Phillip Hammond the Transport Secretary said he is considering a maximum speed limit of 80 mph. However Professor Stephen Glaister Director of the RAC Foundation, said there will be winners and losers if the limit is increased to 80 mph; the economy will gain because of shorter journey times but it could also result in 50 to 100 additional road deaths a year. This will in part be due to increased reaction times in an emergency and of course longer braking distances.

50 to 100 deaths may not sound like very much but one death, is one too many. At the moment we have a 70 mph speed limit and many motorists drive at 80 mph; that is what they feel they can get away with. One would imagine that many of these motorists, given an 80 mph limit, will then drive at 90 mph. You could argue that its only 12% extra but there is a great deal of difference in the amount of control you have over your vehicle. The fact is nobody knows how many additional deaths an 80 mph speed limit could cause.

The best solution would be an 80 mph speed limit which is very strictly controlled. That way those who previously drove at 70 mph could drive at 80 and those were already driving at 80 mph would have to continue doing so. The other unknown factor is, if almost everybody is driving at 80 mph, will this cause bunching and more multiple car accidents?

The Daily Telegraph had an article in their 11 May edition, comparing speed limits around the world. They said the speed limit in Spain is 74 mph; it has in fact recently been reduced to 110 kph, just over 68 mph. It’s worth knowing, because so many of us drive in Spain on holiday. 

 The Telegraph also said in the article that there is no speed limit on Germany’s Autobahn. This is a commonly held view but it is something of a myth; it was the case many years ago but now there are many sections of the Autobahn where you will be in serious trouble if you attempt to drive at 200 mph; in places where it is considered dangerous, the maximum speed drops to just 62 mph.

Interestingly since Spain reduced their speed limit, road deaths have actually dropped, so it does make you wonder if an 80 mph speed limit is a good idea.