DECEMBER 22, 1965

It definitely wasn’t the Christmas present fast drivers wanted.

On December 22, 1965, the powers-that-be gave them a temporary 70mph speed limit.

The experiment was due to last four months, but would be made permanent in 1967.

A century earlier, an 1865 law had restricted motor vehicles to 4mph, and half that in residential areas.

In 1935, a 30mph limit had been introduced for built-up areas – something we still have today – but on the open roads, things were becoming extremely dangerous.

Clearly, cars in the 60s might have looked very trendy but few could really go that fast.

In the summer of 1964, however, a team from AC Cars met at the Watford Gap on the M1 and conducted some speed tests.

A snazzy Cobra Coupe GT, being readied for racing at Le Mans, was pushed up to 185mph, the highest-ever British motorway speed.

Alas, within months, everyone was doing silly speeds, the number of crashes was on the rise, and that law change came in.

We can only guess how many crashes – and deaths – have been avoided.