Lockdown speeders ‘not driving faster’

A PUBLIC perception that speeding on Lancashire’s roads has worsened during the coronavirus pandemic has been called into question by data showing how fast drivers were travelling when caught by the county’s enforcement cameras.

Residents have registered over 1,300 complaints so far this year about locations where excessive speeds have been suspected. A meeting of Lancashire County Council’s internal scrutiny committee heard the monthly tally of concerns submitted by the public dropped to fewer than a dozen during the early days of the first lockdown - but has since “surged” more than tenfold.

A significant reduction in traffic volumes at the height of the pandemic makes it meaningless to compare the raw number of motorists snapped by speed cameras this year as opposed to last.

However, analysis of the speeds being reached by those drivers who have been captured breaking the limit since the spring shows that their feet have not been pressed any harder to the floor than fellow speeders in previous years.

Between 1st May and 31st October this year, there was barely any change in the severity of the speeding offences caught on camera compared to the same period in 2019.

The proportion of cases in which the driver was eligible for a speed awareness course - offered as an alternative to a fine and points to non-repeat offenders whose excess speed was below a set threshold - actually increased, albeit by a negligible 0.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the percentage of speeders caught going so fast they were prosecuted - rather than being given a conditional offer of a fixed penalty notice - also nudged up, but only by 0.4 percent.

Laura Jones, from the Central Process Unit at Lancashire Constabulary, said the statistics were “quite surprising” - and did not bear out the seemingly widespread belief much higher speeds were now being hit on the county’s roads.