Motorists clocking the dangers of speed as breaking limits deemed less acceptable compared to six years ago

Posted on 22/02/22 |

The latest research from the UK’s largest independent road safety charity, IAM RoadSmart, has revealed positive long-term trends, with motorists continuing to find speeding less acceptable for the last six consecutive years.

IAM RoadSmart’s latest Safety Culture Report, which tracks drivers’ changing attitudes to key road safety issues over time, discovered that 42 per cent of the 2,000 people surveyed at the end of 2021, thought it was acceptable to drive at 80mph on the motorway, compared to 56 per cent six years ago. Furthermore, 21 per cent thought it was acceptable to drive even faster than 80mph on the motorway compared to a chilling 28 per cent in 2016.

Meanwhile, self-reported speeding in towns and cities in the last 30 days has also reduced in the last five years, with 10 per cent of those surveyed in 2021 admitting to driving five miles per hour over the speed limit on a residential street, compared to 17 per cent of those surveyed back in 2016.

Neil Greig, Director of Policy and Research welcomed such downward trends but insisted more needs to be done to ensure these figures continue to decrease: “Acceptability of speeding on motorways is still far too high but the downward trends of drivers’ opinions are a positive sign. Actual speeding behaviour in towns and cities has also improved as more and more drivers appear to understand the link between speed and serious injury.    

“Those who believe it is acceptable to drive at speeds greater than the limit are simply not listening to the warnings or taking notice of the frequent police messaging. Speeding is responsible for around 12 people being killed or injured each day on UK roads, we clearly need to do more to educate drivers on the fatal consequences of speeding.” 

How acceptable do you personally feel it is for a driver to …. – regional scores

 

Drive 10 miles per hour over the speed limit on a motorway

Drive more than 10 miles per hour over the speed limit on a motorway

Drive 5 miles per hour over the speed limit on a residential street

 

North East

49%

17%

16%

North West

41%

20%

21%

Yorkshire and Humber

44%

22%

24%

East Midlands

39%

18%

20%

West Midlands

40%

17%

22%

East of England

52%

25%

27%

London

35%

22%

19%

South East

45%

20%

22%

South West

51%

22%

21%

Wales

37%

22%

22%

Scotland/ Northern Ireland

35%

19%

21%

 

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