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Flawed and Deadly' Speed Limit Cuts Come in For More Criticism
The Mail on Sunday 30 October 2006 reports Police Chief's concerns about crazy new DfT proposals to ratchet down speed limits all over the country.
Paul Smith, of the Safe Speed road safety campaign (www.safespeed.org.uk ) said: "For over ten years Department for Transport (DfT) have been promoting 'speed kills' road safety policies - speed limit cuts, speed cameras and hundreds of thousands of road humps.
It hasn't worked. Road deaths haven't fallen as expected and we recently learned from the BMJ that hospitalisations of road crash victims haven't fallen either.
These policies do not work.
They issue millions of fines, but the roads aren't getting safer. DfT policies tend to de-skill drivers and this has balanced all the potential gains.
The policies are not 'psychologically sound' and do nothing to improve skills or responsibilities.
All the while that we are making vehicles travel more slowly, drivers are getting worse to balance the potential gains and to totally offset the gains due to safer vehicles, safer roads and improved post crash care."
"DfT is not fit for purpose. It does not understand the psychological foundations of road safety and is doing great damage to road safety with the wrong policies."
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