News: Higher fuel prices and speed cameras rein in speeding drivers

CONGESTION AND roadworks can reduce traffic to a crawl on motorways but away from these irritations and on rare, free-flowing stretches, fewer drivers are breaking the speed limit as the growing number of speed cameras and higher fuel prices begin to bite.

Figures from the Department for Transport show that 47% of drivers exceed the 70mph limit on motorways, compared with 57% a decade ago. The figure is the lowest since the DfT began publishing the data in 2002.

The number of “extreme speeders”, drivers travelling faster than 80mph on motorways, also fell from 20% in 2003 to 12% in 2013.

Away from motorways and on urban roads, drivers also watched their speeds with the proportion of speeders breaking 30mph limits falling to a record low of 46%.

Experts said the high cost of fuel and the proliferation of speed cameras had helped deter speeding all on roads.

Extreme speeders continue to plague the UK’s roads, however. Last week, Driving reported new police figures for the period April 2013 to May 2014 which revealed how some motorists have been clocked driving at speeds far in excess of the prevailing limit.

For example, one motorist was clocked by a fixed camera driving at 96mph in a 30mph limit near Gateshead.