Almost 27,000 people were caught speeding on the A282 in Kent in 2020. That’s according to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted to the UK’s 45 police forces.
This makes the A282 the road on which you’re most likely to be caught speeding – all the more remarkable when you consider the A282 is a 5.2-mile stretch of road connecting the two ends of the M25. It’s an important link between Kent and Essex, crossing the River Thames.
Predictably, a section of the M25 is another speeding hotspot, with 23,558 drivers caught by Surrey Police in 2020. This is despite the country being under lockdown restrictions for long periods of the year. In the second quarter of 2020, 53 percent of cars exceeded the speed limit on motorways, compared with 52 percent in the equivalent period of 2019.
Not every police force responded to Wessex Fleet’s FOI request, but 699,517 speeding offences were recorded as part of the research. When looking at the top 10 speeding hotspots, there were 167,448 cases of speeding in 2020 – 30 percent of which were recorded on the M25 and A282 .
More than 3,200 speeding tickets were issued in the first full month of lockdown – a 71 percent increase compared with the same period in 2019.
Britain’s speeding hotspots (2020)
- A282 (Kent Police): 26,920 offences
- M25 (Surrey Police): 22,558
- M4 Clayponds Avenue (Metropolitan Police): 16,188
- M5 (Avon and Somerset Police): 14,833
- A1081 (Bedfordshire Police): 14,753
- M4 Grand Union Canal (Metropolitan Police): 14,529
- A406 (Metropolitan Police): 14,509
- Aigburth Road (Merseyside Police): 14,476
- A12 (Suffolk Police): 14,351
- M3 (Surrey Police): 13,331
The research found that you’re less likely to be caught speeding on roads in Wales. Just 16 tickets were issued by Dyfed-Powys Police to speeding drivers on Station Road, followed by 17 on Heol-Y-Bont, 18 on the A489 and 18 on Penglais Hill in Aberystwyth.
Only Victoria Embankment (19 offences) and Bishopsgate (20 offences) in the City of London prevented Dyfed-Powys Police from a clean sweep of the roads on which you’re least likely to be caught speeding.
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