Appropriate speed : whose choice is it?

In October 1998 the British Government launched a review of speed policy. The challenge for the review is to establish what vehicle speeds are necessary to meet the wide objectives of the White Paper, the sustainability and acceptability of the measures needed to achieve them and what part speed limits play in this. The solution may appear to be simple - slow the traffic down! But by how much and where? Effects of speed choice on road safety and some of the wider impacts are discussed. Measures intended to influence driver behaviour could also have impacts both on local communities and on the nation as a whole in terms of the environment, the economy, health and social equity.