More than 30,000 UK motorists were caught driving at 30mph or faster on roads with a 20mph limit last year, an investigation by the RAC has found. The figures, obtained via Freedom of Information requests to police forces, include extreme cases such as a driver clocked at 89mph on a 20mph stretch of the B5129 in Deeside, North Wales, and another caught doing 114mph on a 30mph road near a primary school in Aylestone, Leicestershire.
Fastest speeds recorded
The fastest speed recorded by police forces last year was 161mph, with incidents on both the A5 in Bayston Hill, Shropshire, and the M6 southbound between Stoke and Stafford. The RAC said the “chilling speeds” some people drive at shows they “remain oblivious to the incredibly severe risk”.
Data from 28 police forces that responded with comparable data shows 32,548 motorists were caught at 30mph or more on 20mph roads last year, meaning they were driving at least 50% faster than the legal limit. Across 33 forces, some 271,341 motorists were caught driving at 40mph or more on 30mph roads.
Widespread 20mph zones
Reducing speed limits to 20mph is becoming increasingly common across the UK and other parts of Europe. Wales has already adopted a 20mph default in built-up areas, and the Scottish Government has committed to implementing the same limit where appropriate. Some 62 out of 153 local authorities in England have also adopted similar policies. In London, Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan has made reducing speed limits a key policy, with more than half the capital’s roads now at 20mph.
However, the widespread implementation has drawn criticism. Location technology company TomTom blamed it for London being the world’s “slowest capital city to drive in”. Latest Department for Transport (DfT) figures show speed was a factor in 58% of fatal crashes on Britain’s roads in 2024.
Government response
The Government’s road safety strategy, published in January, includes a target of reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured in road crashes by 65% by 2035 and giving councils new guidance on setting limits on their roads. A DfT spokesperson said: “There’s no excuse for those who choose to speed and put lives at risk. While we have no plans to mandate speed control technology, our road safety strategy includes proposals to fit all new cars with systems that warn drivers when they exceed the speed limit.”
Recent case
A man was sentenced last week after being caught driving at 167mph while being pursued by police on the A55 near Bangor, North Wales, on February 23. Daniel Tunstead, 35, of Mond Road, Widnes, was handed an eight-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months and a three-year driving ban at Mold Crown Court. He had previously admitted dangerous driving, drug-driving and driving without insurance.
RAC calls for action
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. 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.”
Mr Dennis also called for the Government to give courts the power to order the most dangerous speeding drivers to have technology fitted to their vehicle that prevents them from breaking the limit again. This would involve mandating the use of intervening intelligent speed assistance devices, which actively stop a vehicle from exceeding the limit.
