This paper examines the range of responses to one of the recommendations made in the PSI (Policy Studies Institute) research report 'Danger on the road: the needless scourge' (see IRRD 276490), and further discussed in the subsequent PSI Road Safety Conference (see IRRD 810546). It sets out the grounds for proposing top speed governors and speed alerting devices as potentially major contributors to traffic law enforcement, and thereby to accident prevention. It discusses the nature of the objections that have been raised to their adoption and concludes that none has sufficient substance to justify not doing so. It therefore suggests that there is now an alternative policy approach to the current one for minimising the number and severity of road casualties attributable to speed. It is no longer necessary to rely on improvements in vehicle handling and crashworthiness and on appeals for higher standards of driving - and on the law-abiding instincts of most drivers.
Abstract