The UK Government has unveiled a progressive plan to lower speed limits starting from November. Initially, a 60km/h speed cap will be imposed on local roads, announced James Lawless, the Minister of State for Transport. This will be followed by further reductions to 80km/h on regional routes early in the next year. Mr Lawless pointed out the current system, which allows higher speed limits on local roads than on regional ones, as illogical.
The impending speed limit changes are a part of the Road Traffic Bill 2024, described by the Department of Transport as a “concise and targeted” legislative action. Alongside changes to speed constraints, the legislation also addresses reformation to penalty points and obligatory drug testing for significant road accidents.
The forthcoming legislation will lower default speed caps on all national secondary roads from 100km/h to 80km/h, and from 80km/h to 60km/h on country or local roads. Roads within populated or metropolitan areas will see speed limits decrease from 50km/h to 30km/h.
Furthermore, research has established that the risk of fatalities for pedestrians increases significantly with speed, with the likelihood of death being four to five times higher if a pedestrian is hit at 50km/h compared to 30km/h. Sadly, rural Irish roads with speed limits exceeding 80km/h accounted for 73 per cent of all fatalities from 2017-2021. Moreover, urban roads with speed limits of 60km/h or under accounted for over half of serious injuries.
The Department of Transport’s speed review carried out last year demonstrated an increased instances of serious injuries amongst cyclists and pedestrians in areas with lower speed zones. Over the course of the past decade, many urban areas have enforced 30km/h zones but the department has recognised this as inconsistent, making a case for a general default speed limit.