Car Insurance - Pacts calls for lower local speed limit of 20 mph - 18/10/2007

In efforts to reach tougher targets on preventing road deaths and injuries, the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (Pacts) has recommended that motorists face a reduced speed of 20 mph in residential areas.

Cutting speed limits to increase road safety could lead to a decrease in car insurance premiums.

The Beyond 2000 driving report claimed that the proposal could cut road fatalities to 1,000 a year, down from the current annual toll of 3,100 people per year.

One motorists' group disagrees with the increased restrictions, however, and argues that a driver's skills on the road are more important in determining risk than simply the speed at which a person drives.

An Association of British Drivers (ABD) spokesman, Nigel Humphries, said that "concentration, alertness and observation are fundamental to safety" and that lowering the speed limit below "an appropriate speed" would actually endanger drivers.

ABD explained that Department of Transport (DfT) figures from 2006 showed that more drivers were killed or seriously injured in 20 mph zones rather than in 30 mph zones.

Drivers living in local areas where blanket speed limits are enforced could face alternative risks from lower speed limits if congestion resulting from slower speeds causes drivers to pay more in petrol and general costs, including car insurance.