Speeding offences in England and Wales hit all-time high
2 mins read6 December 2024
The number of speeding offences recorded by police forces across England and Wales last year hit an all-time high, according to new data released by the Home Office. A total of 2,324,542 speed-limit breaches were recorded during 2023 - an increase of 10% compared with the year prior and the highest since comparable records began in 2011. Of these, 98% were caught by a camera.
The Home Office said that speeding increased at a greater rate than the number of cars on the road between 2011 and 2023. It added that speeding varied seasonally, with the offence becoming more frequent during the summer months. It peaked in June 2023, at 223,029 cases, compared with 159,179 breaches during December.
The data published by the Home Office excludes London, because the Metropolitan Police force responsible for the capital uses a different computer system to log offences. The Met recorded 390,403 instances of speeding in 2023, an increase of 3% compared with the year prior, and nearly triple that recorded before the Covid pandemic. The Home Office named the reduction of speed limits across London as one of several causes of the significant increase in offences since the pandemic, although it neglected to explain any others.
Speeding accounted for 86% of the 2,698,373 motoring offences that resulted in a fixed penalty notice being issued across England and Wales in 2023. More than half (51%) those offences resulted in driver retraining - a speed awareness course, for example - and 36% resulted in fines being paid. The remaining 13% ended in court action.
"Drivers need to know that forces are applying the law and bad behaviour will be caught either in person or on camera," said Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA. However, he added: "While cameras and new technology have an important role to play in road safety, these stats clearly show that we need more cops in cars to police the roads."
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