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| Why Target Speed? |
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Why is the government so concerned about speed when deaths on the road have fallen so sharply over the last 30 years?
Success at tackling other road safety issues such as drink/driving and the fitting and wearing of seat belts have contributed enormously to reducing road deaths. In more recent years the use of speed reducing measures such as road humps and the creation of 20 mph zones have resulted in a reduction in casualties. But we need to continue to tackle excessive speed and the proper use of safety cameras has shown that they will remain important at continuing the downward trend in casualties.
Isn't the 70 mph motorway speed limit out of date? Should it be raised given the improvement in road and vehicle design since the limit was introduced in the 1960s?
Given the proven relationship between increases in speed and the number and severity of accidents, to do so might increase the risk of death and serious injury. Enforcement of the limit at higher levels would be very difficult and the greater leeway in speeds allowed would certainly result in more collisions. Motorways are our safest roads and the Government intend to ensure they stay as such.
Why the obsession with excessive speed? Surely it is only the incorrect and irresponsible misuse of speed, which can kill?
It is necessary to reduce both excessive and inappropriate speeds. Cameras are highly effective at treating the former; other measures such as traffic calming features are used to tackle inappropriate speeds.
A TRL report has stated that only 7% of crashes are due to excessive speed, whereas Government publicity says speed is a contributory factor in about a third of all crashes. Why is the Government so obsessed with speeding when it is bad driving that is the real problem?
The TRL report 323 'A New System for Recording Contributory Factors in Road Accidents' is about contributory factors in accidents in the context of a new accident data recording system being brought into STATS 19. Speed as a contributory factor is shown in the report to occur in about 7% of accidents, whilst the Government normally quote about one third. This apparent disparity can be explained. Excessive speed as a causation factor may be coded for any one of the following reasons:
• Excess speed for the limit
• Excess speed for the vehicle (e.g. LGV)
• Excess speed for the conditions
Although speed was not always shown as a factor in the trial schemes, which is what the report is about, speed is clearly a factor when the causes are shown as any of the following:
• Sudden braking
• Careless/reckless driving
• Following too close
• Behaviour - in a hurry
• Loss of control of a vehicle
• Poor overtaking, etc.
TRL has issued a statement in TRL News (September 2002) explaining that its report No. 323 has been misunderstood. A more relevant report that explains the speed - accident relationship is the Effects of Drivers' Speed on the Frequency of Road Accidents TRL Report No. 421. |
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