1.7m drivers speed on every journey

By Matt De Prez

20 March 2019

More than 1.7 million drivers exceed the speed limit on every car journey they make, equates to around 5% of all motorists, according to new research from HPI.

The study also revealed that two thirds (68%) of Brits admit to speeding on at least some of their car journeys and a quarter (28%) speed on at least half.

The findings also highlighted that there are some major knowledge gaps when it comes to speed limit awareness. Almost three-quarters (72%) of UK drivers don’t know the speed limit of a single carriageway road.

Fernando Garcia, consumer marketing director at HPI Check, said: “With so many drivers on the road in 2019, it’s hard to believe how many are not abiding by the law when it comes to speed. Speed limits should always be treated as a matter of paramount importance and ignoring them could risk safety on the roads.

“What stood out to us the most, was the shocking stat that a large majority of drivers do not know the correct speed limit for single carriageway roads. It’s important to remember that safety is vital on the roads, and we would recommend that all drivers brush up on their speed limit knowledge where needed.”

Department for Transport data revealed that between 4am-5am is most likely hour for drivers to speed, whereas 4pm-5pm was found to be the least likely hour.

Drivers were also more likely to speed during morning rush hour (50.1%) than evening rush hour (46.7%) – which was the least likely time overall.

HPI conducted a further study and found that the most common place for drivers to speed is in 20mph limits. On faster roads the instance of speeders was less common.

The study found that the majority (65%) of speeders do get caught, with a temporary camera being most common way.

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Author: Matt De Prez

Senior staff writer

matt.deprez@bauermedia.co.uk

Matt has been an automotive journalist for eight years. As senior staff writer he is responsible for the automotive content on Fleet News and also contributes to Automotive Management. Prior to this, Matt worked in the automotive industry for 10 years.

Comments (5)

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Bill - 20/03/2019 11:32

So, I guess that just goes to prove that speeding doesn't kill.
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Laird Assessors - 20/03/2019 12:22

Does this not suggest that the limits impose in the Sixties are not as relevant to the significantly safer vehicles around today?
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Joe Whittaker - 20/03/2019 14:47

There is one simple answer and that is adaptive speed limiters. Until they come along then cars need to be speed limited to a national speed limit which has been in place for some 40 years. The BBC should re-purpose Top Gear to [pardon the pun] drive home better messages than that programme delivers presently.
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Anon - 21/03/2019 11:20

What stood out to us the most, was the shocking stat that a large majority of drivers do not know the correct speed limit for single carriageway roads. it's not that shocking at all. I'm regularly stuck behind someone who thinks it's 40 or 50.
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Alicia C Mitchell - 08/11/2019 11:43

20 mph is way too slow and bad for motor vehicles! 30 to 40 are reasonable for A - roads. Come on, it create more pollution in very short span of time.
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