Liz Truss open to turning UK motorways into German-style autobahns

As the conservative party chooses a new leader, something that will result in a new Prime Minister of the UK, both candidates have weighed in with their views on transport policy. For her part, Liz Truss has said she is willing to look at making motorway speed limits “advisory”.

Speaking in the closing stages of the Conservative party selection process, Truss told an audience of tory members at the last hustings in Wembley on Wednesday night that she was “prepared to look at” introducing a German-style system of motorways with no speed limits.

In doing so Truss would be going far further than the current Germany autobahn system, which is mainly limited to 130km/h in normal conditions, but with some unrestricted highways. However, speed limits are regularly enforced across the country outside the unrestricted parts of the autobahn system.

Both candidates also pledged to dispatch with the UK’s Smart motorway network, with Truss saying “the experiment hasn’t worked” and adding: “I absolutely think that we need to review them and stop them if they are not working as soon as possible…and all the evidence I have suggests they’re not working”. Fellow finalist Rishi Sunak said Smart Motorways are “unsafe”, according to the Daily Telegraph.