Police data reveals Britain’s top ten speeding hotspots

New data has uncovered which regions in Britain received the most speeding tickets – with West Yorkshire taking the top spot.

The area was far ahead of the other parts of the county, with Bradford accumulating the highest number of points on driving licences.

Below are the top ten speeding capitals in Britain (total number of speeding tickets issued):

1. West Yorkshire – 224,160
2. Avon and Somerset – 173,428
3. Thames Valley – 151,501
4. West Midlands – 95,093
5. Surrey – 87,270
6. Bedfordshire – 69,818
7. South Yorkshire – 67,255
8. Hampshire – 62,514
9. Lincolnshire – 59,525
10. Hertfordshire – 53,627

The data was recorded between January 2021 and January this year.

However, only 23 police forces out of 44 responded to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. Therefore, the data doesn’t give a complete representation of Britain’s roads.

Out of the 224,160 speeding tickets issued in West Yorkshire, 220,545 were from fixed speeding cameras – with only 3,615 being given to drivers directly from police officers.

Worryingly, the data also revealed that every 16 minutes someone is either killed or seriously injured on the roads in Britain.

The FOI request was obtained by vehicle mitigation system operator Heald, and highlighted the dangers of speeding and its consequences.

• Speeding fines – how much will you have to pay?
• Speed cameras – how do they work?
• Dangerous driving – what it is and how to report it

Road safety charity Brake stated that five people die and 84 more are seriously injured every day on Britain’s roads – and last year saw 1,608 lose their lives when involved in an incident.

A further 26,701 were seriously injured.

The Metropolitan Police reported that speeding was a contributing factor in 19% of deaths. And another 25% of road deaths can be attributed to travelling too fast or exceeding the speed limit.

Researchers into speeding on Britain’s road network said that death or serious injuries increased by 15% in 2021 – this can partly be down to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

However, police data shows that there has been little change in the number of deaths and injuries between 2012 and the start of the pandemic.

The FOI request also revealed that South Wales (4,455), Sussex (3,071), Wiltshire (2,059), Merseyside (2,035), and Durham (693) all had fewer than 5,000 speeding tickets issued in the last 12 months.

Have you noticed an increase in speeding on the roads near you? What more can be done to tackle the issue? Leave your comments below.