and back during the last week it seems many older drivers don’t know the rules.
If you fail it you get put on Learner conditions (wear L plates, 0% BAC, 80km/h speed restriction and driving only while supervised by a fully licensed driver) for a minimum of two weeks before being allowed to resit. If you pass on the second attempt you get a Provisional license for the next year (wear P plates, 0% BAC, 100km/h speed restriction) before being allowed to sit the test again and regain a full license. If you fail it the second time you lose the license completely and once passed the theory test you go right back to square one with a minimum of 12 months on a Learner’s Permit, minimum supervised logbook hours and so on.