Speeding responsible for 20,000 casualties a year

Nearly 20,000 people a year are injured in speed-related incidents on British roads.

Government data from 2012-2016 (the most recent data available) shows that there were a total of 97,256 speed-related casualties – equivalent to 53 every day.

Almost 18,000 of those were fatal or classed as serious and speeding was the second-most deadly contributing factor over the last five years, responsible for 2,101 deaths. Only “loss of control” (2,561) was responsible for more deaths.

The number of speedingrelated crashes resulting in death or serious injury has risen slightly over the past five years, by one per cent, as overall collision rates have fallen 14 per cent.

The Department for Transport figures cover not only vehicles breaking the speed limit but also those deemed by police to have been travelling too fast for the road conditions.

In total there were vehicles 62,901 such incidents over the five years - accounting for one in nine of all collisions.

Britain’s worst speeding casualty regions are the West Midlands and South West, where nearly a fifth (18 per cent) of all casualties resulted from speeding motorists. Unsurprisingly, these regions are also the two with the highest proportion of speed-related crashes, with one in six due to speeding.

London has the lowest proportion of speed-related casualties (nine per cent) and the lowest proportion of speed-related crashes (eight per cent).

In Scotland there were 6,532 speed-related casualties in 4,437 incidents over the reported period. They accounted for 13.4 per cent of all road casualties slightly higher than the UK average of 12.0 per cent.

The analysis of the DfT by Direct Line Car Insurance showed that only four per cent of speed-related collisions occurred on motorways, with A roads accounting for more than two fifths (43 per cent) of all incidents.

Rob Miles, director of car insurance at Direct Line, commented: “It stands to reason that the greater the speed at which you are travelling, the less time you have to react in an emergency. This is why speeding is one of the leading causes of accidents on Britain’s roads, as well as the reason behind why these accidents are also more likely to cause serious harm to those involved.

“It is vital people modify their driving for the road type, visibility and conditions. It is also important that no matter how safely you are driving, others may not be as careful so leave sufficient space between you and the car in front so you can safely stop if needs be.”

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