Seventeen out of twenty motoring offences are for speeding27 Dec 2019

Nearly 2.4 million speeding offences detected in 2018-19 in England and Wales

Some 2,386,780 speeding offences were detected in England and Wales in 2018-19.

This was a rise of 4% on 2017-18 when the number stood at 2,292,534.

It is a 37% rise on the 1,740,217 speeding offences detected in 2011-12.

The total number of all motoring offences detected across the two countries in 2018-19 was 2,837,661, meaning speeding accounted for 84% of them.

Of the 2,386,780 speeding offences detected in 2018-19:

  • 44% resulted in the offender being sent on a speed awareness course
  • 34% attracted fixed penalty notices (FPNs)
  • 12% were later cancelled
  • 10% resulted in court action

The headline figure for those caught speeding hides large variations between constabularies.

The analysis – based on Home Office data and carried out by Dr Adam Snow of Liverpool John Moores University and Doreen Lam of the RAC Foundation – showed that West Yorkshire topped the list with 181,867 people caught speeding in 2018-19.

Second was Avon and Somerset (159,210) followed by the Metropolitan Police, including City of London (157,494).

At the other end of the scale Wiltshire Constabulary caught only 807 people speeding, Cleveland caught 11,937 and Derbyshire 12,256. Wiltshire turned off its speed cameras in 2010.

A full table is available at the end of this press release.

Across the 43 constabularies of England and Wales, the vast majority (97%) of offences were detected by speed cameras.

The variations across police forces will in part be down to geographical area, road type and traffic volume. They will also be created by local policing priorities. In Wiltshire, for example, all speed cameras were turned off in 2010.

Steve Gooding of the RAC Foundation said:

“The simple rule for drivers who don’t want to risk ending up with a speeding ticket is not to break the limit in the first place.

“Where limits are properly signposted and clearly feel right for the road in question then motorists have no excuse for going faster, but that means highway authorities also have a responsibility to make sure the limits they set are appropriate and to avoid instances where the limit repeatedly ‘bounces’ up and down along a single stretch.”

In 2018, “exceeding the speed limit” was recorded as a contributory factor in 13% of fatal crashes in Great Britain where at least one factor was identified. “Travelling too fast for the conditions” was a contributory factor in 9% of fatal crashes. More than one contributory factor might be recorded per incident.

Since the inception of the National Speed Awareness Course in 2010 about nine million people have attended one.

ENDS

Contact:

Philip Gomm – Head of External Communications – RAC Foundation

[email protected] | 020 7747 3445 | 07711 776448 | 020 7389 0601 (ISDN)

Notes to editors:

The RAC Foundation is a transport policy and research organisation that explores the economic, mobility, safety and environmental issues relating to roads and their users.

The Foundation publishes independent and authoritative research with which it promotes informed debate and advocates policy in the interest of the responsible motorist. All the Foundation’s work is available at: www.racfoundation.org

Detailed figures for all constabularies in England and Wales can be viewed here:

https://www.racfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/Speeding_offences_detected_2018-19_Snow_Lam.pdf

The table below gives summary information for individual forces.

Total number of speeding offences detected by police forces in England and Wales in 2018-19 and how they were detected.

Police Force Area Total number of speeding offences detected 2017-18 Total number of speeding offences detected 2018-19 % year-on-year change 2018-19 Proportion of speeding offences detected by camera 2018-2019 Total number of all motoring offences 2018-19 Proportion of speeding offences relative to all motoring offences 2018-19
Avon and Somerset 199,336 159,210 -20% 100% 173,420 92%
Bedfordshire 74,297 76,573 3% 100% 80,685 95%
Cambridgeshire 45,763 34,672 -24% 98% 40,795 85%
Cheshire 58,408 52,770 -10% 96% 61,626 86%
City of London/Metropolitan Police[1] 139,318 157,494 13% 91% 274,744 57%
Cleveland 11,308 11,937 6% 97% 13,592 88%
Cumbria 45,702 40,104 -12% 99% 42,331 95%
Derbyshire 10,480 12,256 17% 98% 14,736 83%
Devon and Cornwall 42,888 47,272 10% 98% 52,152 91%
Dorset 23,027 22,716 -1% 94% 26,391 86%
Durham 8,802 19,395 120% 95% 20,764 93%
Essex 95,967 91,849 -4% 94% 124,923 74%
Gloucestershire 21,727 24,121 11% 99% 25,729 94%
Greater Manchester 101,421 106,839 5% 99% 122,411 87%
Hampshire 79,126 73,036 -8% 96% 81,149 90%
Hertfordshire 51,158 52,794 3% 98% 61,763 85%
Humberside 57,930 53,679 -7% 96% 63,004 85%
Kent 18,878 20,366 8% 95% 30,024 68%
Lancashire 61,242 74,286 21% 99% 85,293 87%
Leicestershire 37,340 41,909 12% 99% 50,826 82%
Lincolnshire 47,020 45,712 -3% 98% 48,611 94%

 

Police Force Area Total number of speeding offences detected 2017-18 Total number of speeding offences detected 2018-19 % year-on-year change 2018-19 Proportion of speeding offences detected by camera 2018-2019 Total number of all motoring offences 2018-19 Proportion of speeding offences relative to all motoring offences 2018-19
Merseyside 60,681 53,112 -12% 86% 75,962 70%
Norfolk and Suffolk[2] 92,750 98,729 6% 96% 114,957 86%
North Wales 20,462 19,493 -5% 90% 24,610 79%
North Yorkshire 29,922 41,934 40% 99% 47,421 88%
Northamptonshire 47,860 49,448 3% 100% 56,800 87%
Northumbria 66,327 67,857 2% 99% 75,961 89%
Nottinghamshire 27,155 24,566 -10% 99% 30,845 80%
Wales (except North Wales)[3] 43,425 35,005 -19% 96% 49,934 70%
South Yorkshire 47,811 55,461 16% 99% 63,162 88%
Staffordshire 41,392 48,583 17% 98% 54,771 89%
Surrey 74,163 89,079 20% 100% 98,427 91%
Sussex 56,828 54,139 -5% 98% 62,202 87%
Thames Valley 131,400 145,447 11% 98% 158,854 92%
Warwickshire 43,409 52,774 22% 99% 58,612 90%
West Mercia 66,858 92,335 38% 99% 98,161 94%
West Midlands 34,966 57,154 63% 93% 67,457 85%
West Yorkshire 174,796 181,867 4% 99% 201,548 90%
Wiltshire 1,191 807 -32% 0% 3,008 27%
Total England and Wales 2,292,534 2,386,780 4% 97% 2,837,661 84%

 

[1] The Home Office releases data from the 43 police force areas. As in the previous version of this report the analysis in this document amalgamates the figures for the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police. The City of London police force is primarily a specialist organisation dealing with financial crime and policing the square mile.

[2] Suffolk and Norfolk central ticket offices merged in July 2015. All FPNs are now issued by Norfolk therefore, all notices for Suffolk and Norfolk are reported under Norfolk.

[3] The number of speeding offences detected by camera in the Dyfed-Powys and Gwent police force areas are not separated out in the PentiP database and instead are all reported under the South Wales Police force. We have combined Dyfed-Powys and Gwent and South Wales constabularies under the name Wales (except North Wales).