Speeding Offences Reach Six Year High
Speeding offences reached a six-year high last year, according to figures released by the Department for Transport. There were 2.2m prosecutions for speeding offences in 2016, compared with 1.6m in 2011 – nearly a one-third increase.
Jason Wakeford, director of campaigns for road safety charity Brake, called the figures “highly concerning”. He said: “Driving is unpredictable and if something unexpected happens on the road ahead, such as a child stepping out from between parked cars, it’s a driver’s speed that determines whether they can stop in time and, if they can’t, how hard they will hit.”
“Last year, excess speed contributed to almost a quarter of all fatal crashes and urgent action is needed. Brake is calling for increased enforcement by the police, a default 20mph limit in all built-up areas and ‘Intelligent Speed Adaptation’, which helps drivers stay within the limit, to be fitted as standard to all new vehicles. “These measures are essential to lowering the increasing number of needless deaths and serious injuries on UK roads.”
But while the number of speeding offences went up between 2011 and 2016, department figures also showed that the number of offences for dangerous, careless or drunken driving decreased.
In 2011, there were 276,000 recorded offences, as opposed to 179,000 in 2016, representing a 35 per cent decline.
