Terrifying speeds recorded by police, say RAC

On 30mph roads, a speed of 95mph was recorded at around 3pm by a driver in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset and by another on a stretch of the A5 east of Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire. Elsewhere, a speeder was clocked at 80mph close to schools in Culcheth, Cheshire at around 3pm, and another at 79mph just after 4pm on a road in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.

Again, higher speeds still were recorded by other forces on roads at night – such as 111mph on the A3400 in Hockley Heath in the West Midlands, and 109mph on the B6145 in Bradford.

In total, across 33 UK police force areas, 271,341 drivers were caught driving at 40mph or more on 30mph roads – speeds of at least 33% higher than the posted limit – while across 28 forces 32,548 drivers were caught at 30mph or more on 20mph roads.

When it comes to the highest overall speeds last year, vehicles were recorded travelling at 161mph by police forces on the A5 in Bayston Hill, Shropshire and on the M6 southbound between Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford. Other drivers were caught at 160mph on the M6 in Cheshire, 158mph on the A14 in Suffolk and 155mph on the A38 Sutton Coldfield bypass in the West Midlands.

Speed has for a long time been one of the main factors in fatal collisions on Great Britain’s roads. Official data for 2024 – the latest year data is available – shows that speed was a factor in most (58%) fatal collisions, with drivers or riders exceeding the speed limit behind a fifth (20%) of all such collisions.

In the same year, 185 people lost their lives where breaking the speed limit played a role. Such collisions are most likely to take place in the summer months and on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Previous RAC research found that four-in-five drivers said they regularly see people driving at excessive speeds on 20mph and 30mph roads, while 55% said they believe there is a ‘culture of speeding’ in the UK.*** Separate research last Autumn found that 86% of drivers polled support new measures to combat excessive speeding, of which 55% strongly support action.

The RAC recently responded to several Government consultations following the publication in January of the Road Safety Strategy, the first in over a decade. It has welcomed commitments to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on the roads by 65% by 2035, and the acknowledgment that excessive speeding should not go unchallenged.

Two thirds of motorists (66%) back reducing the motorway speed limit to 60mph to save fuel during the current oil crisis, according to new research.

July’s Startline Used Car Tracker shows 47% agree we need to find ways to cut petrol and diesel use, 37% believe fuel shortages are a possibility, and 16% think reducing the speed limit by 10mph will hardly affect journey times.

However, 21% say there are better ways to use less fuel, 14% that it is an imposition on their driving, and 10% the potential for fuel shortages is overhyped.

Paul Burgess, CEO at Startline Motor Finance, said, “Cutting the motorway speed limit is an idea from the Institute for Public Policy Research, designed to be a simple way to cut fuel use both by individual drivers and overall.

“The public backing for this is perhaps surprisingly high and shows people are willing to modify their behaviour in order to try to conserve petrol and diesel, and even help contain prices at the pumps and head off the possibility of fuel rationing.”

The Startline Used Car Tracker also asked respondents whether the oil crisis had made it more likely that their next car would be electric, with 54% agreeing.

Paul added, “There is already some evidence that consumers have been looking more favourably on used electric cars since the onset of the fuel shock and going electric is certainly a good way of insulating yourself from the worst of pump price increases.”