The Institute of Advanced Motorists (“IAM”) sent a Freedom of Information request seeking speeding details. It revealed that one motorist was caught at 94mph while passing a primary school, whilst the fastest speed was recorded in Swanley in Kent on the M25 when a driver was clocked at 149mph.

The motorway offence, on the M25 near Swanley in Kent, was captured by a speed camera and was the highest recorded speed during the period April 2013 to May 2014.
The figures revealed that another driver caught by the same speed camera clocked up 146mph at Swanley on the M25, with two more hitting 127mph.

New digital cameras have recently been installed on the M25 and older ones re-activated.

The offences were revealed in data received from police under a Freedom of Information Act request from the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM).

–       The highest speed recorded on a 30mph road was 96mph in Leam Lane in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear – more than three times the legal limit.

–       The highest speed captured on a 50mph road was on the A414 Stanstead Abbotts, Hertfordshire, where a motorist clocked 119mph.

–       The highest on a 60mph road was 127mph on the A413 Wendover bypass in Buckinghamshire.

The IAM says the penalties which ‘excessive speeders’ face are ‘out of sync’ with the danger they pose to other road users and to themselves.

IAM head of road safety Kevin Delaney said:

“Let’s be clear – we’re not talking here of otherwise law-abiding motorists who are trying their best but may make a careless mistake and slip a few miles per hour above the posted speed limited. These are dangerous drivers who are speeding at two or three times the legal speed limit, sometimes near schools. They are selfish individuals putting people’s lives in danger.”

Guidelines to magistrates on sentencing for speeding include a fine plus six penalty points or disqualified for between 7 and 56 days for motorists who drive at 101mph and 110mph on a 70mph road; at between 76mph and 85 mph on a 50mph road; or at between 51mph and 60mph in a 30mph zone.

IAM chief executive Simon Best said:

“Speed limits are a limit. They are not a target to beat. Unfortunately this message has not got through to many motorists and it’s clear that efforts to make speeding as socially unacceptable as drink-driving continue to fail.”