Accredited official statistics

Vehicle speed compliance statistics for Great Britain: 2022

Estimates on vehicle compliance with speed limits on roads in Great Britain during 2022.

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These statistics provide insight into speeds at which drivers choose to travel and their compliance with speed limits under free flow conditions but should not be taken as estimates of actual compliance or actual average speed across the wider road network.

These statistics are based on speed data from a sample of the Department for Transport’s Automatic Traffic Counters (ATCs), chosen to exclude locations where external factors might restrict driver behaviour (for example junctions, hills, sharp bends and speed cameras).

In 2022, speed limit compliance was similar to previous years and has remained broadly stable since 2011, with the exception of 2020 and 2021, when lower levels of compliance may have been partly attributable to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on traffic levels.

Other main figures in 2022 are:

  • 45% of cars exceeded the limit on motorways
  • 11% of cars exceeded the limit on national speed limit single carriageways
  • 50% of cars exceeded the limit on 30mph roads

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Road traffic and vehicle speed compliance statistics

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Updates to this page

Published 24 August 2023

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