Trials of the proposed new 80mph motorway speed limit could start next year, road safety minister Stephen Hammond has confirmed.
In an interview with Auto Express, Hammond said that despite recent reports that the Government had scrapped plans for an 80mph limit, an increase is still on the agenda.
Three trials of the new 80mph limit are expected to be carried out in 2014 and if they are successful the limit could be rolled out nationwide.
Hammond told Auto Express: "It is not dead. We are thinking about it; we are thinking about how we could trial it rather than go to a consultation.
"I think it would be important to have a good evidence-based trial."
The plan to raise the motorway speed limit was first put forward during the previous Labour government and gained momentum when the plan was launched officially by then-transport secretary Philip Hammond in 2011.
However, the plans have since moved down the Department for Transport's list of priorities under current Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin, who is said to be 'cooler' on the issue.
The plans have come under criticism from road safety campaigners. Brake, the road safety charity, argues it will lead to more deaths and serious injuries on motorways.
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