This paper describes the results of a small roadside survey wherein drivers who had just been caught by the police for speeding, were asked why they had been doing so. The interviews were carried out on several weekdays at various times between 7.30 am and 6 pm. Six sites were used, and these included one site on a dual carriageway five miles from a large town, and 5 sites all with a 30 mph limit, but which varied in road width and distance from the town centre. A sample of 110 drivers (85% of those stopped) agreed to answer the questionnaire. The respondents were also asked about their initial reactions to being stopped, and whether the experience would affect his/her choice of speed in the future; how often they exceeded the speed limit by more than 10 mph, and whether he/she believed that there was any link between speeding and accident risk. The results indicate that there are two types of speeding driver: a) the deliberate speeder (most common in the 70 mph limit), who believed it safe to break the speed limit by the amount just exceeded; and b) the inadvertent speeder, who either did not know there was a speed limit in force, or had not realised how fast they were going. Only 38% felt guilty about what they had done. Only 54% thought that the experience of being caught would deter them from speeding again. Only 49% believed that there was a link between speeding and accident rate.
Abstract