Speed limits on rural roads could be lowered from 60mph to 40mph to help cut high casualty rates in the countryside, after changes in Government guidelines issued last week.
At the moment, many country roads have the statutory speed limit of 60mph but groups including the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) have called for cuts to rural road speed limits, in a bid to reduce the number of accidents. Latest figures show the first annual rise in road deaths and serious injuries for 17 years. In 2010, 68% of fatalities occurred on rural roads, with nearly half of these accidents taking place in 60mph rural areas.
In Wiltshire, in the period 2009-2011, there were 538 accidents on rural roads, with rural roads defined as class B, C, and unclassified roads where the speed limit is 60mph. The B3098, which runs out of Westbury towards and through the villages of Bratton and Edington, has previously been derestricted but is due to have a new 50mph introduced. There is a 30mph limit through the villages.
Cllr Julie Swabey said, “I think this was very popular, it has always been on the agenda to get the speeds reduced. People don’t have to drive at 60, but some seem to think you do. You should drive according to the road.
“But any new limit has got to follow government guidelines.” Steve Lloyd is a member of Community Speedwatch in Bratton, which monitors speeds through the 30mph zone in the village. He suggests that, even if a 40mph limit was introduced, it may not necessarily make big a difference to traffic speeds. “I think the big problem with speed limits is enforcement,” he said. “People look around and see open fields and will go as fast as they feel is safe. Speed limits are fine, but you’ve got to have the co-operation of the public or law enforcement.”
Ralph Smyth, senior transport campaigner for CPRE, says, “Since the last speed limit guidance was published, deaths on rural roads have tragically increased from half of all road deaths, to over two thirds. While the UK has made urban areas safer through introducing 20 mph zones, we have failed unlike other countries to do anything similar in the countryside. “The Dutch have found that widespread adoption of rural 60km/h (37 mph) zones has been even more cost effective in saving lives than their urban 30km/h (19 mph) zones. If we want to have an enviable safety record in our countryside, it’s time for 40 mph zones to become the norm on minor rural roads.”
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