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DIRECT LINE'S DEMANDS FOR RURAL 40 LIMIT "CONFUSED AND SENSELESS
Road safety group, the Association of British Drivers, has suggested a new survey from insurers Direct Line takes road safety `up a blind alley.
The survey demands a limit of no more than 40mph on all rural roads because of "the high number of fatalities now occurring on country lanes".
A quick check on accidents and accident rates by road class and severity from Transport Statistics GB 2005 shows that accident rates are much lower on rural roads than urban ones (1)
Direct Line did not produce a supporting analysis but inferred that because 26% of rural drivers surveyed admit to exceeding 60mph speed limits on rural roads, speeding is `one of the main causes of accidents.
Mark McArthur-Christie, the ABD\'s Director of Policy commented "It's difficult to see the road safety logic behind Direct Line's rather confused argument.
They don’t offer any evidence that the fatal crashes are related to people breaking the 60mph limit –because there is none.
And if breaking the 60 limit were the problem, where is the sense in reducing that limit to 40mph?
This reads more like a PR-driven survey than serious road safety."
McArthur-Christie concluded "We must move away from the view that `the answer's a blanket speed limit - now what's the question?' A safe speed for the conditions varies constantly, from second to second and can be significantly above or below 40mph.
Good drivers know and recognise this.
Blanket speed limits just increase frustration overtakes, cause drivers to tailgate and reduce respect for speed limits generally.
Forcing compliance with such limits reduces attention and stops drivers thinking for themselves - a head on collision between two cars doing 40mph is still likely to be fatal, and speedo watching, brain dead driving makes this more likely on country lanes."
(1.) 70 accidents per 100 million veh-km on urban A-roads against 25 on rural A-roads; 64 accidents per 100 million veh-km on other urban roads against 46 on other rural roads).
MAG Comment: This is not the first time the issue has arisen.
You can view MAG’s 1999 position on this issue at http://tinyurl.com/rjjax
In 2003 a motion to have an amendment/clause to develop a Rural Road Speed Hierarchy through the Railways and Transport Safety Bill in the Standing Committee stage of the bill in the House of Commons was withdrawn.
After being alerted by MAG Activists to the situation MAG wrote to the nineteen member committee, using a template supplied by a MAG member, pointing out the concerns of the proposed amendment.
What happened in the committee debate showed that lobbying and visiting your MP can work.
Linda Perham MP for Ilford North mentioned MAG writing to the committee and also meeting with MAG members who had previously visited her in her constituency a while ago.
She went on to mention that although there were many supporters of the clause there were constituents who did not support the clause and outlined MAG's concerns that the new clause would have a detrimental effect on road safety.
That the proposed 40 mph limits would not be appropriate for such occasions on rural roads and that they would be artificially low at other times.
Reducing the speed limit on rural roads to 40 mph would run counter to expert road safety advice given in the Department for Transports road circular 1/93.
The circular argues that speed limits are not an effective way to reduce speed.
Finally from 2004 in a response to speeding and noise concerns in the North York Moors National Park:
MAG does not agree with a blanket speed limit of 50mph.
There is little doubt that in certain circumstances, drivers need to reduce their speed on rural roads because of passing walkers, cyclists, horses etc.
MAG believes that the proposed 50mph limit will still be too fast and not appropriate for these occasions, yet will be artificially low on other occasions and could have a detrimental effect on road safety.
Where new, artificially low limits have been introduced, regardless of road conditions (Somerset, Suffolk, W. Berks., Oxon), drivers can no longer rely on these speed limits to indicate a safe speed for the road.
As such, they begin to treat all limits as arbitrary, negating any safety effect of other, more rationally set, limits.
The national speed limit in the park is 60mph, lowering this to 50mph, a decrease of 10mph, will not affect the minority who would speed in inappropriate places irrespective of any designated speed limit.
Full article at http://tinyurl.com/nsg53
ABD Press Enquiries: 0870 4442535 - ABD general enquiries and membership: 07000-781544
For more information about the ABD visit our Website at www.abd.org.uk
The Association of British Drivers is run on a voluntary basis to lobby for the beleaguered British motorist:
"Reclaiming the roads for the people who pay for them"
"Demanding proper roads (and railways) in exchange for paying one seventh of all taxes"
"Debunking the nonsense you hear about the environmental impact of the car"
"Promoting effective road safety instead of the criminalisation of safe driving"
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