WEST MERCIA is in the bottom half of police forces in England and Wales when it comes to the number of speeding offences per capita, according to research from International Drivers Association.
The study analysed the latest police force data from 2010 to 2020 on speeding offences for each region in England and Wales to establish where the speediest drivers commit their offences.
Durham has the fewest speeding offences committed on average each year, with just 0.95 per 1,000 people. The North East county also has the fewest total number of people being charged with speeding offences with just 609 on average each year.
Derbyshire has the second lowest number of speeding transgressions committed by drivers, at 1.24, with an annual average of 1,318 offences from a population of 1,064,000.
Wiltshire drivers receive an average of 921 speeding tickets each year, which equates to 1.27 offences per 1,000, the third lowest on the list.
Gloucestershire has the fourth lowest number of speeding transgressions committed by drivers, at 1.47, with an annual average of 944 offences from a population of 640,700.
The area with the fifth lowest number of speeding offences is the West Midlands. With just 1.48 offences made per 1,000 people.
West Mercia has the 20th lowest with 2.59 offences per 1,000 people according to the figures.
At the other end of the scale, the data found that Lincolnshire has the highest number of speeding offences with 5.43 per 1,000 each year. Over the years examined, on average, there were 4,164 offences committed each year in Lincolnshire, although in 2020 there was a decade high 6,734 drivers caught breaking the speed limit.
South Wales ranked second with 5.23 offences per 1,000 residents, and a total of 7,030 offences across a population of 1.34 million. The year with the highest number of offences recorded was in 2018, with 8,894, which was more than three times higher than 2010 when only 2,603 drivers were charged with speeding in the region.
In third place is North Yorkshire, with an average of 3,774 speed limit offences per year from a population of 831,600, at an average of 4.54 speeding offences per 1,000.
Commenting on the findings, a spokesperson from International Drivers Association said: “Speeding is dangerous. Roads have speed limits for a reason, and they are limits, not targets. All drivers should stay within the limits to reduce the likelihood of injury-causing and fatal accidents.
“Get caught speeding and, if convicted, you’ll get points on your licence, and these will likely stick for four years. Rack up a total of 12 or more and you could be banned from driving. On top of that, you’ll need to declare your points when applying for or renewing your car insurance, with an increase of around 5% on the cards because you’re now perceived to be a riskier prospect.
“Lincolnshire is a rural county with plenty of long straight A-roads that might tempt drivers to put their foot down. But while there are few of us who can honestly say we’ve never bust a speed limit, the less we do it, the better.”
