News that Labour plans to reduce the national speed limit to 50mph has drawn an angry response from the Association of British Drivers, who today condemned a ‘speed bully policy signalling the end of driving excellence in Britain’.
The government scheme to enforce a 50mph limit with widespread use of average speed cameras was revealed at the weekend.
‘"This is nothing to do with road safety,’ says the ABDs Nigel Humphries. ‘Anyone can see that hazards vary along rural roads, and so speeds must vary with them. A blanket 50 mph speed limit does not recognise that roads vary enormously in character and that a limit as low as 50 is totally unnecessary on many rural roads’.
Numbers of road deaths have failed to improve for the last 15 years, while the only road safety policies promoted by the government have been those which make life more difficult and unpleasant for drivers, the organisation claims. In contrast, investment in driving skills, or improvements to dangerous roads have been played down.
The ABD lambasts the over-emphasis on speed as the sole determinant of road safety statistics, which it claims was always misleading. It says anti-car policies are being rolled out by stealth, one scheme at a time.
‘This is another step in the implementation of a surveillance society where your every move is monitored and no individual discretion allowed. Instead of encouraging intelligent and responsible driving, based on the road conditions and the vehicle being used, we have this dictatorial regime that attempts to monitor and control our minute to minute driving standards.’
With public consultation planned for the proposed reduction to the national speed limit, the ABD is calling for a vigorous response from motorists on whether they think it is a ‘wise and proportional response to the problem of traffic accidents’.