§ Mr. Biffenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has yet come to any conclusion on the future of the overall 70 miles per hour speed limit.
§ Mr. PeytonI have decided, in consultation with my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Wales who have Statutory responsibility in those countries, to make no alteration in the 70 m.p.h. limit. In coming to this decision I have had in mind the fact that higher speeds would almost certainly result in greater numbers of more severe accidents. Problems of enforcement at a higher level coupled with the fact that the rate of fatal and serious accidents on motorways increased sharply in 1969 have confirmed me in the view that it would be wrong to change the limit now.