National statistics

Free flow vehicle speeds in Great Britain: 2011

This statistical release presents statistics on the speed of traffic in free flowing conditions on roads in Great Britain during 2011.

From:
Department for Transport
Published
28 June 2012

This publication was withdrawn on

This report has been superseded by Free flow vehicle speeds in Great Britain 2015.

Documents

Free flow vehicle speeds in Great Britain 2011

PDF, 83.9 KB, 8 pages

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email webmasterdft@dft.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Free flow vehicle speeds in Great Britain 2011 and XLS tables

ZIP, 180 KB

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email webmasterdft@dft.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Free flow vehicle speeds in Great Britain 2011 CSV tables

ZIP, 17.8 KB

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email webmasterdft@dft.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Details

This Statistical Release presents the speed of traffic in free flowing conditions on roads in Great Britain during 2011. These statistics provide insight into the speeds at which drivers choose to travel and their compliance with speed limits, but should not be taken as estimates of actual average speed across the road network.

Key points

  • Compared to 2001, the percentage of vehicles exceeding the 30 mph speed limit on built-up roads has fallen for every vehicle type. Between 2010 and 2011, the percentage of cars and motorcycles exceeding the 30 mph speed limit increased to 47 and 50% respectively.
  • On motorways, 49% of cars exceeded the 70 mph speed limit in 2011, unchanged from 2010. 13% of cars in 2011 were recorded as travelling at 80 mph or faster, continuing the downward trend seen in recent years.
  • Over 83% of articulated heavy goods vehicles exceeded the 50 mph speed limit on dual carriageway and 71% exceeded the 40 mph limit on single carriageway non-built-up roads.
  • In 2011, motorcycles had the highest average free flow speeds across all road types except motorways. In addition 20% of motorcycles were travelling 10 mph or more above the speed limit on motorways and 21% on dual carriageways, the highest proportion of any vehicle for these road types.

Technical information

Information on free flow vehicle speeds, including pre-release access list can be found here.

Contact us

Published 28 June 2012