Vehicle Speed Compliance Statistics, Great Britain: 2018

These DfT statistics measure speed and compliance at sites where the road conditions are ‘free flowing’ – for example roads with no junctions, hills, sharp bends, speed enforcement cameras or other traffic calming measures.

The statistics show that during 2018, 87% of cars exceeded the speed limit on roads with a 20mph limit – with 22% breaking the limit by more than 10mph.

However, the DfT acknowledges that free flowing conditions are not typical of most 20mph roads and as a result, must be interpreted with additional caution.

Single carriageway roads where the national speed limit applies (60 mph) had the highest levels of compliance, with only 10% of cars exceeding the limit. However, this figure represents a 1% rise on 2017 when only 9% exceeded the limit.

On motorways, 46% of cars exceeded the 70mph speed limit, with 11% exceeding it by more than 10mph. These figures show a year-on-year fall, compared to 48% and 12% respectively in 2017.

On 30mph roads, 52% of cars exceeded the speed limit, with 5% exceeding it by 10mph or more – 1% fewer than in 2016.

The DfT says the figures are not representative of the level of speeding across the whole road network – which it would expect to be lower.