Higher Speeds Not Accident Causes
Page 66
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kl.R. HAY rebutted a charge that his department were sending out circulars to local authorities, telling them " in rather an anti-speed-limit tone," to review the speed limits.
He did not accept this interpretation placed by Mr. Graham Page (Cons., Crosby) on the circular which the Ministry had recently issued, said Mr. Hay. "We have neglected no opportunity of drawing the attention of all road users to the importance of keeping to speed limits, because of , their road safety value."
Mr. Page had urged Mr. Hay to ask the Minister to do a little propaganda about the reduction of accidents which resulted from speed limits.
c36 Earlier the M.P. had been told by Mr. Hay that from a sample survey in the London traffic area the road research laboratory concluded that on roads previously without a speed limit personal 'injury accidents were 19 per cent. fewer than would otherwise have been expected after a 40 m.p.h. limit had been imposed.
On roads previously subject to a 30 m.p.h. limit the number of accidents had not been significantly affected by the change to the higher limit.
Asked to relate these figures to different categories of road user, Mr. Hay said there was no significant difference between the result's for different classes.