A police and crime commissioner has apologised today after saying speed limits on motorways and main roads should be scrapped and skilled drivers allowed to drive as fast they like/
Stephen Bett, who is paid a salary of £70,000 as the independent PCC for Norfolk, was criticised after saying: ‘We ought to drive to road conditions rather than set limits.
‘The problem is there’s so many signs. You are driving along and you get mesmerised by them and you get situations where you get a 50 [limit], to 40, to 30 and it goes to 20 and back up again.’
‘If we’re going to do something about speed and villages, we ought to just take all the signs down and say all villages are 30mph, or whatever it’s going to be, and you drive on roads – like they do in Germany and Italy – as road conditions say.’
He added: ‘People say if people are going fast they will cause trouble, but a lot of people, if [the limit] was 70mph, would go faster anyway.’
When asked at what speed a driver could safely travel on an open road in the early morning, he said: ‘If you have got someone who’s a Formula 1 racing driver, well, you can go flat out.
If he was a racing driver and really good and had tremendous reflexes, probably as fast as the car will go.’
However, David Williams, chief executive of the Guild of Experienced Motorists, said: ‘Twenty-four per cent of road deaths are caused by inappropriate speed.
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'We need to protect innocent road users from people who think that they can drive faster, like racing drivers, on the highway. That just is nonsense.’
Kevin Clinton, head of road safety at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, added: ‘Abolishing speed limits is a daft idea.’
Speaking after the interview, Mr Bett, who was chairman of the Norfolk Police Authority for six years before his election last November, was unrepentant.
He said: ‘I do agree with those who believe we should revisit the upper speed limit of 70mph on our motorways and modern roads which have been built, along with vehicles, with safety in mind.
Mr Bett has said he agrees with those 'who believe we should revisit the current upper speed limit of 70mph on our motorways' and modern roads ‘Whilst this may be unpopular in some quarters, research would point to whether this could be universally acceptable. My comments were designed to provoke the debate.’
However, Mr Bett has today apologised for his remarks.
He said: ‘With hindsight, my message around the clutter of associated signage has been lost in my flippant comments about speeding.
‘I fully acknowledge that speed is regarded as a contributory factor in determining the outcome of collisions.
‘My comments were not meant to be offensive. I have been out with Roads Policing Officers, and I have lost a close personal friend in a collision, and therefore understand the misery and heartbreak that follow loss of life and serious injury on our roads.
‘I am supporting the Norfolk Joint Casualty Reduction Partnership (with Norfolk County Council) and this has contributed to a significant reduction in road deaths and serious injury casualties.’
Earlier this year, the Department for Transport published guidelines for local authorities to give them more flexibility in setting speed limits on local roads.