Nottinghamshire drivers among country's best for not speeding

Drivers in Nottinghamshire are among the least likely to be caught speeding in England and Wales, new data reveals.
Nottinghamshire drivers are among the best at keeping to the speed limitNottinghamshire drivers are among the best at keeping to the speed limit
Nottinghamshire drivers are among the best at keeping to the speed limit

The RAC Foundation warns that differing priorities among police forces lead to huge regional disparities in catching speeders.

Nottinghamshire Police detected 27,155 speeding drivers between April 2017 and March 2018, a recent study carried out by the RAC Foundation shows.

That's a rate of 24 offences per 1,000 people in the area, one of the lowest in England and Wales.

Nottinghamshire drivers are among the best at keeping to the speed limitNottinghamshire drivers are among the best at keeping to the speed limit
Nottinghamshire drivers are among the best at keeping to the speed limit

Nearly all the infractions in Nottinghamshire were captured by speed cameras.

Across England and Wales, police caught 2.3 million drivers speeding over the year – a rate of 40 per 1,000.

Avon and Somerset had the highest rate, with 120 drivers per 1,000, while Gwent had the lowest, with less than one offence per 1,000.

Chief Constable Anthony Bangham, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for roads policing, said priorities are decided by individual forces.

He said: "We are concerned over the consistency of speed enforcement across different police forces and we continue to review how we could bring greater clarity to the public.

"However, it’s important to emphasise that each force area has a varied road infrastructure which makes direct comparisons difficult.

“Whilst forces are issued with general guidance in relation to speed enforcement, our model of local accountability within policing means each chief constable has ultimate discretion over operational priorities".

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, warned that any targeted crackdown on speeding could be repeated if reckless attitudes re-emerge.

He said: "There will be varied reasons to explain some of the differences between areas, such as geographical area, road type and traffic volume.

But a lot of it will come down to local policing priorities.

"It is the job of Police and Crime Commissioners and chief constables to target resources appropriately, recognising the issues of greatest local concern.

"Changes and variations in the numbers of offences detected will reflect not just driver behaviour, but also the extent of enforcement activity in any one year."

Of those offenders caught in 2018-17 by Nottinghamshire Police, 92 per cent were given a fine.

Speed awareness courses were unused, compared to England and Wales, where 44 per cent of the offenders were sent to them.

A further six per cent of the offences in Nottinghamshire resulted in court action, while two per cent were cancelled.

Provisional plans agreed by the EU mean that new cars sold in the UK from 2022 will have default devices which stop them breaking the speed limit.

The Department for Transport said new rules would apply to the UK despite Brexit.