Nearly half of drivers break the speed limit on country roads, a new high for the RAC survey.

The motoring organisation has been a significant rise in the proportion of drivers admitting to speeding on 60mph rural roads. These are roads where more deaths occur than on any other road type.

Nearly half (48%) of over 3,000 drivers questioned for the RAC Report say they have driven faster than the limit in the past year on these roads. This is up from 44% in 2021 from the previous year and  matches the highest figure back in 2016.

Eight per cent confess to breaking the limit frequently, while 40% say they have done it on up to half of their journeys on these roads.

Speeding up

In 2021, 514 people were killed in a total of 11,827 collisions on 60mph non-built-up roads. It represents a fatality rate of 4%, which is higher than on motorways.

Dual carriageways have an even higher level of speeding. As many as 60% of drivers say they have broken the 70mph limit, either on most journeys (16%), or on up to half of their trips (43%) in the last 12 months. This is up 5% compared to 2021 when 55% admitted to having exceeded the limit.

The 60% figure is the biggest percentage seen by the RAC since 2017. Then, 66% owned up to this, while in both 2015 and 2016, 70% admitted to putting their foot down.

Calmer in town

The percentage who speed on urban roads has changed very little in the past 12 months.

40% of drivers say they have exceeded the 30mph limit at least occasionally, compared to 41% in 2021. On 20mph roads, 46% have broken the limit, a figure unchanged on the year before.

Excuses excuses

The most common reason drivers give for exceeding the motorway 70mph limit is that they are travelling at the same speed as other motorists (42%). The same justification is used by 32% of those who break 60mph limits and is the most popular explanation given.

In 20mph zones, almost half of speeding drivers say this is because they think the limit is inappropriate for that particular road. Most drivers (69%) think motorists only adhere to 20mph limits when there is enforcement or physical traffic-calming measures in place.

Meanwhile, 65% say that signs warning of speed cameras nearby help them stick to the limit.

Over half (52%) of drivers say they would be opposed to additional 20mph limits being introduced in their local area. However, a similar proportion (48%) believe some 60mph limits on unclassified rural roads should be reduced.

Action needed

RAC road safety spokesman Simon Williams says the admissions are “extremely worrying”.

“While the number of fatalities on our roads is no longer falling, we certainly don’t want to see an increase in deaths. We think the Government should address the issue of fatalities on 60mph rural roads by advising roads authorities to reduce limits on the most dangerous stretches to more appropriate levels. This is something half of drivers (48%) surveyed for the RAC Report on Motoring would like to see, with only a quarter (24%) disagreeing.

“Drivers sometimes forget or underestimate the role speed plays in fatal and serious collisions as they tend not to see it in the same light as offences like drink or drug-driving or talking on a handheld phone. In fact, in 2021 as many as 253 people lost their lives in collisions where someone was exceeding the speed limit.

Williams is “fearful” that this represents and worrying new trend and that “the implications of this from a road safety point of view would be negative”.

He adds that while “motorways are statistically the UK’s safest roads”, new digital signage should be used more frequently to remind drivers of the limits.