Neil McNicholas: Should residents have the power to cut speed limits?

AS the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the 70mph limit on our roads approaches, the subject of speed limits has recently been discussed in Parliament.
Should communities have a greater say over speed limits?Should communities have a greater say over speed limits?
Should communities have a greater say over speed limits?

Scott Mann, Conservative MP for North Cornwall, has proposed a Bill which seeks to allow parish and town councils to hold referendums on establishing their own limits in response to local concerns over road safety issues.

Such a proposal – in terms of empowering local communities and authorities – reminded me of the situation in the United States. In the mid-1970s, the upper speed limit on major highways and freeways was reduced to 55mph in the face of the oil crisis and the need to help drivers to get more miles to the gallon by encouraging them to drive more conservatively.

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I think experience proved that the law was observed more in its breach, as they say, keeping highway patrols busy chasing down and ticketing law-breakers.

In more recent years, the federal government introduced legislation which allowed states to set their own upper speed limits though, in a case of the carrot and stick, there was initially a threat to withdraw federal highway funding for those states that elected to increase the 55 limit, but I think I’m right in saying that the stick was later withdrawn.

The highest speed limits are typically 75-80mph in western states and 70 in the east – probably reflecting the difference between the urban highways of the east and the wide open spaces of the west.

Some states have lower limits for trucks and for night traffic, minimum speeds may also be posted, and local areas may set lower than state-wide limits – which brings us back to the proposals set out by the Honourable Member for North Cornwall. “I have had a coherent message communicated to me from constituents, parish councils and schools, that the roads in their communities are becoming dangerous,” he reported.

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His Bill would give them the power to do something about it if a local referendum demonstrated a wish on the part of the people to reduce the posted speed limits. It would also make it possible in certain situations to actually raise limits.

This all sounds great in theory, but, like all democratically determined decisions, while the majority vote will hold sway, it could leave a lot of other people very dissatisfied. It perhaps raises the question as to who, exactly, might make such decisions.

For example, a choice to lower the speed limit in the area roads near a school might typically be made by the parents of children attending the school out of their concern for safety. But there could conceivably be a fall-out from that decision which affects drivers using those roads, factors not immediately apparent to those voting as parents or pedestrians.

The reverse may be true also. A local commuter community may vote to increase a local speed limit without being aware of the possible consequences – perhaps pedestrian-related or because heavy-duty vehicles may now start using that faster link.

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A local referendum would be an invitation to all voting-age members of the community to get involved in the decision-making process and help influence the traffic conditions within their neighbourhood; decisions, as they say, being made by those who show up, but (with rare exceptions) such decisions are not likely to please everyone.

There’s also the fact that if, for example, a decision on the speed limit needs to be taken that will govern a certain number of roads in a neighbourhood, is there a practical way of limiting the voting only to the residents of that area? And if such a situation was duplicated in a number of different neighbourhoods, would that make the process of registering and counting the votes cast impractical?

Does the argument, therefore, hold water that local people should have such decision-making extended to them, or might it rather be argued that we vote for the members of our local government precisely so we can get on with our lives and leave the decision-making to them?

And, of course, none of this would be necessary if drivers simply respected and observed the posted speed limits in the first place. Sadly the “I’m all right, Jack” mentality isn’t going to improve by reducing a 30 limit to 20 – though it might reduce the severity of the accidents that they may well cause. More effective policing might be a better answer.

Neil McNicholas is a parish priest in Yarm.