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Tories pledge 80mph speed limit
By David Williams, Motoring Editor, Evening Standard Last updated at 00:00am on 01.07.03Motorway speed limits will go up to 80mph and the controversial M4 bus lane will be abolished if the Tories win the next general election.
The pledges will be announced by shadow transport secretary Tim Collins this month when the Conservatives unveil their transport agenda, stating they will be "the party of the motorist".
Mr Collins today attacked the M4 bus lane, introducedin June 1999 by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, as "a nonsense generating congestion". He is pledging that the Tories - who have already opposed congestion charging - will end what they describe as a "political war" against motorists and scrap "schemes that deter car use", including unnecessary road humps and road tolls.
The Conservatives say they will scrap speed cameras in all but genuine accident blackspots.
Mr Collins said: "We will stop the practice of raising money from cameras for police to buy more cameras that encourage unsafe slow-down-speed-up driving and increase exhaust pollution."
He said the Tories would raise motorway speed limits "where appropriate", adding: "The present motorway 70mph limit could go up to 80mph. Simultaneously some other speed limits could come down."
The party is also considering nighttime speed limits "where appropriate and safe for vehicles to be driven faster on virtually empty major roads than during the day when they are busy".
They will review traffic-calming road humps after London's ambulance chief claimed they caused more deaths than they prevent, and Barnet council announced it was committed to removing humps in the borough.
Mr Collins said: "In 2001 not one inch of tarmac increased England's road network, for the first time since tarmac was invented in the 1860s. Yet UK taxpayers contributed to improving roads in Scotland, Ireland, Italy and elsewhere-in the EU - even in Iraq. People should not be made to feel guilty when they need to get behind the wheel."
He said the Tories would allow a "mature and realistic" transport debate that would address risks on road and rail. "Rail crashes occur worldwide and are tragic, and action is taken to prevent recurrence," said Mr Collins. "But, put into perspective, more people die on roads with less outcry.
"We have a clear objective to speed up journeys. UK commuters take longer to get to work than in any other EU state.
"We will look at lifting unrealistic motoring restrictions that do not necessarily improve safety but can even increase accidents."
