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Wales urged to opt out of 80mph motorway speed limit
Tue, 24 Jan 2012

A coalition of Welsh organisations is urging Wales to snub UK proposals to increase the motorway speed limit to 80mph.

The UK Government is launching a public consultation on raising the motorway speed limit from 70mph to 80mph by 2013, arguing that increased car safety and technology means that 70 mph is no longer a necessary limit to maintain reasonable safety.

However, a report from Sustainable Transport Cymru (STC) argues that increased speeds will result in more accidents, higher casualty rates and increased carbon emissions . The STC, a coalition of 25 organisations from the private, public and voluntary sectors, highlighted an editorial published recently in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) which opposed the speed increase.

The BMJ said: "It is intuitive that higher speeds will result in more collisions and that collisions at such speeds are likely to result in more serious injuries and deaths, a perception supported by the evidence. However, the health consequences extend beyond road safety. They include greater emissions and consequent air pollution, and, potentially, rising levels of obesity as a result of increased car use among those taking advantage of shorter journey times."
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