Company car drivers more likely to speed

Date: 18 August 2014   |   Author:

The research from 1526 UK motorists in February this year also found that almost two-thirds (62%) of company car drivers claim to reach speeds of 80mph on motorways, almost double that of regular motorists (32%).

Company car drivers were almost three times more likely to hit 90mph or more, with 8% admitting exceeding 90mph, compared with 3% of regular drivers.

When asked why they broke the speed limit, almost a third (31%) of company car drivers said they were just following the general flow of traffic, while a fifth (19%) put it down to the driving conditions being favourable. Meanwhile, 15% said 70mph felt too slow and almost one in 10 (8%) said that modern cars are built to go faster than the speed limit dictates.

The RAC research highlights that there is an overall perception among many business motorists that it is somehow more socially acceptable to speed on motorways than it is on any other roads.

Almost seven in 10 (65%) company car drivers feel that it is acceptable to travel up to 80mph in a 70mph limit. As a result, some 90% say they would like to see the speed limit on motorways increased, compared with 69% of regular motorists.

The Government was looking at conducting a trial to understand the safety, environmental and economic advantages of raising the speed limit to 80mph, but shelved the idea in 2013 after deciding the investigation was not a priority.

David Aldridge, RAC business services director, said: "While drivers may feel tempted to save time in the working day by going faster, any fleet manager knows that collecting speeding points is ultimately bad for business."

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