Burton Mail

NO NEED FOR SPEED

Common excuses for breaking the speed limit include feeling "pressure from other drivers behind"

- By RICHARD AULT

ALMOST nine in 10 car drivers routinely break the speed limit when driving through 20mph residentia­l areas - but motorcycli­sts are more likely to go too fast on most roads. Figures released by the Department for Transport show half of car drivers (51%) went above the speed limit in a 30mph zone, while 48% drove too fast on a motorway, and 87% failed to stick to the limit in 20mph zones, for example outside schools.

Car drivers did find it much easier to stick to the national speed limit on single carriagewa­ys with one in nine (11%) going too fast.

But motorcycli­sts are more likely to go too fast than car drivers. Nearly six in 10 motorbike riders (59%) went faster than the speed limit on 30mph roads and on motorways in 2021, while 28% went faster than the national speed limit on single carriagewa­ys.

Van drivers were the next most likely to speed on 30mph roads (52%) and on motorways (51%).

The minimum penalty for speeding is a £100 fine and three penalty points added to your licence. Motorists who build up 12 or more penalty points on their driving licence within three years can be disqualifi­ed.

The data was compiled throughout 2021 following observatio­ns of hundreds of thousands of motorists on different roads. It also showed that 5% of car drivers (the most commonly observed motorists) broke the 30mph speed limit by at least 10mph, while 10% of motorway drivers hit speeds of at least 80mph. But only one in 100 cars went at speeds of at least 10mph above the national speed limit on single carriagewa­ys.

Common excuses given by speeding motorists included that they drove, “according to the speed of other road users”, that they “feel pressure from other drivers behind” or that the “speed limit is inappropri­ate” - a particular­ly common excuse in 20mph zones.

Drivers also admitted to not looking at the speedomete­r often enough, while others claimed it was sometimes safe to go faster than the speed limit, particular­ly if there were few other vehicles on the road.

The latest statistics suggest that the return to pre-pandemic levels of traffic has had no long-term impact on driver behaviour.

In 2020, car drivers were more likely to break the speed limit on 30mph roads (56%), motorways (53%), and dual carriagewa­ys (12%) than last year - but that is likely because fewer cars and other vehicles were on the roads because of the pandemic.

Since the roads have returned to normal, the proportion of people breaking the speed limit has dropped.

Average car speeds in freeflowin­g traffic - when roads are not disrupted by congestion, roadworks, traffic calming measures, or incidents - have remained stable over the last three years with little change even during the pandemic.

The latest figures show that last year car drivers drove at an average speed of 69mph on motorways, 51mph on national speed limit single carriagewa­ys, and 31mph on 30mph roads.

Motorcycli­sts were faster, with average speeds of 72mph on motorways, 55mph on national speed limit roads, and 33mph in 30mph zones.

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