70 mph petition

The Motor Sport / Motoring News petitions against the 70 mph speed limit on motorways proved enormously popular, and we are pleased to announce that a total of 70,000 signatures was amassed. The petition forms were to be presented by The Earl Howe to Mrs Lynda Chalker at the Department of Transport on December 21st, and we will carry a photograph of the occasion in the next issue.

The Editors of both journals would like to thank all the readers who completed the petition forms, and asked their friends, colleagues and acquaintances to support our cause.

Mrs Chalker is to receive a report on all speed limits any day now, with a view to making any changes that are deemed desirable, so we feel that this is our best — perhaps our only — chance to have the motorway limits revised upwards. It was on the recommendation of the Police authorities that she has revised the speed limits on certain roads for commercial vehicles, on the grounds that the present limits are widely ignored and are difficult to enforce, and we hope that equally enlightened thinking will be brought to bear on the 70 mph limit for cars.