The British Government has really put the cat among the pigeons, by suggesting that the maximum speed on our highways should be increased from 70 to 80 mph.
The 70 mph limit was imposed way back in 1966 when nearly 8,000 died on our roads, in 2008 that figure had dropped to 2,222 making the UK’s roads the safest in Europe, even ahead of Sweden. As for motorway fatalities, according to The Association of British Drivers, they account for just two per billion vehicle-kilometre driven despite the fact that our highways are the busiest in Europe with an average daily vehicle flow of 64,900.
Inevitably environmentalists have jumped on the bandwagon suggesting that speed limits should be reduced to aid the environment, a claim backed up Philippa Oldham, head of transport at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers who maintains that “At 80 mph fuel consumption is around 20% higher than at 70 mph…” and that, bizarrely, “an increase in the speed limit will likely to lead to more starts and stops for motorway drivers, increasing gasoline consumption even further.”
Whereas the Institute of Advanced Motorists welcomes the consultative document.
I spend a lot of my time commuting to various airports, mostly on motorways and mainly at speeds ranging from 75 to 80 mph just to maintain the pace of the rest of the traffic. I get overtaken, but not frequently. So I would refute suggestions that it will tempt drivers to extend their speed to 90 mph or upwards.
The British Government says raising the speed limit will aid productivity. While that sounds a little far fetched, what would help the beleagured motorist would be keeping heavy goods vehicles to the nearside lane, stop them tailgating cars in congested traffic and prosecute them for ‘elephant racing’, when they struggle to overtake one another for mile after mile as both trucks hit their speed limiter.
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