A SYSTEM of variable speed limits was introduced on the M1 motorway today.

The Highways Agency has installed dozens of digital speed limit signs on overhead gantries between Junctions 6A and 10. It claims the system, already in place on the M25, will reduce the risk of crashes and cut congestion.

The signs, which advise drivers of the legal maximum speed are controlled by a series of sensors that calculate the optimum limit required to keep traffic flowing.

Hertfordshire Constabulary will enforce the new limits and has the power to fine anybody found exceeding them.

John Dutson, of the Highways Agency, said: “The controlled motorway system will bring great benefits to drivers on this busy section of the M1.

“On the M25, where the system has been in place since 1995, it has helped to make the motorway safer by reducing the frequency of collisions by ten per cent and by encouraging drivers to keep within the speed limits to provide smoother, more reliable journeys during peak times.”