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M5 crash reopens speed limit debate
Wed, 09 Nov 2011

The tragic crash on the M5 in Somerset recently which left seven people dead and over 50 injured has reopened the debate on whether it’s safe to raise the national speed limit on motorways to 80 mph.

Six weeks ago, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced that it would launch a consultation for the limit to be raised on motorways in England and Wales by 10 mph. The 70 mph was first introduced in 1965, however, former Transport Secretary Philip Hammond described the limit as out of date because of great advances in safety and motoring technology . According to the DfT, up to 49 of drivers disregard the limit already.

Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents spokesman Jo Bullock said: "We have said from the beginning that we would not support an increase in the speed limit. Higher speeds mean less time for motorists to react to what happens around them. Our concern is that there will be more serious accidents."

Brake senior campaigns officer Ellen Booth added that the government’s policy needn’t be increasing the number of unnatural, man-made deaths.
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