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A FOI request has revealed the top speeds that the UK’s police forces have caught drivers travelling at.
Leicestershire police recorded the highest speed, with a car doing 167mph on a stretch of the M1 motorway. That’s a whopping 97mph over the speed limit, which is the national speed limit for a motorway (70mph).
The largest difference between the speed recorded and the speed limit was 161mph on a 50mph road in Somerset.
A “league table” of top speeds recorded in a 30mph zone for each police force has been released following a freedom of information request by the RAC.
In a 30mph zone, the greatest speed recorded was 122mph in South Yorkshire.
Our own district, the West Midlands Police, detected drivers doing 100mph in a 30 zone.
Wales introduced a new 20mph limit on many of their roads in 2023. The 20mph limit applies to all restricted roads, which are defined as roads with lampposts placed not more than 200 yards (about 180m) apart. They are typically located in residential and built-up areas of high pedestrian activity.
Despite their efforts to limit drivers speeds, North Wales Police recorded a vehicle driving at 88mph along a 20mph road, doing more than four times the limit.
RAC road safety spokesman Rod Dennis said:
“Although this data is a snapshot, it shines a light on the incredibly dangerous actions of a few, that are putting law-abiding road users at serious risk.
Thankfully, the police were on hand to catch these drivers. There is no place for the vastly excessive speeds that some people are prepared to drive.
While some speeds were recorded in the middle of the night when traffic will have been lighter, this isn't always the case – some of the fastest drivers were clocked at other times of day when they'd have been sharing the roads with many others.
Speed is the leading cause of deaths on UK roads. We look forward to the Government's forthcoming road safety strategy understanding what can be done to reduce such avoidable casualties on the UK's roads."
