Organisation: Department for Transport
Date uploaded: 16th September 2020
Date published/launched: September 2020
This statistical release presents estimates of compliance with speed limits in free-flowing conditions on roads in Great Britain.
These are based on speed data from a sample of DfT’s Automatic Traffic Counters (ATCs), chosen to exclude locations where external factors might restrict driver behaviour (e.g. junctions, hills, sharp bends and speed cameras).
The statistics provide insights into speeds at which drivers choose to travel when free to do so, but are not estimates of average speeds across the whole network.
The 2019 data shows that the proportion of cars exceeding the speed limit in free-flowing conditions has remained broadly stable since 2011.
In 2019, approximately half of cars were found to be exceeding the speed limit on motorways (50%) and 30mph roads (54%). At 9%, the figure was much lower on national speed limit (60mph) single carriageways.
Looking at more extreme incidents of speeding, the proportion of cars exceeding the speed limit by more than 10mph was 12% on motorways, 6% on 30mph roads and 1% on 60mph roads.
The average car speeds under free flow conditions were close to the speed limit on motorways (69mph) and 30mph roads (31mph) – and under the speed limit on 60mph roads (50mph).
The figures also show that 86% of cars exceeded the speed limit on roads with a 20mph limit – with 20% breaking the limit by more than 10mph.
While these figures may seem alarming, the DfT stresses that free flowing conditions are not typical of most 20mph roads and as a result, must be interpreted with additional caution.
External links: Access the statiscal bulletin via the GOV.UK website