The message is inscribed on a hundred village name signs: Please Drive Carefully. Unfortunately the entreaty is often ignored.

Many motorists, frustrated by the crawl through urban congestion, cannot resist the urge to put their foot down in the countryside. Those open lanes seem to be an invitation to open the throttle.

As a result the peace and safety of the countryside is shattered. Rural speeding is now such a problem that nearly 70 per cent of people feel threatened by traffic on country lanes.

This widespread anxiety was uncovered through a survey by the Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE). It also found that an overwhelming 91 per cent of people want the speed limit to be cut on country lanes.

At present, the national speed limit for a single carriageway applies: 60mph. That is inappropriately fast for the blind bends and narrow roads encountered in rural areas. And strong anecdotal evidence suggests that this limit is regularly and significantly exceeded.

Respondents to the CPRE survey want the limit cut to 40mph, or even 20mph. Seven out of ten would also support the creation of quiet lanes, where walkers, cyclists and horse riders would be given priority over the car.

If the Government ignores these findings, the problem will only worsen. It is self-perpetuating: people who fear the traffic on country roads will take to their cars rather than risk walking or cycling. The lack of public transport accelerates this trend.

Cutting speed limits and changing priorities are both good ideas. But they will be meaningless gestures without enforcement. The reason so many drivers break the existing speed limit on rural B-roads is because they know they can get away with it: the chances of being caught by the police are negligible.

It is vital, therefore, that measures to back up the slower speed limits are introduced. These could include regular, high profile police speed traps, with signs warning motorists that the roads are regularly monitored. The worst stretches could be watched by closed circuit television cameras. Elsewhere new road safety technology, such as rumble strips, should be deployed.

Reducing speed limits will signal to motorists that rural roads are not a racetrack. Enforcement measures will encourage them to stick to the new law. But ultimately it is down to each individual driver to take responsibility for their actions - and slow down.

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