What real people think

What real people think

Annie Scott, teacher, and daughter Abbie
'It's ridiculous that more people don't support 20mph speed limits - I'm so disappointed.

'We have a 20mph limit around the school I work at and it makes the old 30mph limit seem like utter madness.

'It's also completely crazy that nine out of 10 drivers think three points or less is a suitable penalty for driving at 39mph in a 30mph zone. They're far more likely to kill a child at that speed and really need to think about that.'

Sarah Welford, sales rep
'My son is about to get his first car and we've insisted he take extra training before driving on the motorway.

'I also used to work for the police - it's horrendous what you read in witness statements, just horrible.

'Having said that, I think the motorway speed limit should be 80mph. It's just more realistic. It's probably bad judgement that causes most accidents on the motorway.'

Sergeant Paul Mostyn, traffic officer
'I once had to deal with five fatalities in one day - thank God it was a one-off. The last was when I was on my own on the M1.

'This chap hit the other car with such force it was like an explosion, like a bomb had gone off.

'I was 30 seconds behind the collision and the car was still rolling and smoking as I arrived - the mother screaming, the father dead in the seat next to her. There were two girls in the back. I kept one girl alive until the ambulance arrived, but the other had serious head injuries and died.

'I remember it all in detail, but losing 50% of your family in one go? They'll never get over that - these are human beings. That's what people need to understand - the consequences. Ask yourself if you can safely stop in the distance you see ahead, and if you can't, can you deal with the consequences?

'I'm not a hypocrite, I'm not on the nose of every speed limit, but I'm very aware of the impact of what I'm doing. People might disregard what I say because I'm a policeman, but I'm a human being as well. I'm a husband, a father, a driver and a motorcyclist, too.'

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