Personal Injury Solicitors

Transport Minister Robert Goodwill has announced a speed amnesty for secret service personnel, who will be allowed to exceed the speed limit on roads when carrying out their duties.

Officers working for MI5 and MI6 are currently bound by the speed limit however urgent the matter they are dealing with.

Currently, exemption from the speed limit is given to police vehicles, ambulances and fire engines.

Mr Goodwill has lifted the speed limit restrictions on MI5 and MI6 staff, but has stipulated they must take an advanced driving course in driving at speed before taking to the public highway.

It is likely speed limit restrictions will also be lifted on other vehicles carrying out work important to national security or dealing with emergency situations, including emergency vehicles carrying transplant organs and bomb disposal units.

Mountain rescue teams could also be given exemption.

The changes were introduced following consultation for the Department of Transport – people questioned about whether speed limit restrictions should be lifted for certain drivers were supported by 99% of respondents.

The increase in vehicles exempt from speeding restrictions on Britain’s roads poses questions about safety – road traffic accidents (RTAs) are now one of the main reasons for people making personal injury claims.

Road traffic accidents are also one of the main causes of brain injury among young adult males in the UK – and even a small increase in the speed of a vehicle in collision with a pedestrian or another vehicle can mean the difference between surviving the accident and not surviving.

Duncan Lewis Personal Injury Solicitors

Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors can advise on making no win no fee claims for compensation is you have been injured in a road traffic accident which resulted from the negligence or reckless of another road user.

For expert legal advice on making RTA claims, contact Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors on 0220 7923 4020.