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Should the motorway speed limit be raised to 80mph?
Campaigners believe that the motorway speed limit should be raised to 80mph. A report has found that easing restrictions for lorries may have made the roads safer. Goods vehicles weighing over 7.5 tons have been allowed to increase their speeds from 40mph to 50mph on single carriageways and on dual carriageways from 50mph to 60mph. It was fetched in so that lorries travel at closer speeds to other traffic and therefore reducing dangerous overtaking.
The second report found that half of the drivers are breaking the 70mph limit. The long-running debate around motorway speeds has come forward again following the two pieces of research. The 70mph speed limit was introduced soon after the first motorways were built in 1965. But it has been argued by many experts as outdated because modern cars have become faster and safer.
To drive at 80mph at an appropriate distance from the vehicle in front, in a modern car in good weather on a decent motorway is probably safe according to AA president Edmund King. But tailgating the car in front at 50mph is never safe.
Nicholas Lyes the head of RAC roads policy believes that it would be too risky. He believes that inappropriate speed is still a major factor in collisions, and also many motorways In the Uk are not suited to an 80mph limit. Also, many drivers regularly exceed the 70mph limit and to increase it to 80mph would send out the wrong message.
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