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>> Tom Cohen: The government is going to consult on the proposal
to increase the speed limit in England and Wales
from 70 to 80 miles an hour.
I'm a PhD student here at the Centre for Transport Studies
at University College London and I have a particular interest
in citizen participation
which is why I initiated a citizens jury on the subject
of motorway speed limits.
Now the idea of a citizen jury is
to gather a demographically representative sample
of the British people and present them
with expert evidence on a topic of social importance.
We've come across five arguments that have been used to date
by the government in the information
that has been published so far about the idea
of increasing the speed limit.
The first relates to the greatly increased safety of vehicles
since the limit was imposed in 1965
and the considerable reduction in deaths
on British roads over the same period.
The second is an argument in favour
of considerable economic benefits arising
from an increased speed limit.
A third talks about compatibility
that the UK would resemble more some
of its European counterparts if it had that speed limit.
And the fourth talks about finding the best balance
between cost and benefits
and 80 miles per hour being presented as that.
The fifth argument is that millions of motorists
who are currently exceeding the speed limit would be brought
back within the law.
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>> Ben Heydecker: There are many risks associated
with increasing the speed.
There's safety.
There's increase in pollution, increase in petrol usage
and interestingly enough,
because of reduced travel times we believe
that people will choose to travel further and that
in itself will increase the exposure to risk
and a number of accidents.
So far as safety is concerned,
increasing speed almost always leads to increase in casualties.
Any crash that happens the higher the speed,
the greater the risk of injury.
There is almost certainly no congestion benefit
of increasing the speed limit.
When the traffic's heavy, it's the presence of other vehicles
that limits drivers' speeds.
So drivers might wish to go faster but they can't
because there's other traffic in front.
Changing the speed limits will allow some drivers
to drive faster when the traffic's light.
>> I don't see any point in changing it.
>> Against raising it.
>> So I don't drive any faster than I already do.
So my behaviour as a driver is not going to change.
>> Tom Cohen: People's opinions became more skeptical concerning
the arguments that have been put forth supporting an increase
to 80.
Two of the three groups arrived at the conclusion
that the speed limit should stay at 70.
One suggested 80 but insisted
that it should be enforced at 80.
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Having done it, we talked with officers at the Department
of Transport who are working on this project in readiness
for the beginning of the consultation.
And they were very glad to hear what we had to say.
They found what we told them very interesting
and asked lots of questions.
So hopefully this citizen's jury hasn't simply been an
interesting exercise for our own benefit but has also,
to some extent, informed the thinking
of the Department for Transport itself.
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