Driver revealed to be speeding at 162mph in Northamptonshire in to new investigation
Nearly half of police forces in UK caught drivers doing more than 90mph on 30mph roads last year according to the RAC
Last updated 13th Feb 2025
One driver in Northamptonshire has been caught speeding at 76 miles an hour in a 30 zone, whilst another was clocked 162mph in a 70 limit – more than double the speed limit.
The figures have been revealed as a report from the RAC, which looked at police data, found that across the UK, 48% of police forces caught drivers exceeding 90mph on 30mph roads.
The new investigation looked at statistics in the 20 months to the end of August last year.
“A really small lapse of judgement can cause a serious incident”
Matt O'Connell, Safer Roads Strategic Team Manager at Northamptonshire Police said: “I think the reasons some drivers fail to recognise the dangers, believing that they can control their vehicle regardless of the circumstances.
“It’s probably not helped that modern vehicles are designed to feel smooth and powerful and give us a false sense of security whilst you know driving at higher speeds.
“The dangers come when the drivers of those vehicles fail to grasp how quickly conditions can change, coming round the corner and being faced with a pedestrian, cyclists, and horse riders. Even a really small lapse of judgement can cause a serious incident.”
He added: “When we think back to the drink drive legislation and how that changed many years ago, when it was introduced, it quickly became fairly socially unacceptable with a large amount of the population - that only a very small minority of people are still offending. I think speeding is yet to do that at the moment.”
"Speed is the leading cause of deaths on UK roads"
The RAC obtained the figures through Freedom of Information requests to 45 police forces relating to the period from the start of January 2023 to the end of August 2024.
The RAC is now urging the government to use their upcoming road safety strategy as a chance to tackle "avoidable casualties" on our roads, as it describes the figures as highlighting "incredibly dangerous actions" by drivers.
RAC road safety spokesman Rod Dennis said: "Although this data is a snapshot, it shines a light on the incredibly dangerous actions of a few, that are putting law-abiding road users at serious risk. Thankfully, the police were on hand to catch these drivers.
"There is no place for the vastly excessive speeds that some people are prepared to drive. Speed is the leading cause of deaths on UK roads.
"We look forward to the Government's forthcoming road safety strategy understanding what can be done to reduce such avoidable casualties on the UK's roads."
Exceeding speed limit contributing to deaths
In 2023, separate Department for Transport statistics show 331 people died in crashes on Britain's roads in 2023 in which a driver exceeding the speed limit was a contributory factor.
This was at least a 10-year high and represented 21% of all road fatalities.
In light of the RAC figures, the Department for Transport said there's "no excuse for those who risk the lives of others through speeding".
A spokesperson continued: "While our roads are among the safest in the world, we are committed to improving road safety and recently relaunched our Think! campaign with a focus on speeding, particularly on rural roads."