Government on Speed - Many Die
The Grim Reaper
No. 27 in a never-ending series. Spring 2000
The Government are to be congratulated for their courage in fighting off an attempt by lily-livered campaigners to force even lower speeds on innocent motorists without whom the economy would grind to a halt.
My friend and confidante, Edmund King, publicity officer for that august and liberal organisation, the Royal Automobilist Club hit the nail on the head when he said, Pedestrians have had it all their way for far too long. They don't pay road taxes, but they benefit from pavements and traffic lights. The jaywalk with impunity. Whilst motorists are endlessly hectored on the dangers of drunken driving, pedestrians have a free rein to drink and walk often putting responsible motorists at risk through their unpredictable behaviour. It's time the government stopped vilifying the motorist and recognised that faster speeds can often help skilled drivers to accelerate out of dangerous situations, thereby avoiding injjury to themselves.
So-called 'green' campaigners had hoped that Tony Blair would cave in to their dempands that 70 mph limits would be reduced to 50, and 30 mph be reduced to 20. Fortunately, Tony Blair has listened to the lobby of common sense in his promised review of speed limits. He has increased them. Tony Blair has shown himself to be a strong prime minister, never one to be bullied by a voval minority, whether on the issue of bloodsports, student fees, or disintegrated transport, he can always be relied upon to listen to the voice of the right-thinking majority.
Whilst we are all pedestrians for some of the time, most of us are motorists for most of the time, so we all celebrate the governments refusal to further curtail the freedom of the innocent motorist by making our already stressful journeys even slower.
But it is the Association of Chief Police Officers to whom we owe the greatest debt. They have confirmed an increase in urban speed limits from 30 to 36 mph, and an increase on rural roads from 60 to 69 mph. Motorway speed limits are to rise to 80 mph after a long campaign by the RAC and ex-Tory shadow transport minister and driver's friend, John Redwood. As I glance at my speedometer it is with relief that I can inform you that a police association spokesperson said, There have to be margins of tolerance because car speedometers are not entirely accurate, and indeed speed detection equipment has be been exactly precise.
It seems to the Grim Reaper that the only fact that we can be entirely certain about is that 3500 people die each year and 250,000 are injured on Britain's roads each year, but I am relieved to say that these are not victims of responsible drivers such as you and I.
Should you have the misfortune to be caught on the speed camera for exceeding the new enhanced speed limits, rest assured that our judiciary will come to your defence. A new lefal ruling allows car owners in Scotland to refuse to tell police who was behind the wheel at the time of any driving offence, as a judge ruled that compelling motorists to disclose the information on threat of prosecution wsa a breach of their human rights as it contravened the right to silence enshrined in European law. This renders evidence from speed cameraas useless. If the ruling is not successfully challenged in Scotland it is anticipated that its effects will be felt in the rest of the UK later this year.
Can't wait.
Speed responsibly...
The Grim Reaper
