The speed reduction campaign 20’s Plenty is calling for a cut in limits during the Coronavirus crisis to reduce the burden of road traffic accidents on the NHS.

It wants limits on national roads to be cut from 70 or 60 to 50 mph, while it says all urban roads should be cut to 20.

It points to figures suggesting that in England alone there are around 35,000 non-fatal admissions to hospital every year related to road traffic accidents with more than one in 10 of these serious and likely to require intensive support, including anaesthesia and surgery.

It says lowering speeds will significantly reduce this.