Herefordshire residents slam calls to lower speed limits

A UK petition to cut rural road speed limits from 60mph to 30mph sparks debate in Herefordshire <i>(Image: Newsquest)</i>
A UK petition to cut rural road speed limits from 60mph to 30mph sparks debate in Herefordshire (Image: Newsquest)
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A proposal to cut national speed limits to 30mph on rural roads has sparked strong reactions.

Herefordshire residents have voiced their concerns after a Government petition called for single-carriageway speed limits to be reduced from 60mph to 30mph across the UK.

More than 4,000 signatures have been collected so far.

Geoff Lockwood, a Herefordshire resident, said: "Clearly these 'thousands of Brits' are cyclists who pay nothing to ride their cycles on the public highway."

Others fear the impact on journey times and driver fatigue.

Lisa Orr said: "So a 2-hour drive now takes 4, meaning more tired drivers on the road. That's such a great idea."

David Lear warned the change would hit the cost and efficiency of his work.

Mr Lear said: "So, for example, this week I’ve done 1200 miles so far. So that would have taken twice as long, so if everyone is happy to pay more for goods and services, no problem. That is the reality."

Some argue that speed isn’t the root cause of road danger.

Foko Stanilov said: "The problem is not the speed, it is the reckless driving. All of the European countries have higher motorway speeds, I won't even mention the German autobahn, where you have no speed limit.

"Accidents occur due to reckless driving not so much the high speed driving."

If the petition reaches 10,000 signatures by July 5, it will trigger an official Government response.

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