Most cars speed on free flowing 20 mph roads
Three-quarters of car drivers speed on free-flowing 20mph roads in England, new Department for Transport (DfT) figures suggest.The data for 2024, was collected in "free-flowing" conditions in England: roads with no speed cameras, bends, junctions, or traffic calming measures.The average speed on these roads was 24mph but about 10% of cars exceeded 30mph.The figures also show that a record number of people – 1.84 million – attended a speed awareness course across the UK last year.The Department for Transport has been approached for comment.
The rollout of 20mph zones in towns and cities across Britain could be a factor in the rising number of speed awareness courses says Rod Dennis, road safety spokesperson for the RAC. Anne Page, 71, attended a "very good" speed awareness course after being caught doing 27 on a 20 mph section of road in London earlier this year.She favours limits in areas where traffic, bikes and pedestrians mix, but says that signage is "patchy, gradual and inconsistent" and stressed the need for a more "high-profile campaign" to alert drivers when limits change.
Many drivers disagree with the growing number of lower speed limits. Half who told the RAC that they sped on 20mph roads said they did so because the limit was "inappropriate".
AJ, 62, from West Drayton, London, thinks it's "exceptionally hard to sustain 20 mph over a long distance".He was clocked doing 24 in a 20mph stretch of an A road in London.Safety campaigners say 20mph limits should be rolled out across all UK urban areas while other groups campaign to limit them and improve driver behaviour.Blanket restrictions may dilute the impact of speed limits, says Luke Bosdet of the AA.He added that it may be more effective to target their use near schools, hospitals, and pedestrian areas "where drivers can see the reasons for them being there".Drivers may not keep to the limit in 20mph zones but the average speeds are slower in these areas compared with 30mph roads.That isn't always enough to make people feel safer.In Torquay, Marilyn and Norman Roberts have spray-painted the word "slow" on the road to deter speeding drivers.
"Cars go speeding up and down the road with no regard for the speed limit," Mr Roberts said."If we wave our hands at cars and ask them to drive slower, we get all sorts of abuse."
Additional reporting Robert Cuffe, David Verry and Rob England.
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