Motorists deem speeding less acceptable than five years ago

UK drivers now consider it less acceptable to speed than they did five years ago, new research has found.

A survey of 2,000 motorists revealed that 43 per cent thought that it was acceptable to drive at speeds of up to 80mph on the motorway – a decrease from the 55 per cent of respondents who thought the same in 2016.

Some 23 per cent of this year’s respondents also believed that it was acceptable to drive above and beyond 80mph, which represented a more modest decrease from 2016’s 28 per cent.

Neil Greig, director of policy and research at IAM RoadSmart, which conducted the study, said: “While there are signs of improvement, the results of this survey are still deeply concerning and there is clearly much more work to do on education and training.

“Speeding consistently causes more than 4,400 casualties on UK roads each year, which is an average of 12 people a day killed or injured on UK roads.”

The vast majority of drivers find it unacceptable to speed within towns and built-up areas, though the number of motorists who think that has remained largely unchanged in the last five years.

However, one in five of those questioned thought that it was still acceptable to drive at five miles-per-hour over the speed limit when driving down a residential street, while nearly one in ten thought that these speeds would be fine when driving outside a school.