FOLLOWING a poll of business car managers by Navman Wireless, opinion finds SME businesses are in favour of raising the motorway speed limit to 80mph. Ben Williams looks at the implications of their findings, while BRAKE’s Ellen Booth suggests raising the motorway speed limit would be a retrogressive step.
BUSINESS seems to be in favour of raising the speed limit to 80mph, which has been suggested by the Coalition government.
On our blog, we polled fleet managers in particular about whether the rise would be beneficial for business.
However, the responses came mainly from SME businesses rather than fleet managers, with 68% of participants, largely SME businesses, voting in favour of the increase.
The results appear to indicate that many business owners welcome the potential for enhanced productivity and customer service that a faster speed limit could facilitate, conflicting with the widely perceived need to reduce fuel spend and carbon emissions.
However, the issue is far from clear-cut. The apparent simplicity of the change belies a number of complex factors it opens for consideration. The potential for increased productivity must be balanced against fuel costs, safety and environmental impact – or whether it will have any real impact on fleets at all.
The effectiveness of the current limit and the implications for a future increase have been called into question. Recognising that many drivers ignore the current limit, some respondents consider that a rise to 80mph will make little difference – or will encourage driving at speeds closer to 90mph.
In addition, challenges are being made as to whether a change in speed limit is the best way to improve motorway driving – with calls for more investment in infrastructure, such as additional lanes and ‘no overtaking’ sections for HGVs on busy stretches of road. Poor driver behaviour, such as incorrect use of the middle lane, is highlighted as another significant barrier to productivity.
Further information
The poll, which is open to all UK business car managers, can be accessed here: www.navmanwireless.co.uk/blog
Reaction to the possible increase in the motorway speed limit
Ellen Booth, campaigns officer, Brake: An increase in motorway speed limits to 80mph would be a highly dangerous strategy that would undermine progress in reducing the number of people killed and seriously injured on UK roads. Research shows that raising the limit from 70 to 80mph would result in a 5-10% increase in motorway casualties. Put simply, the faster you drive, the less time you have to react to hazards, such as stationary traffic ahead, and the harder you hit.
A rise in motorway speeds would also increase UK fuel consumption and carbon emissions, both of which are of keen concern to the public. At 80mph, a petrol car emits 14% more CO2 per kilometre than driving at 70mph, while diesel cars emit 25% more.
Increasing motorway speeds may not even reduce average journey times. The Transport Committee Report on Road Traffic Speed found that: higher speeds would do little to reduce journey times; on the congested motorways of England an 80mph limit might well increase them because it would create an uneven flow.
