The Government is calling for councils to carry out speed limit reviews of their rural roads by 2011, focussing on National Speed Limit single carriageway ‘A’ and ‘B’ roads where 41% of fatalities occur.

 

Local authorities should consider reducing the limit on the most dangerous roads where this will have a significant impact on casualties, said the Department for Transport.

"These decisions remain entirely for local authorities to make based on their knowledge of local roads," it stressed.

IAM Fleet and Drive & Survive welcomed the move, saying it supports clear guidance to councils which gives them the flexibility to implement local solutions for local road safety problems.

“Most road accidents are caused by drivers making mistakes at speeds below the speed limit, and it would be naive to assume a speed limit reduction alone will totally remove all deaths and injuries from our roads," Neil Greig, IAM director of policy and research.

"Better driving standards and road awareness as well as improvements in road engineering would make the most sustainable differences.”

There have been over 2,500 deaths on the road in the last year, one-in-three of those deaths is somebody driving to or for work.

IAM Fleet and Drive & Survive urged employers to educate their employees on driving safety.

Driver behaviour is a key factor in causation of road deaths, it said.

“Driving behaviour encompasses many different facets including attitude, perception, skills levels, knowledge, and experience," said Greig.

"These all need to be addressed when it comes to reducing business driver risk. Employers have a duty of care to their employees.

"They need to be aware of the wider behavioural issues that can lead to them being involved in a collision.”