Speeding driver clocked at 151mph on M62 during lockdown

Police forces across the UK have caught drivers speeding during the lockdown, with one driver breaking the legal limit by 81mph and another clocked doing 108mph in a 40mph zone.

The freedom of information (FOI) request to all British police forces reveals that 20 police forces reporting offenders travelling at speeds in excess of 100mph.

“Some of the speeds police forces have caught drivers doing are truly shocking,” said RAC road safety spokesman Simon Williams.

“At such high speeds there is virtually no time to react should anything unexpected happen in front such as a car changing lanes at the last second or a vehicle having to brake suddenly.”

The worst incident of speeding during the first three weeks of the lockdown was recorded in West Yorkshire, with a driver clocked travelling at 151mph on the M62 motorway – 81mph over the speed limit.

The second fastest speed recorded was on the A14 in Suffolk, where a motorist was clocked at 140mph.

Five forces – Northamptonshire, Gwent, Staffordshire, Kent and Humberside – all caught motorists driving at speeds in excess of 130mph on the motorway and three others – Police Scotland, the Met and Lancashire – recorded drivers at speeds in excess of 120mph.

Derbyshire’s fastest offender was clocked at 108mph, but that was on a stretch of the M1 with a 40mph limit - 68mph above the speed limit.

The only other force whose highest speed was in a 40mph limit was Bedfordshire – here the driver was clocked at 104mph on Airport Way in Luton.

Only three forces saw their worst speeding offences occur in 50mph limits, with South Wales Police clocking a driver at 108mph on the M4 at Port Talbot.

Four constabularies captured their worst speeding offences in 60mph limits with a driver in West Mercia snapped at 92mph on the M5 between junctions five and six.

Just one force – Durham Constabulary – caught their fastest speeder in a 30mph limit (44mph).

Williams said: “Clearly, some drivers have taken advantage of quieter roads to speed excessively putting the lives of others at risk at the worst possible time,”

Nationally, the first three weeks of the coronavirus lockdown still produced 17,363 speeding offences in 30mph limits (from the 30 force areas which responded to the FOI submitted by the RAC) compared to 40,497 in the same period in 2019.

“While the most of highest speeds were recorded were on motorways, some occurred on roads with much lower speed limits, which is an even greater concern,” continued Williams.

“The figures for speeding offences on 30mph roads are particularly worrying as far more people have been walking and cycling due to the lockdown.

“As some schools and nurseries in England begin to open their doors from this week, there will be even more pedestrians on the roads, so we urge every driver to obey the speed limit and keep all road users safe.”

Separate data from VisionTrack’s IoT platform shows that fleet and road transport drivers are among those speeding during the lockdown, with overall incidents increasing by 2.6% despite a 22.6% reduction in the number of miles driven.

Greater Manchester Police, which did not respond to the RAC FOI, said it has caught 6,200 drivers breaking the speed limit since Monday, March 23.

It has seen an 57% increase in vehicles travelling above the speed limit over the first few weeks of the lockdown and other forces have reported similar problems.

One driver was recorded at 115mph on a 40mph road in Greater Manchester – 75mph above the limit.

Joshua Harris, director of campaigns for the road safety charity Brake, said: “Lockdown has shown the value people place in quieter, safer streets and we must do all we can to maintain this momentum, starting with setting an example to those who brazenly flout the law and endanger lives.”

The RAC’s freedom of information request was sent to all police forces in England, Wales and Scotland. In total 30 forces provided data.