Swanley: Motorist Caught At 149mph

A motorist has been caught speeding at 149mph on the M25 in Kent.

The offence, near Swanley, was captured by a speed camera and was the highest recorded speed during the period April 2013 to May 2014.

This offence, and others, were revealed in data received from police under a Freedom of Information Act request from the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM).

Other findings from Kent police included a motorist driving a 146mph on the M25 at Swanley, and another doing 128mph on the A2 at Canterbury where the limit is 70mph.

Elsewhere,
:: The highest speed recorded on a 30mph road was 96mph in Leam Lane in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear;

:: The highest on a 50mph road was on the A414 Stanstead Abbotts, Hertfordshire, where a motorist clocked 119mph;

:: The highest on a 60mph road was 127mph on the A413 Wendover bypass in Buckinghamshire.

IAM chief executive Simon Best said: "A speed of 149mph equates to nearly two and a half miles in a minute. If anything goes wrong at that speed, you're unlikely to walk away and you are a grave danger to the innocent road users around you.''

He went on: "Speed limits are a limit. They are not a target to beat. Unfortunately this message has not got through to many motorists and it's clear that efforts to make speeding as socially unacceptable as drink-driving continue to fail.

"The current guidelines on sentencing for excessive speeding offences are out of sync with modern roads, modern vehicles and society's view of the value of lives lost in crashes.''

Shadow transport secretary Mary Creagh said: "These dangerous speeds recorded by police forces across the country are a shocking reminder of how a few people on our roads put everyone at risk.

"This Government is failing to tackle speeding, scrapping speed cameras and in some areas halving the numbers of traffic police officers.''