Number of guilty speeding motorists rises by almost a third

The current number of 148,426 motorists who have been convicted of a speeding offence is the highest figure since 2005, a huge jump from last year's 115,935.

Although the information, obtained by the IAM from the Ministry of Justice, shows numbers for other road offences such as driving with alcohol in the blood above the legal limit and vehicle registration and excise duty offences have fallen greatly in the past ten years, Sarah Sillars, IAM chief executive officer, warns drivers not to forget about the consequences of speeding.

"We can see from these figures that as the UK comes out of recession traffic levels have risen, speeding appears to be more prevalent and regrettably casualties are rising again," said Sarah Sillars.

"The government and police forces cannot afford to take their eye off the ball and more visible policing is, in our view, the key way to ensure that people don't think they can get away with speeding.

"In addition local campaigns must remain high-profile to make sure drivers don't get complacent, or forget that speed can kill."

According to the government's THINK! campaign, speed is "one of the main factors in fatal road accidents". A total of 3,064 people were killed or seriously injured crashed caused by speed in 2013.

The campaign also points out that the risk of death is approximately four times higher when a pedestrian is hit at 40mph than at 30mph.

Motorists that are caught speeding will be automatically fined a minimum penalty of £100 and three penalty points.

Positives did come from the latest IAM findings though, with driving with alcohol in the blood above the prescribed limit dropping by 7% and vehicle registration and excise licence offences by 15%.

Sillars added: "On a positive note, the joining up of databases across agencies and the increased use of number plate recognition cameras means some motoring crimes have fallen in big numbers.