Motorist clocked almost three times speed limit in Spalding 30mph zone… just one of the speeding horror stories revealed by new statistics in South Holland
A maniacal motorist has been clocked speeding at almost three times the legal limit in a built-up area - sparking calls for dangerous drivers to be hit with severe penalties.
Scare stories from the county’s roads have been shared following a freedom of information act request, including a number from South Holland and its surrounding areas.
Figures reveal one driver was caught travelling at 84mph in the 30mph zone along Spalding’s Holbeach Road, while the fastest speed clocked in the area was on the A17 at Long Sutton, where one driver was caught behind the wheel at 117mph.
Other horror stories include a driver recording 109mph at Little Sutton and another averaging 110mph between Sutterton and Surfleet.
“Priority must be given to those who are abusing the roads and putting lives at risk by speeding in a built-up area,” said Coun Gary Taylor, who serves on Lincolnshire County Council and South Holland District Council.
“Driving 84mph in a 30 - they should no longer be driving on our roads. That isn’t a mistake. You haven’t been distracted and gone over by a few miles per hour.
“They need to be taken off the road and retrained, that’s my opinion.”
Although it has not been confirmed what penalties these motorists have faced, and each case may be dealt with individually by the courts, guidelines suggest any motorist driving in excess of 45% of the speed limit (eg 50mph in a 30mph zone or 86mph in a 60mph zone) could be looking at an instant ban.
A total of 43,737 speeding offences were detected across Lincolnshire between May 2023 and May 2024, statics showed.
The fourth highest number of offences were caught by the vector camera on the A151, Main Road Whaplode, where 4,822 offences were counted.
The top speed recorded was 75mph.
The Holbeach Road, Spalding incident also occurred on another stretch of the A151 between Lidl and the Springfields outlet site - where children and the elderly regularly cross the road to get to school, shops or the park.
“People need to consider their actions as somebody could be seriously injured or killed,” added Coun Taylor.
“A pedestrian or small child could walk into the road and it would be too late to break. Drivers like that need to be more responsible - but they shouldn’t be on the road.”
A total of 2,444 offences were recorded on Holbeach Road.
Other cameras in the patch also caught dangerous drivers.
There were a total of 1,836 offences recorded on Barrier Bank, Cowbit, where the top speed clocked was 72mph.
On the A17 at Long Sutton 43 offences were recorded, the top speed being 117mph. Nearby, on the same stretch of road, 253 offences were clocked at Little Sutton, where the highest speed was 109mph.
A motorist travelling at 90mph was the top speed at Station Road, Swineshead Bridge, also on the A17. A total of 2,486 offences were recorded here.
Average speed cameras also played their part in catching drivers who were too fast and too furious.
There were 540 offences on the A16 at Crowland, where the highest speed was 100mph.
Also on the A16, there were 370 offences at Cowbit (top speed 86mph) and 518 offences between Sutterton and Surfleet (top speed 110mph).
There were zero offences recorded on the A1175 Deeping Bypass on Deeping Common.
Some areas returned no offences due to a number of reasons - cameras no in operation, temporary maintenance issues and the cameras being a visual detriment among the examples.
The area with the highest number of offences in the county was the A153 at Main Road, Anwick, where 7,736 drivers were captured speeding.
The highest speed clocked was 142mph on the A1 at Barrowby.
What do you think? What can be done to stop speeding in our towns and villages? Post your thoughts in the comments below…
