Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of any increase in road accidents resulting from the heavy goods vehicle national speed limits on dual carriageway roads increasing from 50 to 60 miles per hour.

The Government conducted an impact assessment on raising the national speed limit for heavy goods vehicles over 7.5 tonnes on dual carriageway roads. The impact assessment has been deposited in the libraries of both Houses, and has been published on the GOV.UK website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/increased-speed-limit-for-heavy-goods-vehicles-over-75-tonnes-dual-carriageway.

The impact assessment estimates that raising the heavy goods vehicle national speed limit to 60mph on dual carriageways will not result in actual changes in heavy goods vehicle speeds, because these vehicles already travel at the same speed on motorways (with a 60mph limit) as on dual carriageways, and it is implausible that they would choose to drive faster on dual carriageways than on motorways. It is therefore not expected to have any impact on road safety.