A petition against a government proposal to reduce the national speed limit has gained over 20,000 signatures [1], and is currently the fourth largest petition on the website of the Prime Minister. [2]
The government have proposed reducing the national speed limit on single carriageway rural roads from 60MPH to 50MPH. this will be achieved at little cost by simply redefining the black diagonal on white circle sign on single carriageways to mean 50MPH instead of 60MPH.
The Association of British Drivers vehemently opposes the proposal as it serves no positive purpose whatsoever, and will act only to retard journeys, reduce attentiveness, and further increase contempt for the law. We believe the mindset that is driving this proposal is that of 'Friends of the Earth' who in 1998 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."
A recent plethora of speed limit reductions in Warwickshire were mostly opposed by the police who said they were not necessary and they didn't have the resources to enforce them anyway. Despite this Warwickshire County Council went ahead with the reductions. Needless to say they are treated with the contempt they deserve by many drivers.
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."
1. The Petition - http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/noNSLreduction/
2. Petition Website Home Page - http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/
The Association of British Drivers is run on a voluntary basis to lobby for the beleaguered British motorist: "Reclaiming the roads for the people who pay for them" "Demanding proper roads (and railways) in exchange for paying one seventh of all taxes" "Debunking the nonsense you hear about the environmental impact of the car" "Promoting effective road safety instead of the criminalisation of safe driving"
General enquiries and membership: membership@abd.org.uk
