Ministers are poised to abandon plans to introduce a new 80mph speed limit on Britain?s motorways amid fears the move could lead to more accidents.

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Patrick McLoughlin, the Transport Secretary, is determined to make road safety a greater priority and does not want to implement the 80mph proposal he inherited when he took over the job last September.

Increasing the motorway speed limit by 10mph from its current level of 70mph was first suggested under Labour and was pursued with vigour by Philip Hammond, who, as transport secretary, launched the plan officially in 2011.

Mr Hammond claimed the move would reduce congestion and boost the economy by ?hundreds of millions of pounds?. However, road safety campaigners and environmental groups attacked the proposal.

Brake, the road safety group, warned that there would be more deaths and serious injuries on motorways with an 80mph limit.

David Cameron and George Osborne, the Chancellor, are both understood to be ?agnostic? about raising the speed limit and Mr McLoughlin is understood to believe there is no significant support for it within the cabinet, apart from Mr Hammond, who is now the Defence Secretary.



A coalition source said: ?There is no imminent announcement of a U-turn, but rest assured, there is no way Patrick {McLoughlin] is going to preside over a raising of the limit on motorways. You are likely to hear official confirmation later in the year.?

Campaigners said bringing in the 80mph mark would mean that the ?de facto? limit would be 90mph ? because under guidelines normally applied by the Association of Chief Police Officers a motorist will not face prosecution unless caught driving at 10 per cent plus 2mph above the limit.
Britain?s speed limits are lower than many other countries in Europe. France and Italy both impose a maximum of 81mph, while Germany has no restriction at all.
Half of all motorway drivers currently break the 70mph limit, according to recent studies.