RAC Report on Motoring 2016

RAC call to action: Road safety: see page 88

RAC Report on Motoring 2016

2.0 Road safety

There is no official record of the number or extent of 20mph zones which have been introduced by local authorities in the UK, although the DfT says it is now ‘considering the best way’ to measure the growth of such zones 14 . There is less acceptance of 20mph limits among motorists than there is of 30mph limits. Two-fifths (41%) of drivers think the limit in 20mph areas should be higher (33% in 2015), compared with only 22% who take the same view of 30mph areas (16% in 2015). At the same time, a majority of motorists (66%) still believe the 70mph motorway limit should be raised to at least 80mph, a finding that has emerged from research for the Report every year since 2010. This year’s Report shows little change in motorists’ views of the acceptability of speeding:

39% say it is acceptable to travel at 80mph on the motorway, while 23% say it is OK to do 25mph in a 20mph zone, and 14% say it is acceptable to drive at 40mph on a 30mph road. The fall in the number of roads policing officers may have had some impact on motorists’ willingness to break the speed limit. Government figures show that the total number of dedicated roads police in England and Wales fell by 27% between 2010 and 2015 15 from 5,338 to 3,901. The 2016 Report on Motoring found that 27% of drivers agree with the statement ‘I don’t think I am very likely to get caught if I break most motoring laws’, up from 24% in 2015. A clear majority (61% compared with 62% in 2015) believe there are not enough police on the roads enforcing driving laws.

Number of dedicated roads policing officers in England and Wales

14. www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-in-great-britain-main-results-2015 15. www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/ Commons/2015-01-28/222445/ 5,338 3,901 2010 2015

40