No change to speed limits for cars after consultation, minister confirms

Speed limits for motorists will not be cut in the wake of a review, the Scottish Government has confirmed.

Ministers had been considering whether the national speed limit on single carriageway roads should be cut from 60mph to 50mph for cars.

Following a consultation which attracted more than 19,500 responses, it was announced on Monday that “ministers will not be taking forward changes”.

However, Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop said that work would begin on the “steps needed to increase HGV speed limits”.

The consultation also considered upping the speed limit for HGVs weighing 7.5 tonnes and over from 40pmh to 50mph on single carriageways, and from 50mph to 60mph on dual-carriageways.

Ms Hyslop said that this change is “expected to enhance road safety by reducing driver frustration” by reducing the difference in speed between HGVs and other vehicles.

Higher speed limits for HGVs will also improve journey time reliability, the Transport Secretary added.

She said that the National Speed Management Review provided “important evidence on how speed limits can help reduce road deaths and serious injuries”, with the work helping towards the Government’s goal of “making Scotland’s roads the safest in the world by 2030”.

While national speed limits will not be cut for cars on single carriageways, the Scottish Government plans further work to analyse the impact on road casualties and journey times of a speed limit change on different standards of single carriageway roads.

Ms Hyslop said that this would “inform any future transport policies”.

Adding that work will start now on “the steps needed to increase HGV speed limits”, Ms Hyslop said this was was based on consultation responses and “the positive results of similar changes” on the A9 road between Perth and Inverness, and in other parts of the UK.

She stressed: “We must never lose sight of the fact that one death on our roads is one too many. These proposals represent a vital step towards making Scotland’s roads safer.”

The Scottish Conservatives welcomed confirmation that the speed limit would not be cut for cars, with transport spokesperson Sue Webber stating: “Scrapping these unwanted plans is the right decision, but the SNP Government must now focus on fixing Scotland’s roads rather than wasting time and money on punishing motorists.”

The Tory MSP added: “Taxpayers will be rightly furious that hundreds of thousands of pounds have been squandered on this senseless idea, which would have penalised ordinary drivers without tackling either dangerous behaviour or the dangerous state of Scotland’s roads.

“The Scottish Conservatives campaigned from the start against these unevidenced proposals. The fact that the overwhelming majority of consultation respondents rejected the 50mph limit shows just how out of touch SNP ministers were.”

Ms Webber added that rather than “waging a war on motorists” the Scottish Government should instead deliver “long-overdue upgrades” to a series of “vital routes”, including the  A9, the A75 and the A77, in the south west of Scotland A96 and A90 in the east of Scotland.

The Road Haulage Association (RHA), meanwhile, welcomed the Scottish Government’s announcement on speed limits for HGVs.

Martin Reid, RHA policy director for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, said: “This is tremendous news for Scotland’s road haulage industry. We believe it will make these roads safer, reduce emissions and help regional and national economic growth.

“We know through the trial on the A9 that when the speed differential between cars and trucks is reduced it also reduces the likelihood of risky overtaking.

“We also know that lorries use less fuel and create fewer emissions when they can drive at 50mph.

“This change will also rebalance the competitive disadvantage faced by hauliers in Scotland, compared to those in England and Wales, because of the current 40mph trunk road speed limit.

“When journeys take less time, they create savings which can be passed on to customers, creating a positive ripple effect throughout the Scottish economy.”