More than 30,000 drivers caught speeding in Dorset last year
That's despite the government's 'Stay At Home' message
Last updated 25th Mar 2021
Drivers have been taking advantage of empty roads during the UK lockdown, as police forces recorded offences of almost 100mph over the speed limit last year.
That's according to a Freedom of Information data by Confused.com
Dorset Police caught most drivers speeding in the county on the A35 Tolpuddle Bypass where the two highest speeds were recorded at 129mph and the second highest at 125mph.
According to the data, more than 2.2 million drivers were caught speeding in 2020 - equivalent to more than 6,000 offences recorded per day, on average.
While this is a 10% drop compared to 2019, it's still high considering that the UK spent much of the past 12 months being advised to stay home or stay local.
The number of drivers caught speeding in Dorset in 2020 were 30,324 that's 20,000 less than in 2019 when 51,327 drivers were caught speeding,
Unsurprisingly, offences dropped in Dorset in April following the announcement of a UK-wide lockdown, although 102 motorists were still caught travelling above the speed limit during this time.
However, this quadrupled in May when restrictions started to ease. And offences continued to increase over the summer, peaking at 4,049 in August.
If a driver is caught speeding, they'll be on the receiving end of a minimum £100 fine.
This means that drivers collectively paid out an eye-watering £200 million in fines last year. However, in some cases, drivers could expect to be paying a significant amount more.
FOUR OUT FIVE DRIVERS ADMIT TO SPEEDING
Speeding is an offence that most drivers will commit at some point, even if they aren't aware of it:
- Nearly four in five (79%) drivers admit to breaking the speed limit in the past.
- More than half (54%) claim they didn't realise they were doing it, more than a quarter (28%) knowingly broke the speed limit to overtake another car.
- One in four (25%) even admit to speeding because they were running late.
Despite so many people committing the offence, 52% of UK drivers don't think its acceptable to speed under any circumstance.
However, almost a third of motorists think it's okay to speed in an emergency, and one in eight think it's fine if there aren't any other cars on the road.
This could explain why there were so many speeding offences during the 2020 lockdown.
While quieter roads might seem like a safe opportunity to ramp up the speed, it's clear the consequences certainly far outweigh the benefit of getting home that little bit quicker.