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The Association of British Drivers (ABD)
claim the UK's motorway speed limit could be increased without
compromising safety - 12th November 2007
The
Association of British Drivers (ABD) has said that the speed
limit on the UK's motorways could be increased without any
greater risk to motorists.
They also state that authorities should not
consider speeding on motorways to be a major factor in
road accidents.
The ABD says that Britain should have more
relaxed rules on
motorway driving citing Germany as an example. German
chancellor Angela Merkel has recently rejected her party's call
for speed restrictions on their autobahns aimed at reducing CO2
emissions, with no mention of it being on safety grounds.
Merkel also pointed out that traffic jams
produce at least as much CO2 emissions, if not more than
speeding vehicles.
Spokesman for the ABD Nigel Humphries said
"The fatality rates on unrestricted German autobahns were
similar to those on 55mph restricted US freeways, and most of
the UK's fatal motorway accidents involve HGVs that are limited
to 56mph.
The speed limit on UK motorways could be
raised to at least 85mph without compromising safety or CO2
emissions.
People should be free to choose their own
emissions/time balance like they are free to decide how warm
their house is. Any government serious about reducing emissions
should remove the deliberate congestion causing measures that
blight our towns and cities."
Such a move to increase speed limits would
be welcomed by motorists who have fallen foul of motorway speed
limits, with the possibility of lower car insurance if they have
fewer points on their license. Statistics produced by the
Department for transport
show there were 3,150 UK road deaths in 2006.
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