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THE SPEEDING DRIVER: WHO, HOW AND WHY?

CHAPTER EIGHT SPEED LIMITS AND SPEED ENFORCEMENT

8.1 This Chapter reports material from the household survey on:

• drivers' opinions of current speed limits on seven road types
• drivers' attitudes to complying with speed limits
• drivers' attitudes to current speeding penalties
• support for speed cameras
• effects of speed cameras and speed camera warning signs on on-road behaviour
• the numbers stopped by the police or flashed by a safety camera for speeding and the impact of being stopped or flashed.

ATTITUDE TO SPEED LIMITS ON SEVEN DIFFERENT ROAD TYPES

Opinion of actual speed limits

8.2 Having indicated what they thought the speed limit would be for each of the seven road types (Table 7.1), respondents were told the correct answers and asked of each whether they thought that limit too fast, too slow or 'About Right'. The distribution of responses, separately for male and female drivers, is given in Table 8.1.

Table 8.1: Opinions of actual speed limits on seven road types separately for male and female drivers

8.3 Over one-third of male drivers, twice as many as females (M 38%: F 17%) thought the 70mph limit on motorways too slow. 3% of males and 8% of females thought the motorway limit too fast. Hardly any respondents thought the 30mph limits in town (P4, P5, P6) were too slow, indeed a third of males (35%) and females (33%) thought the 30mph limit too high for the narrow residential street (P6). And a quarter of males (26%) and a third of females (34%) thought the 60mph limit on the rural A road (P7) was 'too fast'.

8.4 There was a statistically significant tendency for more male drivers to think the limit 'too slow' and for more female drivers to think it 'too fast' on all the faster roads (motorway, dual carriageway, rural road, wide suburban).

8.5 There were also differences in the opinions of drivers of different ages. Table 8.2 reports the percentage of each age group thinking the limit 'too slow' for each road type.

Table 8.2: Percentage thinking limit too slow on seven road types by age group

8.6 Few older drivers thought the limits too slow, though 1 in 7 (14%) of those aged 70+ years thought the 70mph motorway limit too slow. One quarter (25%) of 17-20 year olds, and one third (33%) of 21-29 year olds thought the motorway limit too slow, and 1 in 9 (11%) of 17-20 year olds found the 60mph rural single carriageway limit too slow.

Attitudes to speed limits on motorways and 'other roads'

8.7 Respondents were asked about their attitudes to compliance with speed limits on motorways and on 'other roads'. Table 8.3 shows the distribution of responses, separately for males and females. They are arranged in descending order of endorsement by female drivers.

Table 8.3: Attitudes to speed limit compliance on motorways and other roads for male and female drivers

8.8 Male and female drivers differed significantly in their attitude to speed limits both on motorways and on 'Other roads'. Amongst the females, approaching half (45%) thought speed limits 'should not be broken at all' on motorways and over half (55%) thought they should not be broken at all elsewhere. On motorways, equivalent numbers of males thought that speed limits should not be broken at all (30%: two-thirds of the figure for females) or that speed limits 'are set below a safe limit and it is acceptable to exceed them by up to 10mph (32%: half as many again as the female figure).

8.9 The libertarian position, that each, on the basis of their expertise as a driver, should judge for themselves, from moment to moment, the speed at which it is appropriate to proceed, received little support for motorway driving and even less for driving on 'other roads'.

ATTITUDES TO SPEEDING PENALTIES

8.10 The most common current penalty for exceeding the speed limit is a fine of 60 and an endorsement of 3 penalty points on the driving licence. Respondents were asked whether they thought this too harsh, about right or not strict enough. Table 8.4 gives the distribution of responses for male and female drivers.

Table 8.4: Attitude to speeding penalty of 60 fine and 3 penalty points of male and female drivers

8.11 The responses of male and female drivers differed significantly, with more males thinking it too harsh and more females thinking it too lenient. The present penalty received majority support with around 3 in 5 male drivers (58%) and female drivers (61%) thinking it 'About right'.

8.12 Respondents were then asked whether the penalty should vary with various aspects of the speeding incident. Table 8.5 gives the responses, arranged in ascending order of 'No' responses.

Table 8.5: Opinions of whether speeding penalty should vary with circumstances or consequences of the offence

8.13 9 in 10 respondents (90%) thought the penalty for speeding should vary with the amount by which the speed limit was exceeded - a view reflected in the current police practice of dealing with those apprehended for exceeding the speed limit by, typically, 15mph or more, by reporting for prosecution rather than by issuing a Fixed Penalty Notice.

8.14 Three-quarters (77%) thought the penalty should vary with type of road, with speeding in built-up areas treated more harshly than motorway speeding. A majority (57%) thought the penalty for speeding should not vary with the consequences - whether an accident results - and two-thirds thought it should not vary with time of day (67%) nor the reasons for speeding (69%). The consensus among these Scottish drivers was that penalties for speeding should reflect the amount and location of the transgression, but not the causes or consequences.

8.15 There were some differences, again, between the views of male and female drivers, shown in Table 8.6.

Table 8.6: Percentage of male and female drivers endorsing opinions on whether speeding penalty should vary with circumstances or consequences

8.16 Female drivers were statistically significantly more likely to report 'No' than were male drivers on 5 of the 6 alternatives.

SPEED CAMERAD

8.17 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.

8.18 Male and female drivers did, though, differ significantly in their support for speed cameras, as shown in Table 8.7 , with more females and fewer males thinking them a good thing (Pro = Strongly in favour + In favour: F 82%; M 68%) and more males against (Anti = Against + Strongly against: M 17%; F 4%).

Table 8.7: Levels of support for speed cameras to enforce speed limits

8.19 Support (In favour + Strongly in favour) was lowest among the youngest age group and increases with age, as shown in Figure 8.1. Within each age group, there is more support for speed cameras among women than among men, as shown in Figure 8.2.

Figure 8.1: Support for speed cameras in each age group

Figure 8.2: Support for speed cameras among women and men in each age group

Reactions to speed cameras

8.20 Respondents were asked about the effects on their driving speed of known camera sites ('Where you know there are speed cameras on a road, what effect does this normally have on your driving?') and unfamiliar sites ('On unfamiliar roads with speed camera signs, what effect does this normally have on your driving?'). Responses are summarised in Table 8.7.

Table 8.7: Reactions to speed cameras at familiar and unfamiliar locations

8.21 There are some similarities and some differences in drivers' reactions to speed cameras depending on whether they are familiar with the camera location or not. In both situations vanishingly small numbers of drivers say they would change their route to avoid the cameras, while one third of drivers (34%:37%) say they would not change because they always stick to the speed limits. At familiar sites 1 in 10 drivers (10%) say that where they know there are speed cameras on a road they slow down 'for the whole of the journey', a figure which rises to one quarter (25%) for drivers 'on unfamiliar roads with speed camera signs', in both cases perhaps fearing there may be others on their route.

8.22 At familiar locations, half (51%) of this sample of Scottish drivers say they would 'slow down near speed cameras but not necessarily for the rest of the journey', a figure which falls to one third (33%) for unfamiliar sites. And at both kinds of sites 3% of Scottish drivers say they 'Don't slow down at all'.

8.23 Table 8.8 shows how different age groups respond to speed cameras when they know the locations and when they don't.

Table 8.8: Reaction to speed cameras at familiar and unfamiliar locations by age group

8.24 The younger age groups show the highest degree of localised response to speed cameras, slowing down when they know the location and speeding up again afterwards. And only 17% of 17-24 year olds and 25% of 25-34 year olds say they do not break speed limits.

8.25 Where the location is not known, there is a change among all age groups, with a higher proportion saying they would lower their speed for the remainder of the journey. The largest change in response is in the youngest age group. Whereas 68% of 17-24 year olds would slow down only in the vicinity of the camera where they know the location of the cameras, only 40% say they do this when they do not know the location and 34% say they would lower their speed for the rest of the journey.

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