Report shows falling speeds in Scotland – except in 70mph limits

The Scottish Executive and the Scottish Road Safety Campaign have recently published research on the causes and consequences of speeding.

The study included focus groups with different types of speeding driver; interviews with crash-involved drivers; a review of recent anti-speeding campaigns and initiatives in Scotland; an analysis of a sample of police records of speeding offences; and an extensive household survey of over 1,000 Scottish car drivers.

The main findings of the study are as follows:-

• Over the last decade in Scotland excessive speed in town has fallen. However, in 70 mph zones there have been increases in the percentage of drivers reporting excess speed (driving at 80 mph) and excessive speed (driving at 90 mph).
  
  
• Scottish drivers' attitudes to speed limits have remained largely unchanged. At the same time there has been a substantial rise in support for engineering measures to reduce speed in residential areas. Support for vertical 'speed bumps' rose from 53 per cent to 76 per cent and support for 20mph limits from 22 per cent to 86 per cent.
  
  
• The number of Scottish motorists who have seen speed cameras while driving in Scotland rose from 54 per cent to 96 per cent, with support for camera enforcement falling slightly from 80 per cent to 75 per cent.
  
  
• A sample of police records for 2001 showed that most speeding offences occurred on built-up roads and that offending levels were highest during the weekday inter-peak period.
  
  
• Young males aged 16-25 years are the most likely to offend seriously and be the subject of police reports for excessive speed.
  
  
• Comparison with a study in 1996 suggested that the percentage of non-manual occupation drivers caught speeding has almost halved, while the percentage of manual unskilled drivers caught speeding has increased. There has also been an increase in the percentage of speeding offenders who are unemployed.
  
  
• For male drivers, the more likely they were to speed on different types of road, the more likely they were to have recently been involved in a crash while driving.

An eight page summary of the document is available at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/finance/drf170-00.asp

or for the full 200 page report go to:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/finance/tsdw-00.asp