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Two-thirds of UK drivers admit to speeding

More than two-thirds (68%) of UK drivers admit to driving too fast on some journeys while one in 20 – equating to some 1.7 million drivers – speed all the time.

The HPI research finds 1.7m UK drivers admit to speeding on every single journey

The research, which was conducted by vehicle data expert HPI, surveyed 1,000 drivers and found only 32% said they never speed. That’s despite DfT figures that show speeding was a cause in 5.1% of motoring accidents in 2016, rising to 15% when looking at the number of fatal accidents.

The survey also highlighted some major knowledge gaps, including that 72% of the UK drivers questioned don’t know the speed limit of a single carriageway road for cars (43% thought it was 70mph, 29% thought it was 50mph – just 28% got the correct answer of 60mph). Meanwhile 49% were not aware that streetlamps with no other speed signal indicated that a 30mph applied.

The survey also found that the majority (65%) of speeders do get caught one way or another. According to the respondents, a temporary camera is the most common way to be caught, followed by a static camera. The biggest disparity between genders was being caught by the police – 9% of males were caught speeding by the police, in comparison to just 3% of females.

The study found that the most successful deterrents were:

  1. Speed bumps (38%)
  2. Speed limit repeater signs (19%)
  3. Static slow down signs (18%)
  4. Changes to the road (13%)
  5. Vehicle-activated displays, e.g. smiley face signs (9%)
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Natalie Middleton

Natalie has worked as a fleet journalist for over 20 years, previously as assistant editor on the former Company Car magazine before joining Fleet World in 2006. Prior to this, she worked on a range of B2B titles, including Insurance Age and Insurance Day.