Roads: Speed Limits
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the national speed limit on rural single carriageway roads; and whether he has considered introducing a default speed limit lower than 60mph on unclassified rural roads.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood
The Road Safety Strategy published on 7 January 2026, commits the Government updating the best practice guidance Setting Local Speed Limits which outlines how local authorities may introduce lower limits on rural roads where appropriate. The most recent publicly accessible version of this guidance emphasises that Local traffic authorities have the power to introduce speed limits lower than the national limit where local conditions justify this.
The Road Safety Strategy also looks at exploring whether the proposed rural roads categories are appropriate at a local level and to assessing their potential for national application. Developing a much clearer and more consistent definition of what constitutes a ‘rural road’ could help target safety interventions more effectively, ensuring resources are spent where they can have the greatest impact.
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