A new study has found that UK motorists now deem speeding to be less acceptable than it was just five years ago.
The study of 2,000 motorists by road safety charity IAM RoadSmart found many motorists changing their attitudes to speeding over the period.
In 2016, 55 per cent of those surveyed thought it was acceptable to drive at up to 80mph on a motorway, but this has now dropped to 43 per cent. The number of drivers thinking it’s acceptable to drive over 80mph has also dropped from 28 per cent in 2016 to 23 per cent.
While the survey found more motorists think it’s unacceptable to speed in towns, the charity said it was “disconcerting” that many thought it was fine to drive five miles-per-hour above the speed limit on a residential street.
Neil Greig, IAM RoadSmart director of policy and research, said: “While there are signs of improvement, the results of this survey are still deeply concerning and there is clearly much more work to do on education and training.
“Speeding consistently causes more than 4,400 casualties on UK roads each year, which is an average of 12 people a day killed or injured on UK roads.”
Elsewhere, separate research has found the roads where drivers are most likely to speed, with the A282 in Kent being the worst, with 26,920 speeding offences being recorded in 2019/20.
This was followed by the M25 in Surrey (23,558) and M4 Clayponds Avenue to Transport Avenue in London (16,188). This separate research was gathered from a freedom of information request by car leasing firm Wessex Fleet.
