By Nick Assinder BBC News Online political correspondent

But Michael Howard is no fool - and he clearly thinks he is on to something here.

Motorists fined for speeding might have to pay an extra fine

Needless to say, the opposition leader is not encouraging motorists to break the law, but his proposal to raise the motorway speed limit to 80mph may well prove a vote winner with the motoring lobby, which is huge, loud and increasingly active.

Time and again, politicians are told that motorists feel they are being treated like pariahs - somewhere between heroin addicts and perverts - or instant cash dispensers.

Minor offences

They complain about escalating taxes on motoring that are not then used to improve the roads network but seen as a punishment for their filthy, polluting habit.

They whinge about local authorities sending out teams of militant traffic wardens charged with the task of raising as much money as possible even from the most minor offences.

And they are fed up with being told to get out of their cars and onto buses and trains that either don't exist or are simply glorified cattle trucks.

Speed cameras are a bone of contention

Most recently, they have joined a national campaign against the hated speed cameras, also seen simply as a means of squeezing more money out of them.

So it is a pretty safe bet that anyone who comes along and offers to give them a break will attract support.

And the Tory proposal will be widely welcomed by many motorists.

There has long been an argument - dismissed by the department of transport - that raising the speed limit on motorways will increase traffic flow and ease congestion without a consequent rise in accidents and deaths.

But, as with all policies concerning motoring, it is not as clear cut as that.

Congestion charge

And even the most hard line petrol heads accept that the UK needs a more comprehensive, thoughtful set of policies on transport aimed at balancing individual freedoms and choice with sensible measures to reduce pollution and tackle congestion.

And, as London Mayor Ken Livingstone appears to have shown, there are some superficially unpopular policies which can work.

The London congestion charge was greeted with any number of predictions of Armageddon. Yet most agree it has been a success.

And, of course, the Tory proposals are more complex than simply raising the speed limit on motorways.

They suggest a wide ranging review of all speed limits, which could see them reduced even further in some heavily populated areas.

It is a hugely risky area to get into - as former Transport Secretary John "two Jags" Prescott discovered to his cost.

But politicians on all sides appear to have agreed that doing nothing is no longer an option.

Doing something that does not then lose you votes is the trick.