110 speed limit to stay, or not?

Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba claimed yesterday that the restrictions imposed on main roads and motorways earlier this year has resulted in a saving of 200 million euros in the months of March and April alone. “Provisional measure” When in March Rubalcaba had announced that the speed limit would be brought down from 120 kph, he gave assurances that the measure - to reduce spending on petrol and diesel - would be a “provisional” one which was related direcly to the rise in cost of fuel sparked by political turmoil in North African oil producing countries.

At the moment, calculations are that the restriction allows for a 15 percent saving in petrol spending and 11 percent on diesel. The Ministry for Industry, Miguel Sebastian explained that 50'000 million euros are spent on fuel every year in Spain and that the 200 million euros saving made over the first two months of the restriction means that this money has stayed in the country and can be used for investment. But Rubalcaba said yesterday that if the price of fuel goes down, the restriction will be lifted.

Meanwhile, the Traffic department has reported that due to the speed restrictions, fines which would normally have been imposed in March and April this year through radar speed traps fell by 47 percent as drivers were observing new limits. With lower speed, said the department, less accidents resulted.