Revealed: the speed camera that catches most drivers
UK motorists pay more than £45m a year in fines, with one device snaring 49,000 cars over the limit
THE speed camera that catches the most drivers in the country is on the A40, new research has revealed.
The data also showed that UK drivers are paying £45.7 million in speeding fines per year, according to Confused. com, which obtained the figures through a Freedom of Information request to police.
Over a 12-month period, 1.74 million speeding offences were captured by cameras, with more than 49,000 of these caught by a camera on the A40 – more than double the figure for any other camera in the same year and far greater than the number caught in any previous years.
The list of the 10 worst sites for speeding drivers also includes a camera that was featured in a similar list of the most active cameras compiled by Gocompare.com in 2018 – Junction 19 on the M4. Data compiled by Confused. com in 2017 also highlighted the camera between junctions 19 and 20 as the most prolific speed camera in the country, catching out more than 40,000 motorists in under three years.
In 2021-22, it was the cameras on the A40 in north-west London leading into the capital that caught the most drivers, while other busy motorways such as the M4, M5 and M6 also have some of the most active cameras, as do several trunk roads.
The data showed that of the 1.74 million motorists who were caught, only 457,232 drivers were forced to pay a £100 fine and receive three penalty points on their licence, while 698,115 drivers opted to take speed awareness courses instead, which typically cost around £100 but do not involve penalty points.
Further research by Confused.com showed that 44 per cent of drivers admitted they had received a speeding fine in the past. Nearly a quarter – 24 per cent – who had been caught speeding had faced a fine.
Nearly a third of those caught claimed they did not realise they were over the speed limit, while more than a fifth said they knowingly broke the limit because the road was clear. One in six offenders – 17 per cent – said they were speeding to reach their destination more quickly.
Edmund King, president of the AA, said that the use of speed cameras was widely accepted but that it was important cameras were targeted where needed, such as at crash hotspots, adding that “eight of 10 drivers actually accept the use of speed cameras”.
Hugh Bladon, 81, from Weston-supermare, a founding member of the Alliance of British Drivers, said that speed limits were still too low. He said: “Every road has an appropriate speed according to the time of day and the conditions.”