RAC calls for new measures to tackle speeding on the roads

A Freedom of Information request revealed that was the worst speeding offence on a 30mph road and in a 20mph zone a driver was clocked going above 50mph.

Neither of the locations where the speeding offences happened were disclosed.

The RAC found that seven-in-10 police forces caught drivers travelling at twice the speed limit or more on 30mph roads last year, new data analysed by the RAC has found.

One driver was caught at 89mph on a 20mph stretch of the B5129 in Deeside, north Wales; another at 114mph on a 30mph road in Aylestone, Leicestershire – the latter close to a primary school, although the driver was caught in the middle of the night.

Other shocking examples of truly excessive speeds on 20mph roads in the daytime included someone clocked at 64mph at around 10.45am in Halifax, West Yorkshire, a 60mph speed recorded in Southport in Merseyside, and a driver logged at 48mph in Alderley Edge in Cheshire around 3pm.

Even faster speeds were recorded in the middle of the night by forces in other parts of the country, including 72mph in Holland Park in London and 68mph on the B3122 in south Bristol.

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 per cent 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.

The Bolton News has previously reported that Bolton has among some of the highest numbers of injury collisions on the roads, including fatal crashes.

Work is being done to reduce the number of crashes by all the emergency services, including dramatic d emonstrations of what they face when called to a crash.

RAC senior policy officer Rod Dennis said: “Our analysis shows some of the frankly chilling speeds some people are prepared to drive at – and these are just the cases the police are aware of.

“The fact that some were recorded in residential areas, even near schools, in daytime hours when others might well have been using the roads, underlines just how dangerous this kind of behaviour is.

“Such roads will almost certainly be well used by pedestrians and cyclists, so it doesn’t bear thinking about what travelling at such high speeds could have led to.

“There is a lot of work to be done.

“Despite drivers and riders exceeding speed limits being a factor in an increasing number of fatal road collisions, it’s clear that some people remain oblivious to the incredibly severe risk that driving too fast poses.

“The latest official data shows there were more than 300 fatal collisions in just one year where speeding was a factor – tragedies which are, on the whole, entirely avoidable given speeding is a choice the driver makes.

“We very much look forward to the Government’s response to its consultations on the Road Safety Strategy.

“New casualty reduction targets and an update to councils on setting local speeds are welcome, but a greater focus tackling the problem of excessive speeding and repeat offending is also desperately needed.

“Together with the Stop Excessive Speeders campaign, we therefore strongly urge the Government to introduce Intervening Intelligent Speed Assistance technology – which can prevent a vehicle from exceeding the limit – to reduce the number of drivers on our roads that puts all of us at risk.”

National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for roads policing Chief Constable Jo Shiner said: “The fact that a majority of drivers now believe there is a culture where speeding is acceptable reflects a deeply embedded issue in driver behaviour.

“We must reset expectations and make it clear that safe, lawful driving is a shared responsibility.”