Raise the limit to 80mph (From South Wales Argus)

Raise the limit to 80mph

4:41pm Thursday 31st May 2012 in Letters

ONCE again, the possibility of raising the motorway speed limit to 80mph is being mentioned (Argus, May 25), almost guaranteed to bring on a fit of the vapours to the ‘save the polar bears’ brigade. Yet, it has been frequently reported that India and China between them, pump more pollution into the atmosphere in a day than Great Britain does in six months. A statistic that the environmental lobby (in this country at least) for some strange reason are not always happy when they are reminded of it.

The various road safety groups that oppose raising the limit say that there will be more accidents and cost the country an extra £1 billion a year. But how can they be sure? The causes of motorway accidents are many and various, a higher limit does’nt necessarily mean an increase. Several other European countries have allowed higher speeds for years. Are their accidents rates better or worse than ours and is it possible to make a comparison?

Motorways are purpose-built for higher vehicle speeds and statistically are the safest type of road, and with proper and regular enforcement of driving standards they should continue to be so.

A Greenhalgh, Ross St, Newport