Published on Mon 13 Apr 2020 13.43 BST
Motorists have been caught driving at “extreme speeds” on otherwise-quiet roads over the Easter weekend, police have said, including one driver who was clocked at 151mph on the M1 near London.
The number of motorists exceeding speed limits has doubled in some parts of the UK since the start of the coronavirus lockdown, increasing the risk to pedestrians taking their daily exercise.
The Metropolitan police said the average speed on some 20mph roads had risen to 37mph as some drivers were tempted to put their foot down with fewer vehicles on the road.
Over the Easter weekend, when highways would usually be busy with holidaymakers, traffic on some major roads fell by as much as 86%.
However, police warned that some drivers were taking advantage of the quieter motorways by travelling at breakneck speeds. Supt Andy Cox, the Met’s head of road and transport policing, said on Monday that some motorists were still travelling at “extreme speeds” in London.
He posted footage of a police chase involving a driver caught doing 151mph on the M1 at the weekend, while another was spotted doing 97mph on the A10.
In Greater Manchester, police arrested a Mercedes driver for travelling at what appeared to be over 100mph on a 40mph stretch of the A580 East Lancashire Road on Saturday.
The driver was “totally unaware of the police car behind him”, the police tweeted, adding that he was “off to court” for speeding and breaching the coronavirus lockdown. The driver of a VW Golf was also caught driving at 106mph on the M61 on Saturday, according to Greater Manchester police.
The coronavirus outbreak has led to Britain’s roads becoming much quieter, with car travel plummeting by as much as 73% to levels not seen since 1955, three weeks after the government ordered people to stop all non-essential travel to curb the spread of the disease.
The Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, revealed last week that 40% of cars in the region were exceeding the speed limit, double the rate of 20-25% from before the lockdown.
UK motorists caught at ‘extreme speeds’ on quiet lockdown roads | The Guardian
Published on Mon 13 Apr 2020 13.43 BST Motorists have been caught driving at “extreme speeds” on otherwise-quiet roads over the Easter weekend, police have said, including one driver who was clocked at 151mph on the M1 near London. The number of motorists exceeding speed limits has doubled in some parts of the UK since… [Read More]
