Government ditches plans to raise motorway speed limit to 80mph amid safety concerns and fears it will alienate women voters
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin says the plan is 'not a priority'
It was launched with fanfare in 2011 amid claims it would boost economy
But polling shows significant numbers of women were against the move
By Damien Gayle PUBLISHED: 09:01, 22 June 2013 | UPDATED: 09:01, 22 June 2013
Plans to raise the motorway speed limit to 80mph have been consigned to the slow lane amid fears it may alienate women voters and increase risks on the road.
The policy was launched with a fanfare in 2011 by then transport secretary Philip Hammond, who claimed the 70mph limit had been 'discredited' and a rise to 80mph would boost the economy.
But Patrick McLoughlin, who now fills the Cabinet post, says the move is no longer a priority.
Cars whizz along the M25: A plan to increase the motorway speed limit to 80mph, first mooted just two years ago, has been ditched over fears it would increase risks on the road and alienate women voters
Cars whizz along the M25: A plan to increase the motorway speed limit to 80mph, first mooted just two years ago, has been ditched over fears it would increase risks on the road and alienate women voters
The decision will anger many drivers who, polling shows, mostly want higher speeds, but it has already been welcomed by road safety groups and environmental campaigners.
In an interview with The Times today, Mr McLoughlin said the plan had been ditched.
'Look, that's not a priority, to be absolutely honest,' he said. 'You would have to do trials in certain areas so it's not something that's a high priority.'
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A source close to the Transport Secretary told the newspaper: 'This is not going to happen with Patrick McLoughlin as Transport Secretary.
'Safety is paramount to him and his view of how to run the roads and he would not be confident about how you would do it.'
'Safety is paramount to him': Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin, who said the plan to increase the limit was 'not a priority'
'Safety is paramount to him': Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin, who said the plan to increase the limit was 'not a priority'
The Prime Minister's inner circle is said to fear that an increase in the speed limit could alienate women voters. Polls have shown a majority of drivers would support the move, but significant numbers of women were against it.
Mr Hammond had originally announced the plan at the 2011 Tory party conference, saying the 70mph limit had resulted in millions of motorists routinely breaking the law, undermining the principle of policing by consent.
He said: 'The limit was introduced way back in 1965 - when the typical family car was a Ford Anglia.'
He claimed a rise to 80mph would 'restore the legitimacy' of the system and benefit the economy by 'hundreds of millions of pounds'.
Former roads minister Mike Penning last May said he would set up trials for the higher speed limit on parts of the motorway network, and only last week Stephen Hammond, his successor, told a motoring forum the plan was still alive.
The RAC said it was disappointed with the decision to drop the speed limit increase. Motoring groups had argued that 80mph is a safe speed in a modern car, providing drivers leave enough room between vehicles.
But last year campaign groups estimated that raising the motorway speed limit to 80mph would cost society an extra £1billion a year, including £766million in fuel bills and more than £62million in health costs.
The groups, which include road safety charity Brake, the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) and Greenpeace, also estimated that the higher limit would lead to 25 extra deaths and 100 serious injuries a year, as well as 2.2 million more tonnes of carbon emissions.
Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said: 'The real stumbling block is likely to have been enforcement.
'Police already tend to give speeding drivers some leeway, so it was quite feasible that an 80 mph limit would have actually meant 90 mph in practice and that proved a step too far for ministers.'
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On Sky News in 2 hrs on this ... Wholeheartedly the biggest WRONG reason to cancel this trial.