Vote: Half of drivers think speeding is acceptable - do you agree?

Half of drivers (50%) think it is acceptable to break speed limits, new research suggests.
Direct Line Car Insurance research suggests that half of drivers (50%) think it is acceptable to break speed limits. Pic: Rui Vieira/PA Wire.Direct Line Car Insurance research suggests that half of drivers (50%) think it is acceptable to break speed limits. Pic: Rui Vieira/PA Wire.
Direct Line Car Insurance research suggests that half of drivers (50%) think it is acceptable to break speed limits. Pic: Rui Vieira/PA Wire.

The average speed at which motorists feel it is reasonable to drive above the legal limits includes 26mph in a 20mph zone and 79mph on a motorway, a poll of more than 2,000 UK adults revealed.

Direct Line Car Insurance, which commissioned the research, also found that more than three out of four drivers (78%) admit to speeding, with 5% speeding on every journey they make.

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Asked why they speed, half (51%) claim they do not realise how fast they are travelling, while a third (34%) deliberately speed when the road is empty.

Some 19% speed when they are running late and 14% do it when there are no speed cameras.

Department for Transport figures show there were 229 deaths on Britain's roads in 2016 in collisions involving a speeding vehicle. A further 1,549 people were seriously injured.

Rob Miles, director of car insurance at Direct Line, said: "Speeding is one of the biggest causes of accidents and casualties on UK roads.

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"The research suggests it is often not deliberate, as drivers may be unaware they are creeping above the limit.

"However, speed limits are set for a reason and 20mph and 30mph zones are often around schools, hospitals and other highly pedestrianised zones, where going over the limit could prove fatal in the event of an accident."