Extreme speeding exposed: what 1,500 drivers over 112mph tells us about fleet risk
Speeding, Jamie Drummond, Sales Manager, Fleetloc8 Tracking Software
When you work in telematics, figures like these don’t just raise eyebrows, they raise serious questions.
New research from Volvo Car UK shows that more than 1,500 drivers were caught travelling above 112mph on UK roads in the last 12 months. That’s roughly one driver every six hours exceeding speeds that turn minor mistakes into life-changing events.
The study analysed data gathered through Freedom of Information requests to police forces across the UK, covering the period from September 2024 to August 2025. It includes detections from fixed cameras, mobile camera vans, average speed cameras and in-car systems. Across the same period, at least 3,082,339 speeding offences were recorded in total, and the true number is likely higher due to incomplete reporting.
Some of the individual cases are staggering. The highest recorded speed was 160mph in Cheshire, with another driver clocked at 159mph in Northamptonshire. At those speeds, reaction time disappears, stopping distances become meaningless, and outcomes are largely out of anyone’s control.
Where were the highest 112mph+ offences recorded?
The data also reveals clear regional patterns. Below are the Top-10 police force areas for drivers exceeding 112mph during the study period:
| Police force | Above 112mph speeding count | Total speeding count |
|---|---|---|
| Northamptonshire Police | 291 | 74,507 |
| Staffordshire Police | 196 | n/a |
| Merseyside Police | 117 | n/a |
| Warwickshire Police | 104 | 183,430 |
| Greater Manchester Police | 89 | 160,798 |
| South Yorkshire Police | 75 | n/a |
| West Midlands Police | 74 | 222,488 |
| Kent Police | 63 | 92,720 |
| Hertfordshire Constabulary | 60 | 89,746 |
| Nottinghamshire Police | 60 | 95,189 |
Northamptonshire recorded the highest number of extreme speeding offences, possibly influenced by major motorway routes such as the M1 and M45 passing through the county. At the other end of the scale, some police forces reported zero drivers exceeding 112mph, showing that environment, enforcement and behaviour all play a role.
What this means for fleets like yours
Volvo has taken a firm stance on the issue by fitting all new vehicles with a 112mph electronic speed limiter since 2020, as part of its Vision Zero ambition that no one should be seriously injured or killed in a new Volvo. Had this technology been universal, every one of these extreme speeding incidents would have been physically prevented.
From a Fleetloc8 telematics perspective, this is exactly where data becomes a safety tool, not a surveillance one. While not every vehicle can be speed-limited at manufacture, fleets can still:
- monitor speeding behaviour in real time
- identify repeat high-risk driving patterns
- receive alerts when agreed thresholds are breached
- use objective data to support driver coaching and policy enforcement
We consistently see that visibility changes driver behaviour. When drivers understand expectations and know performance is measured fairly, excessive speeding drops, often significantly.
With more than 42 million licensed vehicles on UK roads, road safety challenges are only increasing. Extreme speeding is not a statistic to gloss over. Every data point represents a moment where the margin for error vanished.
As fleet operators, we have the tools, the insight and the responsibility to make sure our vehicles are never part of that picture.
