Lower speed limits on UK rural roads will save lives

The UK's Department for Transport has unveiled new guidance that will make it easier for 40mph (64km/h) speed limits to be imposed on quiet rural roads. These roads currently have a typical speed limit of 60mph but the Government is keen to change this in a bid to reduce road casualties. The latest figures from the government show that there were 1,901 road deaths in 2011, a three per cent increase on 2010. In 2010, 68 per cent of road deaths occurred on rural roads, of which almost 50 per cent had a speed
July 16, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The UK's 1837 Department for Transport has unveiled new guidance that will make it easier for 40mph (64km/h) speed limits to be imposed on quiet rural roads. These roads currently have a typical speed limit of 60mph but the Government is keen to change this in a bid to reduce road casualties. The latest figures from the government show that there were 1,901 road deaths in 2011, a three per cent increase on 2010. In 2010, 68 per cent of road deaths occurred on rural roads, of which almost 50 per cent had a speed limit of 60mph.

Normally it would prove expensive for a local authority to reduce a speed limit, as they have to put up several signs. However, under the new plans they will be allowed to designate quiet parts of roads as 40mph zones, requiring just one sign to show where the zone begins and one to show where it ends. It is thought that this move will also help to combat road clutter.

Related Content

  • February 25, 2015
    Substantial savings from smarter street lighting
    As authorities strive to reduce expenditure and carbon emissions, Colin Sowman looks at some of the smart ways of managing street lighting while containing costs and maintaining safety. Street lighting can account for 40% of an authority’s energy consumption. So, faced with the need to reduce outgoings, some authorities are looking for smart ways of managing street lighting or even turning off swathes of street lights in the small hours. Back in 2008 the E-street Initiative report concluded that authorities
    Read More
  • October 28, 2015
    New analysis finds speed cameras may create bad driving behaviour
    Using more than one billion miles of driving behaviour data, collected over three years (2011-2014) and including 8,809 separate journeys in 5,353 vehicles, Wunelli, a LexisNexis company, has revealed the most frequent braking black spots across the UK created by speed cameras, based on motorists braking excessively just before speed cameras to avoid being caught. Eighty per cent of all the UK speed cameras investigated had hard braking activity, with braking increasing six fold on average at these loca
    Read More
  • April 23, 2014
    Transport Scotland opts for Vysionics average speed enforcement
    Traffic control specialist Vysionics ITS has won a deal to deliver Europe’s longest average speed enforcement system. This will be installed on a 220km stretch of the A9 in Scotland. The installation will be the first time average speed cameras will have been used on such a long stretch of road on a permanent basis, rather than for short term use during road repairs. The current road configuration is a mixture of single and dual carriageway which carries a high proportion of HGV traffic. Part of the lon
    Read More
  • October 31, 2016
    Average speed cameras reduce injury collisions, says report
    Research carried out into average speed camera (ASC) effectiveness by the UK’s RAC Foundation concludes that the implementation of ASCs in the locations that have been assessed in its report has had the effect of reducing injury collisions, and especially those of a higher severity. Even taking into account other influencing factors, the report says the reductions are large and statistically significant. Researchers analysed detailed accident data taken from 25 sites where average speed cameras were inst
    Read More

Highlighted Content