As new government data reveals that in 2022 over two-thirds (68%) of vehicles exceeded the speed limits on built-up roads of up to 40mph in Northern Ireland, Business First talks to CompareNI.com Managing Director Ian Wilson on why these new figures are so concerning:
“It’s actually quite frightening to learn that two-thirds of drivers here are speeding on built-up roads of up to 40mph which are, for the most part, residential. These areas tend to be high risk for vulnerable pedestrians and not somewhere drivers should be breaking the speed limit.
40mph
At 35mph there is a 50% chance that when a pedestrian is hit, they will be killed. This increases significantly to a 90% chance they will be killed at 40mph.*
These recent statistics also show that in non-built-up areas in the same year, the proportion of vehicles exceeding the speed limit was greatest on dual carriageways (44%) followed by single carriageways (27%) and motorways (22%).**
Speeding on all the road types has increased since 2014 with single carriageways increasing by five percentage points, built-up roads up 3 percent, dual carriageways by two and motorways up by one percentage point.
40,335 motoring offences were recorded on Northern Ireland roads in 2022, with speeding being the largest offence group. In total, there were 6,958 detections, an increase of 2% from the year before.
Penalty points given to drivers for speeding can add anything from 5% to car insurance premiums for the first three points on a licence, which can then rise to 25% for six points.
If drivers are convicted of speeding and allocated penalty points, it’s important for them to be honest and fully disclose the offence to their insurance provider, failure to do so could result in the policy being invalidated, meaning they’re unlikely to be protected.”
CompareNI.com helps drivers compare and find savings on van, learner driver insurance or car finance. -ENDS-
