Safe Speed Forums

80mph speed limit 'risks rise in road deaths and obesity’
6:00AM GMT 06 Jan 2012

Increasing the motorway speed limit by 10mph will raise death rates, obesity and asthma levels, outweighing the economic benefits, experts have warned.
The laws on highways and freeways changed from 65mph to 70mph-75mph and from 55mph to 60mph-65mph Photo: Steve Parsons/PA

An editorial in the British Medical Journal by researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine criticises government proposals to raise the limit on all motorways in England and Wales from 70mph to 80mph by 2013.

The Government argues that deaths on roads have fallen by 75 per cent in the past 55 years because of advances in car safety and ministers think increasing the speed limit makes sense as “almost half of all drivers break the current limit anyway”.

Since 1967 the number of serious and fatal accidents has continued to fall to a level where Britain has one of the lowest rates of road deaths in the world.

The researchers challenge all of the Government’s arguments. They question the basis of the suggested economic benefits, given that the higher limit will not extend to heavy good vehicles.

Their main concern draws on research which links an “exponential” increase in crashes resulting in injury and death to a rise in speed limits. In the US, higher speed limits introduced in 1995 resulted in a 16.6 per cent increase in deaths due to vehicle accidents.

The speed limit increase followed a reduction in speed in 1975 in response to the 1974 oil crisis. The laws on highways and freeways changed from 65mph to 70mph-75mph and from 55mph to 60mph-65mph.

The researchers identify other health-related reasons for keeping the current limit, including the increase of gas emissions, air pollution and a potential rise in obesity due to more people taking advantage of shorter car journeys.

Martin McKee, professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: “It is difficult to see how any benefits of an 80mph speed limit would outweigh the costs.
“Past evidence shows that speed limit increases lead to substantial rises in road deaths, as well as other potential negative health and economic impacts.”
He said that the proposal appears to be a “populist gimmick” by the Government.
Prof McKee added: “Given the recent loss of life on the M5, we challenge the Government to produce the evidence to justify their policy with its attendant risks to life.”

...obesity due to more people taking advantage of shorter car journeys

It also occurred to me that all the continentals have to do to tackle their obesity problems, is to drop their speed limits!
oh, er, hang on...

Let's go further. By their own logic, we could tackle obesity by banning all public transport. You see, when on buses and trains you have all the time and freedom you want to stuff your face (try eating behind the wheel and see how long you last without getting busted).

There's more. They are trotting out the old "faster motorways lead to more deaths" propaganda.
See this for an important rebuttal.

Though he did not say so, Hammond [in supporting a new 80mph limit] was using research published in 2009 by the Transport Research Laboratory (‘An evaluation of options for road safety beyond 2010’, available at http://www.trl.co.uk/online_store/reports_publications/) to back up his case that the move would deliver substantial economic benefits. What he did not say was that to prevent illegal speeding, the research was based on the notion that 800 new camera systems measuring average speed would be needed, because, of course, speed cameras were seen to be the Panzer tanks of ‘the war on the motorist’. Nor did he mention why the researchers dismissed the idea of increasing the speed limit. They concluded that it would cause an extra 18 deaths annually, as well as 63 serious injuries, which ‘makes the proposal unacceptable to DfT as part of a road safety strategy’. Not, it seems, any more. Hammond clearly calculates that the extra deaths are worth it as the speed up of journeys – more than four minutes per hour would deliver more benefit than the cost of the accidents. It’s a cold calculation which he did not share with his audience.

There's also the argument that increased limits may very well slow things down at peak times, when most people want to get where they are going more quickly.

For those who can't be bothered to click that link, it has little to do with the 70 to 80mph argument,

This has:

http://www.christianwolmar.co.uk/2011/1 ... mph-limit/

From my experience of motorways you rarely hit 70 let alone 80MPH at peak times, however, peak times amount to about what...four to six hours a day?

What about drivers using motorways for the full 24 hours of a day, doesn't their journey count?

I do love it, when part time drivers believe that the UK road network is there purely for them to get from home to work/school and back and the rest of the UK's drivers should adjust the rest of their driving day, just to fit in with their little commute every day.

Well said!

You are remarkably selective weepej. A shocking portion of your recent posts contain basic, obvious and verified errors and fallacies. You might want to reconsider your thought processes.

And very indicative of the classist attitude of many on here!

Quite what makes your journey more important than theirs?

I.e. Steve links to yet more posts that do not back up what he states in his linking post.

How do you come to that conclusion? Please explain.

The link I gave clearly shows that there is a system wide casualty reduction (a benefit) which is a direct consequence of raising the limit on these fast roads.
And you think this has little to do with the proposed raising of the motorway limit?!?



Again, my previously given rebuttal is extremely pertinent to your quoted comment above: that there is indeed a genuine benefit to be had even when disregarding any financial gains.
Claims like what you quoted are dangerously misleading; acting upon your sentiments will overall cost more lives than it saves.

And very indicative of the classist attitude of many on here!

Quite what makes your journey more important than theirs?

y weepej on Mon Jan 09, 2012 11:57 pm

Steve wrote:

graball wrote:I do love it, when part time drivers believe that the UK road network is there purely for them to get from home to work/school and back and the rest of the UK's drivers should adjust the rest of their driving day, just to fit in with their little commute every day.


Well said!



And very indicative of the classist attitude of many on here!

Quite what makes your journey more important than theirs?

What's the next bright idea...close it down apart from rush hour periods???