Lockdown sees average speeds surge in London

The Metropolitan Police, Transport for London and City Hall have published ambitious plans to reduce road deaths in the Capital to zero within 20 years. The initiative coincides with a significant increase in average road speeds in the Capital during lockdown.

According to Met Police figures, reduced congestion associated with COVID19 has led ‘extreme speeders’ putting lives at risk.

• Road usage down 50-60%
• Average speeds have increased in all speed zones
• One in three of roads checked show average speed up by more than 10%
• Average speeds in 20, 40 and 60mph zones are above the speed limit.
• Some roads checked show an increase in average speed of more than 50%
• London has seen a rise in extreme speeds with 151mph the highest but many close to it.
• Met Police are processing ‘extreme speeders’ into the Court system within three working days

The Vision Zero Action Plan is a joint initiative to drive societal change to make the aspiration reality by designing, maintaining, managing, operating and enforcing roads to reduce road danger and protect people.

Detective Superintendent Andy Cox, the Met Police’s lead for Vision Zero said: “Speeding is an absolute focus as it is the most prominent cause of fatal and serious crashes. Other themes targeted include the remaining fatal four offences: phone distraction, seatbelt, drink/drug drive and uninsured driving.

“To be effective; roads policing must have an intelligent focus on the few rather than the many by targeting the most risky roads; people and themes.”

“Currently, speeding is not socially unacceptable and speeding drivers go unchecked. We need to change this. The public must challenge their family, friends and themselves not to speed and by making speeding socially unacceptable influence genuine change in driving behaviour and standards.”

Detective Superintendent Andy Cox will join other road safety professionals to run a session at Highways UK on November 4-5 on how the approach embodied in the Vision Zero strategy could be applied across the entire UK road network. 

> Book a free place at Highways UK.