Vehicle speeds in Great Britain: 2002

Summary

More than half of all cars observed at the survey sites on motorways exceeded the speed limit and 18 per cent were travelling at more than 80 mph. 27 per cent of motorcycles travelled at more than 80 mph, compared with 18 per cent in 2001
Nearly half of all cars on dual carriageways exceeded the speed limit; 14 per cent were travelling faster than 80 mph. 26 per cent of motorcycles travelled at more than 80 mph, compared with 13 per cent in 2001.
On non-built-up single carriageway roads, 8 per cent of cars exceeded the 60 mph limit, 1 per cent travelling at 70 mph or over.
There was a very high incidence of speeding by heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) on non-built-up dual and single carriageway roads. On dual carriageways 88 per cent of articulated HGVs surveyed exceeded their 50 mph limit, the same as in 2001. On single carriageways 68 per cent of articulated HGVs exceeded their 40 mph limit, down from 76 per cent in 2001; 15 per cent were travelling faster than 50 mph compared with 28 per cent in 2001.
The average speeds of vehicles hardly changed from those observed in previous years. The average speed of cars on motorways (70 mph) and the proportion exceeding the speed limit (54 per cent) has remained unchanged since 1997.

The percentage of vehicles exceeding the speed limit at 30 mph sites fell significantly in 2002. The proportion of motorcycles exceeding the speed limit fell from 59 per cent in 2001 to 47 per cent in 2002; for cars the fall was from 65 per cent to 59 per cent. This is also reflected in the proportion of vehicles travelling at more than 35 mph: for motorcycles this fell from 35 per cent in 2001 to 24 per cent in 2002 and for cars the fall was from 32 per cent to 25 per cent.
On built-up 30 mph roads, 55 per cent of rigid HGVs exceeded the speed limit (the same as in 2001), 23 per cent by more than 5 mph (slightly more than the 20 per cent observed in 2001)
On 40 mph roads, 27 per cent of cars and 41 per cent of motorcycles exceeded the speed limit, slightly more than in 2001. The proportions of cars and motorcycles exceeding 45 mph were 27 per cent and 41 per cent, respectively, again, slightly more than in 2001

Published on 12 June 2003 by Transport Statistics

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