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Half of Drivers Exceed 30mph Speed Limits
14 September 2020
The Department for Transport (DfT) has updated its Vehicle Speed Compliance Statistics (SPE) to include data from 2019.
The DfT updated a series of reports relating to speed compliance in Great Britain, the broadest of which is the SPE0112 report, of which the findings are cause for concern. It showed that 54% of car drivers were exceeding 30mph speed limits in 2019, a fifth of whom were recorded at speeds over 35mph. Worse still, 6% of these offenders were caught at 40mph or more.
A further 50% of drivers were recorded exceeding the limit on 70mph motorways. Though, interestingly, only 9% went over the 60mph limit on single carriageways in the same year.
The DfT’s SPE0115 report showed that the percentage of drivers exceeding the speed limits in 2019 was relatively consistent for each speed limit, on different weekdays. However, percentages appear to rise over the weekends, with motorways seeing an increase of 10% between Friday (45%) and Saturday (55%). Single carriageways increased from 8% on Friday to 11% on Saturday, and 30mph roads were up 5% from Friday to Saturday with 52% to 57% respectively.
According to the DfT’s SPE0113 report, time of day is also a contributing factor to the rise and fall of the percentage of people exceeding speed limits. The data from 2019 revealed that speeding was more common in the early hours of the morning, and late at night.
On 30mph roads, speeding peaked at 4:00am, with 81% of drivers exceeding the limit at this time. The lowest recorded percentage of speeding on these roads was at 3:00pm, with 49%. Of all road types, single carriageways maintained the lowest percentages of drivers exceeding the speed limits, peaking again at 3am and falling at 10am, with 29% and 6% respectively.
The RAC commented, pointing out that, “Statistics from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) show that speeding contributes to 11% of all injury collisions reported to the police; 13% of crashes resulting in a serious injury and 21% of collisions that result in a death”.
Simon Williams, spokesperson for the RAC, said, “These statistics are alarming.
“We know that during the days of strict lockdown there was a real prevalence of speeding in built-up areas. Breaking speed limits is illegal and puts everyone using the road in danger. It’s vital the Government’s review into road policing addresses the elephant in the room – a lack of enforcement.”
Road Safety Minister, Baroness Vere, said, “Speeding is illegal, reckless and puts people's lives at unnecessary risk. That is why there are tough penalties and strict enforcement measures in place for those who disobey the law.
“We know it's just as crucial though to change attitudes that lead to dangerous driving.”
Risk management is important to us at Marshall leasing, so we have our own Telematics service called MarshallMatics that allows clients to track driving behaviour and improve safety. If you would like to know more, please don't hesitate to contact us on 01480 414541.
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