North Yorkshire Police reveal highest speeds recorded in 30mph – including one in Catterick

North Yorkshire Police has revealed the highest speeds recorded in residential areas in a bid to get motorists to stick to speed limits.

The figures, broken down by district, show drivers have been clocked at speeds of up to 82mph in 30mph zones.

The locations include villages, suburbs and even one near a primary school.

The incidents have been recorded by the force’s mobile safety cameras over the last 18 months.

Andy Tooke, Criminal Justice Operations Manager for North Yorkshire Police, said: “People sometimes question why we use mobile safety cameras to enforce speed limits.

“Imagine taking your children to a playground or walking them to school, or helping an elderly relative across the road, when a driver approaches at more than 80mph.

“The consequences of hitting a pedestrian or cyclist at those speeds would be absolutely horrendous. The chance of a child surviving if they were hit at 82mph is virtually nil.”

Residential 30mph areas are frequently visited by safety camera teams and many villages and suburbs are among the force’s priority enforcement sites.

Speed directly increases the chance of injuries and death in a collision. If pedestrians are hit by a vehicle at 40mph, they are an average of four-and-a-half times more likely die than at 30mph, according to figures by safety charity ROSPA.

Andy added: “It’d be great if we didn’t need to use mobile safety cameras to enforce speeding.

“But unfortunately some people don’t consider the consequences of their actions, on them or on other motorists and pedestrians.

“By revealing some of the speeds we’ve recorded recently, we hope drivers will think about why speed limits exist and why it’s not ok to break them.

“If you saw what we see, you’d realise how truly horrific fatal collisions are and the devastation they cause to the families left behind.”

The highest speed recorded in any 30mph zone in North Yorkshire during the last 18-months was Wetherby Road in Harrogate, where a driver was clocked at 82mph.

All of the drivers were reported for summons to court. The two highest – 82mph and 74mph – both received notices in person from a traffic constable, as did the 103mph in the 40mph limit.

While the figures focus on 30mph zones, one driver was recorded doing 103mph in a 40mph zone on the A63, Cliffe, near Selby, in August 2018.

He was banned for six months and fined £330 with a further £118 in costs and surcharges after his guilty plea was taken into account by Northallerton magistrates.

The highest speed ever recorded by a North Yorkshire Police mobile safety camera was 144mph in a 70mph limit in York. None of the speeds were related to emergency vehicles.

North Yorkshire Police has revealed the information as part of its year-round campaign to make the county’s roads safer.

Called “If you saw what I saw…” the campaign uses the first-hand experiences of police officers who attend fatal crashes and help families deal with the aftermath to urge motorists to drive more carefully.

North Yorkshire Police uses mobile safety cameras to enforce a range of offences, including dangerous and careless driving, drivers who use mobile phones and other distractions, dangerous overtakes and people who don’t wear seatbelts. They are also used to detect and catch criminals who enter North Yorkshire by road.

Highest speeds recorded in 30mph zones by North Yorkshire Police mobile safety cameras in the last 18 months:

RICHMOND: 62mph – Leyburn Road, Catterick Garrison

CRAVEN: 74mph – B6160, Kettlewell (near primary school)

HARROGATE: 82mph – Wetherby Road

HAMBLETON: 57mph – Main Street, Helperby

RYEDALE: 63mph – A170 Thornton le Dale

YORK: 65mph – Tadcaster Road, Dringhouses

SELBY: 58mph – Barlby Road, Selby

SCARBOROUGH: 57mph – Valley Road