A police and crime commissioner in the UK has proposed scrapping speed limits in the country to force drivers to focus harder on road conditions.
Norfolk PCC Stephen Bett (pictured main) has told the BBC he believes a plethora of road signs are failing to contribute to safer driving.
“The problem is that there are so many [road] signs drivers get mesmerised by them,” said Bett. “If we are going to do anything about speed and villages we ought to take down all the signs and say all villages are 30mph [48km/h] and you drive on roads like they do in Germany and Italy, as road conditions say.
“While speed may be a factor in many accidents, I believe it is inappropriate speed that is the main contributory factor. We need a common sense approach to simplify regulations and limits for drivers and reduce the need for all these changes of speed limits.”
Bett, in further comments reported by the UK’s Daily Telegraph newspaper, said he supported a move to increase the 70mph [113km/h] speed limit of British motorways.
The British Government has been considering a higher limit of 80mph [129km/h].
UK motoring organisations have dismissed Bett’s comments, with the Guild of Experienced Motorists describing them as “just nonsense”.
