SPEED LIMIT DEBATE IS GOING NOWHERE FAST

Despite a court ruling that speed alone is not dangerous, and calls for better driver training, the UK Government seems determined to apply Draconian measures to enforce speed limits on roads. A jury recently found the driver of a car not guilty of dangerous driving while driving at 145mph on a motorway, after he successfully argued that he was in full control of the car at the time. Many safety experts consider that inappropriate use of speed, not speed alone, causes accidents, and that better driver training could save more lives than increasingly drastic action against speeding. Yet the Government continues to campaign against speed rather than lack of skill. In Lancashire, police will revise speed limits where necessary and enforce them strictly. Chief Inspector C King of the Hampton Traffic Garage in Middlesex would like to make it socially unacceptable to break them, and supports much higher training standards for drivers, with regular retraining. When local authorities set speed limits, they consult emergency services and utility companies, but do not always take their advice. The Government has given local authorities the right to set 20mph speed limits without need for the permission of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR), as long as they follow certain guidelines.