Brussels threat to British speeds
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• Motorway speed limits for lorries and coaches in the UK may be reduced under an EEC Commission plan just published in Brussels.
The proposals call for a common speed limit of 120 kilometres per hour (around 75mph) for all cars on EEC motorways but, according to the Commission paper, the limit for lorries and coaches "should be significantly lower", although a precise figure has not yet been suggested.
Europe's transport commissioner Stanley Clinton Davis wants this limit to "reflect the increased impact and braking energy of heavier vehicles and also their reduced manoeuvrability — all critical factors for road safety."
In Britain at the moment there are no significant differences between the legal motorway speed of cars, coaches and lorries. Coaches and cars share the same maximum limit of 112kph while in all other EEC countries coaches must be driven at lower speeds.
The maximum motorway speed for hgvs in the UK is 97kph, close to the legal limit for cars.
Commissioner Davis says the proposed 120kph limit should not be a rigid rule for all stretches of motorway.