SPEED kills. Kill your speed! ran the national safety campaign almost two decades ago as two ghostly victims pointed accusing fingers at offending motorists.

It was a statement of the obvious but a worthwhile reminder of the potentially tragic consequences for pedestrians, other drivers and us of going too fast.

In the 17 years since, too many people have paid the price of ignoring that advice with the families of both roadside victims and speeders devastated.

At the same time cars have got safer and safer. Better brakes, better steering, better visibility, cars with built-in intelligence, crumple zones and less dangerous bumpers. The chances for drivers of first avoiding a crash and secondly surviving one have undoubtedly improved. Pedestrians and cyclists, of course, remain supremely vulnerable.

Unfortunately, during that period the ability to speed has also increased as even the least powerful moped or car gives a top speed beyond that of some ‘high performance’ models of the past.

But is that good cause to change the island’s speed limit? While logic dictates that the slower cars go the fewer fatalities there are, experience has shown that the worst accidents generally follow someone breaking the law and speeding.

It matters little whether the speed limit is 30 or 35 if the rider of the motorbike or the driver of the car is prepared the break that limit. At 50mph the risk of an accident and the likely impact is the same regardless of the notional speed limit.

Lowering the general speed limit, as seemingly advocated by some road safety activists, would be a futile gesture while cars are still capable of exceeding that limit and drivers are still minded to speed.

Rather than infuriate law-abiding motorists with pointless restrictions that force them to dawdle, the forthcoming review of speed limits would do better to acknowledge that few serious accidents are caused by drivers observing current limits.

Sensibly enforcing those limits and throwing the book at drivers who wilfully disregard them by driving at breakneck speeds is a far more effective and practical means of cutting the number of serious accidents.