§ Mr. SteelTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consultations he will be having with Ministers of the other European Community states in advance of 1992 on securing common speed limits on motorways.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyWe see no need for European harmonisation of speed limits on road safety grounds. We have made this clear in discussions with the European Commission and in the regular meetings of the Council of Ministers. We await Commission proposals for new road safety initiatives within the Community.
If our road casualty rate applied to the rest of the Community, 40 per cent. fewer people would die.
Our concern is to cut casualties, not harmonisation for its own sake.