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Petition created to raise UK motorway speeds to 100mph

uk motorway m25 with cars

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A petition has been created to raise the UK motorway speed limit to 100mph, not only that, but the petition also calls for all dual carriageways to be raised to 80mph. The aim is to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion on some of Britain’s larger roads. But there are some concerns about raising the speed limit to such heights. 

Legal operations director speaks out on increasing speeds

Legal Operations Director at National Accident Helpline, John Kushnick, spoke to GB News about raising speed limits on motorways and dual carriageways. 

John Kushnick said: “Increasing speed limits on motorways and dual carriageways raises significant concerns regarding road safety. While superficial, it offers an opportunity to improve productivity and efficiency for some, it also heightens the risk of accidents and fatalities which, in reality, will reduce any such gains.”

This is true if you think about it, there were already a reported 1,711 fatalities on UK roads in 2022, a number that will surely increase with speed.   

The petition argues that car safety features have improved drastically since the 70mph speed limit was introduced 57 years ago, now we have features like Adaptive cruise control and collision avoidance systems. Well, we do if we don’t drive rust buckets made in 2004.

What effects would an increase in motorway speed limits have?

There are already enough accidents on the road today, increasing the speed limit will almost surely increase that number, but having said that, it’s well known that motorways are among the roads on which the least amount of accidents occur. However, it’s another reason for insurance companies to drive up premiums to more unfair and unjust heights, especially for new drivers. 
 
There will likely be an increase in road tax since the emissions of cars travelling 100mph are more than cars doing 70.  Not to mention the increased fuel consumption for everyone, probably driving up the fuel prices, the unseen effects of this could affect a lot of people who don’t particularly care about going 30 extra miles per hour on the motorway. 

Sign the petition?

motorway increase to 100mph petition at 25000 signed
motorway increase to 100mph petition at 25000 signed

As of the time of writing, the petition to increase motorway speeds to 100mph has over 25,000 signatures, which has already earned the response from parliament 10,000 signatures promises. The petition has until the 13th of June 2024 to reach 100,000 signatures, as that is the number required for the parliament to consider the changes. 

Do we think you should sign the petition? It depends if you think you can comfortably drive at 100mph and avoid an accident at that speed should it come to that. 

We personally think there is argument for both sides, but as John Kushnick said in his interview, “Instead of focusing solely on speed, investing in infrastructure improvements, public transportation, and promoting safer driving habits would be more beneficial for overall road safety and efficiency” We think that has a lot of merit too, not to mention the increased emissions that 100mph speed limits would bring.

Insurance is already high enough for young drivers, do we really want more accidents driving up the price of quotes more? 

 

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