Ministers to look at 80mph limit

29 September 2011 Last updated at 12:30 ET

The Department of Transport is to launch a consultation on increasing the speed limit on Britain’s motorways from 70mph to 80mph.

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said the current limit, introduced in 1965, was out of date “thanks to huge advances in safety and motoring technology”.

The consultation begins this year with a view to raising the limit in 2013.

The Department for Transport says as many as 49% of drivers flout the current 70mph limit.

Mr Hammond said Britain’s roads “should be the arteries of a healthy economy”.

“Now it is time to put Britain back in the fast lane of global economies and look again at the motorway speed limit which is nearly 50 years old, and out of date thanks to huge advances in safety and motoring technology.

“Increasing the motorway speed limit to 80mph would generate economic benefits of hundreds of millions of pounds through shorter journey times.”

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