The UK Transport Minister Philip Hammond has said that he wants a review of the UK motorway limit of 70mph and suggests raising it to 80 mph by 2013 on the basis that modern cars are better, faster, safer than when the 70 mph limit was first set.Also he says that since nearly half of all motorists ignore the law anyway and routinely speed at up to 80mph, then the law needs to be changed. OK cars may be safer, but the number of idiots behind the wheel seem to be on the up and up, if my own experiences of driving are anything to go by. And crashes at 80 mph or more are that much more serious than at 70mph or less. And on his same logic we should abandon the law against using handheld cell phones whilst driving, since it is widely flouted. What utter lunacy!
Anyway we should be doing all we can to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, and the amount we use, not legislating to increase their consumption. Hammond claims that he will compensate for higher speeds on motorways by increasing the stretches of residential roads subject to a 20mph speed limit. And I suppose when more and more drivers widely ignore and flout this law, he will increase it to a 30mph limit?! It was even suggested that a small increase in human casualties would be more than offset by increased business efficiency!! WHAT??Get real, Mr Hammond!
Faster speeds on our highways will also mean ever more and longer tailbacks - it is already well nigh impossible to take a motorway journey anywhere in the UK without building an hour at least of delay into the equation.
There is some hope in all this. With the price of gas in the UK at an all time high there is evidence that people are cutting their speeds and their car journeys anyway. And perhaps more business meetings will be held on video conference facilities such as Skype from the comfort of our own homes?
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