Free flow vehicle speeds in Great Britain 2010

Releases

Summary

This publication presents statistics on the speed of traffic in free flowing conditions on roads in Great Britain during 2010. They provide insight into the speeds at which drivers choose to travel and their compliance with speed limits, but should not be taken as estimates of actual average speed across the road network.

Download the full release

Free flow vehicle speeds in Great Britain 2010 (PDF – 64 KB)

Download full release and all tables

Key points

In the 10 years from 2000, the percentage of vehicles exceeding the 30 mph speed limit on built-up roads has fallen for every vehicle type. The most significant decrease was for cars. In 2000, 66 per cent of cars travelled at speeds in excess of the limit; by 2010 this dropped to less than half (46 per cent).
On motorways in 2010, 49 per cent of cars exceeded the 70 mph speed limit. In addition, 14 per cent of cars were recorded as travelling at 80 mph or faster.
Very few heavy goods vehicles exceeded their speed limit of 60 mph on motorways. However, over 83 per cent of them exceeded the 50 mph speed limit on dual carriageway non-built-up roads and 70 per cent exceeded the 40 mph limit on single carriageway non-built-up roads.
In 2010, 45 per cent of motorcycles travelled faster than the 30 mph speed limit in built-up areas. Twenty per cent exceeded the speed limit by 5 mph or more.