Britain wants drivers to slow down

LONDON, April 21 (UPI) -- The British government plans to cut speed limits on rural highways and give lower governments more power to reduce limits on other roads to cut traffic deaths.

The aim is to reduce the number of people killed in car crashes by 1,000 a year, The Times of London reported.

One of the major steps is reducing maximum speed on A roads from 60 mph to 50 mph. A roads are single-carriageway trunk roads with the most famous being those radiating from London like the A1 to Edinburgh and the A2 to Dover.

Local councils wanting to maintain a higher speed limit on a rural road would have to justify it.

Other steps include greater use of cameras to monitor speed and stiffer penalties for speeding and for driving without a seat belt. Police would be able to stop suspected drunken drivers who have not committed any traffic violation.

Driving tests would also become harder.