Road Safety: Police Stopping Drivers Going 90mph In 30mph Zones

More than half of the UK’s police forces have stopped drivers going more than 90mph in 30mph zones, a freedom of information request (FOI) has revealed.

It presents a significant concern for road safety with debates already raging around whether the rest of the UK will follow Wales’s example and introduce 20mph residential zone speed limits.

The issue is that when drivers are speeding to that level of excess, a reduction in the speed limit is unlikely to deter them.

But in a wider sense, reduced speed limits do encourage drivers to reduce their speed, just not when the speeding is to this level of excess.

How Big Is The UK’s Speeding Problem?

It goes without saying that speeding poses a significant road safety risk.

While speeding on motorways is often the focus, it’s clear that there’s an issue on local and residential roads, too.

Most offences tend to be recorded on 70mph or variable speed limit motorways, partly because speed cameras are much more commonplace on those roads.

And given the speed differential in some of the offences, with a speed of 161mph being recorded in one offence, they tend to grab the headlines more than many of the offences in 30mph and 40mph zones.

But the reality is that the likelihood of road users other than cars, such as pedestrians crossing the road, horse riders, cyclists and those on mopeds, is much higher on these roads.

Which means that any impairment to braking distance, reaction time and control of the vehicle by speeding or not paying full attention has the potential to be fatal for other road users.

This is particularly an issue on single lane roads in residential areas, which allow little room for error when driving at excessive speeds.

What Can We Do To Stop Speeding Drivers?

With this latest data following the news that more than 24,000 drivers were caught driving more than 100mph in the last five years, it’s clear that more needs to be done to stop speeding drivers.

Speeding is a concern to road safety, as we all know, but speeds that excessive can become more than just a concern with incidents having the likelihood of being fatal. 

A combination of methods are being considered by the government, police, national highways agencies and road safety campaigners to curb speeding.

Initiatives such as Operation Snap are gathering pace, while more cameras could be introduced to act as a deterrent alongside integrating AI into technology to capture offenders and issue fines.

Operation SNAP was launched by police forces around the UK to provide a central place for road users to send in dashcam footage, as well as personal camera footage from cyclists, horse riders and pedestrians.

But do you think more needs to be done to catch drivers speeding and improve road safety for other road users? And do you think it’s a big issue on residential roads or is it more of a concern on motorways and A-roads? Let us know in the comments below…