Speed limit to be cut on A-roads in bid to save 1,000 lives

The speed limit on many A-roads will be reduced to 50mph under plans aimed at cutting the number of road deaths by a third.

Drivers also face limits of 20mph in residential zones, random breath tests and tougher fixed penalties for offences such as passing too close to a cyclist.

The proposals for ten-year safety targets are to be published today. It will be the first time that the Government has set a specific target for cutting road deaths – by at least 1,000 from the current 3,000 a year.

The default speed limit on rural single carriageway roads is likely to be reduced from 60mph to 50mph, with councils obliged to give good reasons for retaining the higher limit. It would become easier for local authorities to reduce speed limits on all residential roads from 30mph to 20mph. Councils would be under pressure to cut the limit to 20mph outside schools.

The Home Office would approve cameras that detect average speed, covering all exit and entry points to residential areas. The fixed penalty for driving 15mph over the limit would double to six points. The fine for failing to wear a seatbelt would double to £60. Drivers who fail to belt up could eventually be given three penalty points.

Police would no longer need to suspect that an offence has been committed in order to stop and breath-test a driver. Breath specimens taken at the roadside would become admissible as primary evidence in court, removing the need to carry out additional tests at a police station. Drivers would lose the right to demand a blood test.

The aim of several of the reforms is to make traffic policing more efficient, reducing paperwork and allowing officers to deal with offenders quickly.

Police would be able to issue fixed penalties for careless driving. Offences such as failing to signal or passing too close to a cyclist, which currently would draw a verbal warning, could result in a £60 fine and three penalty points.

Specific targets could be introduced for different users. Men aged 17 to 20 are almost ten times more likely to be killed or seriously injured behind the wheel than those aged 40 to 59.

The driving test would become tougher, with candidates required to follow road signs to a destination rather than take directions from the examiner. Candidates would have to prove that they followed a curriculum before taking a practical test. Completing the course and passing the tests would normally take about a year, effectively raising the driving age to 18.

Campaigners claim that the existing targets, based on reducing deaths and serious injuries, have only been met because police fail to record many serious injuries. Police say the number seriously injured has fallen by 40 per cent over a decade, although hospitals have reported only a modest change.

The Department for Transport may set targets for casualties per mile travelled by different modes. Cycling and motorcycling lobbies are concerned that targets based on absolute reductions fail to take account of increased mileage. Motorcycle deaths have risen sharply in the past decade but the death rate per mile has fallen.