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UK speed limit petition gathers pace

A petition against the British government proposal to reduce the national speed limit from 60mp/h to 50mp/h (96km/h to 80km/h) has gained over 20,000 signatures to date, and is currently the fourth largest petition on the website of the Prime Minister.


The government has reducing the national speed limit on safety grounds, but the Association of British Drivers vehemently opposes the proposal which it says serves no positive purpose whatsoever and will act only to retard journeys, reduce attentiveness, and further increase contempt for the law.

The ABD went on to say that the government is being influenced by a 1998 proposal from the 'Friends of the Earth' group who said, "Speed limits should be made very low and rigidly enforced to take all the glamour out of motoring".

ABD Spokesman Nigel Humphries said, "This proposal has nothing to do with road safety, and nothing to do with protecting the environment, it is born of the anti-mobility ideology of new-age Luddites who don't even drive."

ABD Chairman Brian Gregory said, "I call upon all of Britain's 33 million drivers to sign this petition to allow them to continue to be vigilant when driving, rather than be sent to sleep by these absurdly low speed limits."

Which brings us to our 'Poll Position' question this month about raising Australia's speed limit to 140km/h.

Would higher speeds, on appropriate roads of course, help drivers feel less frustrated, more alert and in turn reduce accidents? Do you think a petition would work in this country to up the speed limit accordingly?

It's a very interesting discussion, and one we invite you to participate in via our comments section. The best comment found could be in the running to win our Comment of the Month and a $50 fuel card.

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