New laws which increase the amount drivers caught speeding will be fined have been introduced today, but three-quarters of drivers say that the speed limit should be raised to 80mph.
Research from Green Flag has found that 73 per cent of British drivers think the motorway limit should be raised, while nearly a third said speed limits should be more lenient on empty roads.
The new speeding rules have been designed as a harsher deterrent to the worst offending speeders, with those caught driving at excessive speeds issued with fines equivalent to 150 per cent of their weekly salary.
However, Green Flag’s survey revealed that as many as two-thirds of the 1,385 drivers surveyed thought that the new rules won’t make any difference as traffic police are currently too overstretched.
A separate survey carried out by motoring website HonestJohn claims that 84 per cent of drivers don’t know what the new fines mean, while over half are unaware that speeding penalties are changing at all.
HonestJohn’s managing editor Daniel Powell said: “While most people agree that excessive speed has no place on our roads, and that greater deterrents are likely to reduce the amount of deaths and injuries related to speeding, the new fines policy appears to have entered the law almost unnoticed.”
However, he said that while the fines are clearly intended to act as a deterrent to speeders, there are other road safety issues that are just as important as speeding.
He added: “If sentencing guidelines for speeding are heading this way, then in an era of more connectivity behind the wheel, we should be addressing concerns around mobile phone use, in-car app and sat nav distractions in much the same way.
“Harsher fines are a deterrent, but we can’t help but think a better, more modern approach to driver education would have a greater influence on road safety.”
