Off limits

I AM amazed at the news that the UK government is launching consultation on the possibility of raising motorway speed limits to 80mph (your report, 1 October) at a time when we are being encouraged to switch away from declining non-renewable sources of energy

This is proof, surely, of what I have long suspected, that the Conservative Party is the prisoner of the oil lobby.

In the US and Canada, both countries where the car is king, the blanket national speed limit is 60mph, or the metric equivalent. So far as safety is concerned, I would sooner drive in the rush hour through Toronto on the 12-lane Highway 401 than through the Glasgow area on the M8. A friend, now domiciled in Canada, refuses to drive in the United Kingdom. Anyone pointing out that European speed limits are higher than in the UK should take heed of comparative accident and death statistics before advocating a higher limit here.

What we ought to have is a reduction in the limit to 60mph, with both linked speed cameras and on-the-spot fines.

(Rev) L W THORNE

Chatton Walk

Coatbridge