Statistics published today by the U.K. Department for Transport (DfT) show that in 2022 85% of the car drivers in Great Britain broke the law by driving faster than the speed limit in 20mph zones. On roads with a 30mph maximum, 50% of car drivers broke the law, reveals the annual DfT report on speed limit compliance.
The measurements are based on speed data from a sample of Automatic Traffic Counters (ATCs) around the country. These exclude locations where external factors might restrict driver behavior, such as at junctions, on hills, beside sharp bends or where speed cameras are visible, says the DfT report.
Most modern cars have speed limiters you can adjust on-the-go. By modern I mean made in the last five years or so.
No excuse for speeding.
If there’s a question of how appropriate a speed limit might be, that’s still not an excuse for speeding - that’s grounds for presenting a case to the local authority and campaigning for change via the legal route.
Residential street speed limits (20mph, 30mph) have to be the most poorly followed laws in the UK.
Edit to add: more expensive cars have had this feature for even longer; operating a vehicle within a given speed constraint with or without technology to help shouldn’t be hard for a competent driver. So: why the downvotes?
Both of my family’s cars are 20 years old.Not everybody is rich.
I brought up the tech because I see a lot of newer cars being driven in violation of the speed limit.
Should still be possible to hold to 20mph, with or without the tech.
Not sure that wee need people fiddling with car controls rather than looking where they are going. I get your point though, but even more cars have Bluetooth. So why are people still holding their phones? Probably because they can’t be bothered or ‘It’s too much faffing about’.
Ware High St was reduced from 30 to 20 a while ago. I don’t know when as it wasn’t that publicised. Loads of people ignore that as well. Speed limit signs the size of a side plate don’t help either. Maybe some massive ‘20 mph’ letters on the road? A few raised areas wouldn’t hurt either.
A lot of these areas have just had 20mph limits slapped on them with no thought or reason.