Ministers had been planning to cut the national single carriageway limit from 60 mph to 50 mph, and considering a reduction in the 30 mph limit for built-up areas. They are due to publish their reviews on speed and road safety in the next few weeks - but under pressure from the prime minister's press secretary Alastair Campbell they have decided to leave any potentially controversial decisions to local authorities. Lord Macdonald denies any interention by Downing Street On BBC Radio 4's Today programme the Transport minister Lord Macdonald repeatedly refused to answer a question about whether the plans had been dropped. A government spokesman said ministers were still committed to new policies on the management of excessive speed, which the government's White Paper on transport last year acknowledged as a serious problem for people living near main roads, and for pedestrians - particularly children. Britain has one of the worse records in Europe on child road casualties - around 5,000 children are killed or seriously injured on the roads every year.
Ministers appear to be prepared to sacrifice children's lives to win motorists' votes.
But experts are dubious about the effectiveness of the policy. If it is given to councils without a very clear mandate from government with targets for improvement, this policy initiative is likely to add up to very little. The new scheme will also cost taxpayers more. If the government had carried out its original idea to make the national limit 50 mph, with exemptions for trunk roads, only the trunk roads would have needed special signs. Now that policy has been reversed, every non-trunk road in the country will need to be specially signed if traffic speeds are to be cut.