Rural A-Roads Need Speed Limit re-think

15 November 2009

Speed limits on rural single-carriageways must reflect the “risk of the road” to give drivers a clear signal of the hazards they face, says The Road Safety Foundation - which manages the work of the European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP) in the UK and Ireland.

Speaking at the RoadSafe supported 3^rd Annual Road Safety Expo in London on 12 November, Dr Joanne Hill, director of the Road Safety Foundation, and John Dawson, Chairman of EuroRAP, highlighted the need to take action to reduce road deaths and serious injuries, and give broad support to a reduction of speed limits from 60mph to 50mph.

As part of its own campaign to help road users to gain greater understanding of the relative dangers of different types of route, the Road Safety Foundation is currently running an online survey to find out how much drivers know about road safety and what action they take to keep themselves safe.

The Road Safety Foundation will, next month, announce its star-rating of the Highways Agency’s A-road network. Dr Hill says: “We will work with government – and local authorities - to make sure that road users are made aware of high risk roads; the timescales for remedial action; and how effective that action will be.