New 60mph limits are being imposed on stretches of the motorway network, “to cut levels of nitrogen dioxide”, says Highways England.
Highways England is the state-run agency that promoted the use of hard shoulders – at some locations, can you believe, on bends. The result was 38 avoidable deaths and life-changing trauma to others involved. (Outgoing chief, Jim O’Sullivan, is on a salary of £456,727, with 63 other taxpayer-funded HE execs on £100,000+.)
So yet another layer of control and enforcement is coming into play. The intelligent move, of course, would be to bring highway law into line with Highway Code, which tells drivers to use the inside lane except when overtaking.
Moreover, a lower limit will make many drivers use a lower gear to maintain engine revs, and do nothing to improve air quality. Also, there is likely to be more braking, pumping more brake dust into the atmosphere.
When are the perpetrators of the lethal system – and by that I mean the entire traffic control system, not just this added insult – going to be named, shamed and face corporate manslaughter charges? No doubt, never.
