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THE SPEEDING DRIVER: WHO, HOW AND WHY?

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION

1. The Scottish Executive commissioned research to follow up previous studies in 1991, 1994 and 1996 on the causes and consequences of speeding. This study consists of:

• a review of national and international literature,
• focus groups with drivers of different ages, gender, trip obligations and inclinations towards speeding,
• 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

Results were compared with previous studies and a comprehensive picture of the attitudes and behaviour of speeding drivers in Scotland and of the association between their speeding behaviours and their recent crash-history was compiled.

MAIN FINDINGS

Speeding Behaviour and Attitudes

2. Over the last decade in Scotland excessive speed in town has fallen, with 4 out of 5 drivers in 2002, compared to 3 out of 5 in 1991, saying they never drive at 50 mph in a 30 mph zone, but there have been increases in the percentage of drivers reporting excess speed (driving at 80 mph) and excessive speed (driving at 90 mph) in 70 mph zones.

3. Over the same period Scottish drivers' attitudes to speed limits has remained unchanged but there has been a substantial rise in support for engineering measures to reduce speed in residential areas with support for vertical deflections ('speed bumps') rising from 53% to 76% and support for 20 mph limits rising from 22% to 86%. The number of motorists who have seen speed cameras in Scotland rose from 54% to 96%, with support for camera enforcement slipping slightly from 80% to 75%.

4. Findings from eight focus groups covering a wide range of drivers - male, female, young, old, high mileage, rural, inexperienced - illustrated some of the current common beliefs that inform Scottish drivers' conduct on the roads.

• Most or all like driving and cannot imagine life without a car.
• All agree that, these days, women drive just as fast as men.
• Almost all agreed that most people drive at around 10 mph above the speed limit.
• Asked what was the fastest they would drive on the motorway and still feel safe, all groups gave speeds above the current motorway speed limit, ranging from 80 to 100 mph.
• Almost all thought it unlikely that drivers who always drive above the speed limit would lose their licence.
• Most agreed that they thought that speed cameras are set to flash at 10 mph or more above the speed limit.
• Most agreed that most drivers slow down for a speed camera and then speed up when they've passed it - and most agreed that they did this too.
• Most agreed they drive faster when alone.
• Most agreed that it was difficult to drive modern cars at below 35 mph.
• Most were agreed that sometimes they were not sure about the speed limit of a road they were driving on, complaining of the ambiguity of the 'national speed limit applies' sign.
• Most thought that physical barriers were effective in making drivers slow down.
• They had mixed feelings about television anti-speeding advertisements, some admiring recent campaigns such as Foolsspeed and others believing that only hard-hitting, gruesome crash scenes would change speeding behaviour.

5. A sample of Police records for 2001 show that most speeding offences occurred on built-up roads and that offending levels were highest during the weekday inter-peak period. After correcting for differences in annual mileage between male and female drivers, males and females were currently equally likely to be caught speeding on camera and to be penalised for minor speeding offences (excess speed). But male drivers received about seven times as many Police Reports for excessive speed (>20 mph above the limit) as female drivers. Young males aged 16-25 are the most likely to offend seriously and be the subject of Police Reports for excessive speed. Comparison with the 1996 study suggests that the percentage of non-manual occupation drivers caught speeding has almost halved, while the percentage of manual unskilled being caught speeding has increased and there has also been an increase in the percentage of speeding offenders who are unemployed.

Travel Behaviour

6. Results from the household survey showed that most Scottish car drivers are multi-modal travellers, with 91% also travelling as a passenger in a car; over half using the bus (57%) and the train (also 57%); 70% taking a taxi; 13% cycling once a month or more often; 94% walking for more than 10 minutes for some trips; and 5% using motorcycles as well as driving a car. When driving, 29% of females compared to 17% of males drove less than 5,000 miles pa, whilst 24% of males compared to 12% of females drove more than 12,000 miles pa. More females (42%) than males (24%) drove smaller engined cars (up to 1.3 litres) while more males (40%) than females (24%) drove larger cars (1.8 litres and above).

7. Of those respondents in work, males and females were equally likely to commute by car (only 12% of each saying they 'Never' did so), but males in work were more likely to drive as part of their work (e.g., 39% of males and 18% of females in work drove as part of their work 'Most days'). Males were slightly but significantly more likely to drive during rush hours. While equivalent numbers of males (62%) and females (58%) in the sample were in employment, many more females (24%) than males (5%) were in part-time work.

Speeding on different types of road

8. Survey respondents were shown photographs (P) of seven typical road types about which they answered a range of questions. The road types were: P1 a 3-lane motorway; P2 a 2-lane urban dual carriageway with central barrier; P3 a wide suburban road with a central reservation but with crossing points for right turns; P4 a main road in town with shops, residences, bus stops and parked vehicles; P5 a wide residential street with parked vehicles; P6 a narrow residential road with many parked cars on both sides; P7 an empty rural single-carriageway A road. All seven scenes pictured light or zero traffic flow such that exceeding the speed limit would be feasible and not constrained by traffic density, and showed bright daylight and dry weather conditions.

9. Males reported driving significantly more often on motorways and country roads than females, but were better at guessing the speed limit only for the motorway, with 92% of males and 85% of females correctly selecting 70 mph. Between 80% and 88% of drivers gave the correct answer (30 mph) for the three town scenes (P4, P5, P6) with only half correct for the other three road types (P2 70 mph 53%; P3 40 mph 49%; P7 60 mph 53%). P3, the suburban dual carriageway, was thus the least 'self-explaining' of the roads in making its speed limit immediately apparent from its geometry.

10. Asked about the speeds at which they would 'normally drive' and 'would prefer to drive' on each of the seven road types, the numbers nominating a normal speed above the speed limit ranged from between 30% and 35% on the motorway, the 2-lane suburban dual carriageway, the main road in town and the wide residential street through 18% on the dual carriageway and the narrow residential road to 10% on the country road.

11. The proportion of males whose normal speed exceeds the speed limit for that road was greater than that for females on roads with higher limits (P1, P2, P7: 70; 70; 60), but not on slower roads (P3 - P6; 40; 30).

12. Across all seven road types, drivers in the 21-29 age group generally showed the highest proportion whose normal speed exceeded the speed limit. For example, 63% of 21-29 year old males and 44% of 21-29 year old females reported normal speeds above the speed limit on motorways.

13. Not all drivers want to drive fast or exceed the speed limit: 1 in 5 (22%) indicated preferred speeds below the 70 mph speed limit on the motorway and half (54%) said they preferred to drive at speeds below the 60 mph limit on the rural road.

Crash Involvement

14. 17% of the males and 14% of the females reported having 'been involved in a road traffic accident as a driver in the past 3 years'. 128 drivers (12.1%) reported one crash; 20 drivers (1.9%) reported two crashes during that period, and 6 drivers (0.6%) three crashes. 41% were active crashes ('I hit another vehicle or obstacle or lost control of the car') and 53% were passive crashes ('I was hit by another vehicle'). The proportions of male and female drivers reporting total, active, passive and injury accidents did not differ statistically. Accident involvement varied with age for male drivers, reaching one third (33%) for male 20-24 year olds, but did not vary significantly with age amongst female drivers. For both, however, the proportions who had been crash-involved in the previous three years rose with increasing mileage from 1 in 10 for low mileage drivers (<5,000 miles pa) to 1 in 4 for high mileage drivers (>12,000 miles pa).

15. Two-thirds (65%) of the reported crashes happened in dry conditions; three-quarters (74%) between 09:00 and 19:00; 3 in 5 (62%) on roads with a speed limit of 30 mph or below, with 18% on 60 mph roads and 5% on 70 mph roads. Of the 47 accidents reported as one in which someone was injured, respondents reported that the police had come to know of only 78% (37) of these, and of 35% of the non-injury accidents.

16. For male drivers, the more road types for which their normal speed exceeded the speed limit, the more likely they were to have recently been in a crash while driving. Of those male drivers whose normal speed exceeded the speed limit on none or just one of the seven pictured roads, 11% had been accident-involved in the past three years, for two to four roads 20%, and for five to all seven roads 26%. No such elevation was apparent for female speeders.

Speed Choices

17. Compared to 'how you would normally drive on your own ..', over half the drivers said they would drive faster when running behind schedule (58%) or when late for an appointment (57%). Males and females differed and there were large age differences, with 80% of 17-20 year old males and 35% of females aged 70 and over saying they would drive faster if running behind schedule.

18. One third (33%) of drivers would drive faster if 'the traffic ahead is moving faster than you normally drive', 1 in 5 (22%) if 'feeling stressed', and 1 in 7 (14%) if 'someone is driving close behind you', though over one third (35%) say they would slow down if being tailgated. 1 in 10 would drive faster if 'listening to music' while driving. 36% of 17-20 year old males, and 18% of 17-20 year old females would drive faster 'with people your own age in the car', but hardly any drivers say they would drive faster with children or older people as passengers.

19. What makes drivers drive more slowly are inclement weather (fog, heavy rain), unfamiliar roads, slow moving traffic, and driving in the dark. No drivers said they would speed up when driving in fog or when they spot a speed camera. Those concerned with restraining drivers from speeding have little direct influence over any of these scenarios - weather, traffic flow, trip agenda, type of passengers, or choice of in-car entertainment - which affect in-vehicle speed choices.

20. Males who reported having been accident-involved in the last three years were more likely to indicate that they drove faster when running behind schedule, when late for an appointment, when in fast moving traffic and when feeling stressed. Females who had crashed in the past 3 years were more likely than females who had not crashed to speed up when listening to music and to not slow down with older people in the car. For males, but not for females, those who had crashed indicated, on average, a significantly higher number of scenarios in which they would drive faster

21. 1 in 20 (5%) said they were likely 'in general, over the next 12 months', to drive slower; 1 in 11 (9%) 'would like to' drive slower; 1 in 8 (12%) thought their passengers would like them to drive slower; 1 in 5 (22%) of those with partners thought their partner would like them to; and more than a third (36%) thought the police would like them to drive slower.

Speeding Infringements

22. The most frequently performed of a set of 14 driving infringements were 'driving at 40 in a 30' with only 1 in 5 (21%) saying they 'Never' did it, and 'driving at 80 in a 70' (31% saying 'Never'). Drivers also rated these two driving infringements as the least serious.

23. Four aberrant driving behaviours distinguished those male drivers with and those without a recent crash-history: those who had been accident-involved 'in the past 3 years' reported more frequently 'driving at 90 in a 70'; driving at 80 in a 70'; 'driving at 40 in a 30'; and amber gambling - 'speeding up to get through traffic lights that were changing to red'. Two driving behaviours distinguished female drivers who had from those who had not crashed 'in the past 3 years': the higher frequency with which they said they had 'driven at 40 in a 30' and 'driven at 50 in a 30'.

24. Females rated driving at '80 in a 70' and '40 in a 30' as more serious than did males. For 12 of the 14 infringements those who rated them as more serious or less minor were less likely to report doing them. But despite the statistical significance of the relation between seriousness and self-restraint, 1 in 10 (9%) of those drivers who rated '40 in a 30' as serious said they did it 'Often or Very often'; as did 6% of those rating '80 in a 70' as serious.

25. Asked to rate the likelihood of getting caught if speeding, a broad spread of responses was obtained across all of the seven road types with around half rating the chances as Very or Quite likely for P1 to P6, but only one third (31%) for P7, the rural single carriageway road. On only two of the roads (motorway and wide residential) did the ratings for speeders and non-speeders (defined as those whose 'normal' speed for the road exceeded their own estimate of the speed limit for that road) differ significantly, suggesting that such background judgements of likelihood of detection play little part in drivers' habitual on-road speed choice.

Speed Limits

26. Males and females differed in their opinions of whether speed limits were too fast or too slow on the faster roads (P1, P2, P3, P7) but not on the slower roads (P4, P5, P6). 38% of males, and 17% of females thought the motorway limit of 70 mph was too slow. 34% of females and 26% of males thought the 60 mph limit on the rural road was too fast. One third of both thought the 30 mph limit on the narrow residential road was too fast.

27. Male and female drivers differed significantly in their attitude to speed limits both on motorways and 'on other roads'. On motorways, 45% of females but only 30% of males thought 'Speed limits should not be broken at all', while 32% of males, and 23% of females thought that, on motorways, 'Speed limits are set below a safe limit and it is acceptable to exceed them by up to 10 mph'. On 'other roads', 55% of females and 43% of males thought 'Speed limits should not be broken at all'.

Anti-Speeding Enforcement

28. Around 6 in 10 drivers think the typical penalty for excess speed of 60 plus 3 penalty points is 'About right', though more males think it 'Too harsh' and more females think it 'Too lenient'.

29. Asked whether they 'had seen speed cameras on any road in Scotland' almost all the sample had: 96% of males and 95% of females. Asked 'How often do you drive on roads with speed cameras?', 62% of the males and 57% of the females said they did so 'once a week' or more often.

30. Male and female drivers did, though, differ significantly in their opinion of speed cameras, with more females (82%) than males (68%) thinking them a good thing and more males (17%) than females (4%) against. Support for speed cameras increased with age, with 57% of 17-24 year olds in favour and 87% of the over 65s.

31. Drivers' reactions to speed cameras were somewhat different between known camera sites ('Where you know there are speed cameras on a road') and unknown sites ('On unfamiliar roads with speed camera signs'). At unknown sites 25% say 'They would slow down near speed camera but not necessarily for the rest of the journey' compared to 51% at familiar sites, and 25% say they would 'Slow down for the whole of the journey', compared to 10%. At both, one third say they would not change their speed as they 'always stick to speed limits'. And at both 3% say they don't slow down at all.

32. One quarter of the sample (27%) had ever been stopped by the police for speeding, and half of those stopped had been fined and/or received points on their licence. 1 in 5 (19%) had been flashed by a speed camera in the past three years but 4 out of 5 (81%) of these reported that on the most recent occasion, after having been flashed, nothing further happened.

33. Drivers, both male and female, who had been caught speeding were also significantly more likely to have been involved in a road traffic accident in the last three years. The figures almost double: for males from 12% to 21%; for females from 11% to 21%.

34. The review of anti-speeding campaigns showed that Scottish Road Safety Units agree than speeding drivers, especially male drivers under 25 and over 40, should be targeted by well planned and resourced publicity campaigns, and support and commend the SRSC's Foolsspeed campaign; that Scottish police forces are keen to dedicate resources to anti-speeding enforcement that will reduce casualties; and that Scottish local authorities have supported Safer Routes to School initiatives and are agreed they need to resource anti-speeding measures at the community level.

Conclusions and Recommendations

35. This study has identified that speeders have a higher likelihood of crash involvement. Those drivers who have come to the attention of the enforcement authorities through having been stopped by the police for speeding or flashed by a speed camera had double the incidence of recent accident involvement. Particular road behaviours and speeding proclivities associated with crash involvement were identified for male drivers and for female drivers. The content of training courses could be informed by such findings. We now have a good understanding of the causes of speeding, and of which aspects identify 'crash magnets'. The best way reduce their risk is to adjust their driving styles.

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