DfT to launch consultation on increasing motorway speed limit to 80mph
Fri 30 September 2011
View all news
The Transport Secretary Philip Hammond has announced a consultation on increasing the motorway speed limit in England and Wales to 80mph. Mr Hammond said the current limit of 70mph is out of date and that the higher limit would give the economy a boost. The proposal was immediately criticised by environmental and safety campaigners who said it would lead to higher carbon emissions and more road accidents.
Mr Hammond stated that the current limit was out of date due to "huge advances in safety and motoring technology” and that England and Wales’ roads should be the arteries of a healthy economy, stating: “Increasing the motorway speed limit to 80mph would generate economic benefits of hundreds of millions of pounds through shorter journey times”. The consultation will begin later this year, with a view to raising the speed limit in 2013.
In a recent Parliamentary answer to a House of Lord's Question, Lord Shutt of Greetland said on behalf of the Government that CO2 emissions increase by around 14% for a vehicle driving at a steady 80mph compared with a steady 70mph.
Related Links
< Back to news list