We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Car website. However, if you would like to, you can change your cookies at any time
The start point for the best source of fleet information |
There is concern the UK is falling behind its European counterparts when it comes to road safety.
Look back a few years and Britain topped the European rankings but more recently our position has been slipping as other countries overtake.
The challenge facing the Government is that this record is not worsening because of a lack of effort or focus. Whether it's through multi-million pound advertising campaigns, stiffer penalties for breaking the law, or more speed cameras, road safety has never been higher on the agenda.
In 2007, there were 2946 deaths on Britain's roads and speed was thought to be a factor in nearly a third of them. Roads minister Jim Fitzpatrick is right when he says that we can't afford to do nothing, which is why plans are in place to cut the national speed limit on rural roads, a move that would impact nearly all drivers.
It is projected that reducing the maximum speed limit from 60mph to 50 could save more than 200 lives every year with figures showing that single-carriageway A roads in the countryside are responsible for the greatest proportion of accidents.
The difficulty is that while every motorist wants the roads to be safer, there is already a backlash, with scepticism around the effectiveness of this initiative and research available to back it up. An international comparison of motorway speed limits and death rates suggested no correlation between the two. For example, the United States, which has one of the lowest motorway speed limits in the world, has an almost identical fatality rate to Germany, which has no limit at all.
With this in mind, the reality is that changing the speed limit alone is not enough. Motoring groups argue that a lower limit would do little unless it was supported by greater enforcement and changes to the layout of rural roads. There would also need to be an awareness campaign because there are currently no plans to change road signage to reflect the change in the limit.
All of these things must happen, but importantly accompanied by a process of education for drivers. In the longer term it is only through education that drivers can make the right decisions at the right time. For example, the safe speed for a road can flex depending on the driving conditions, visibility and weather. In adverse conditions the safe speed for a road governed by national speed limit could be 20mph, yet a few hours later it could be 60mph.
If drivers are not trained to legislate for this they will have problems, no matter what the speed limit is.
BusinessCar magazine ©2019
Business Car Magazine © 2020 | Business Car is part of NS Media Group.
