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In Northern Ireland, excessive speed with regard to the conditions remains the principal contributory factor for killed and seriously injured casualties in 2005.  In 2005, excess speed having regard to conditions was responsible for killing 23 and seriously injuring a further 199 people.  About two thirds (66%) of these casulties were males and 39% were aged 16 - 24.  Nearly half (45%) of the male deaths and serious injuries  that were due to excess speed were people aged 16 - 24, compared with 28% of such female casualties.

Surveys have shown that almost all drivers and riders exceed speed limits at some time. The Northern Ireland Omnibus Survey, carried out in 2004, demonstrates that 34% of drivers admit to exceeding the speed limit in built up areas. The main reasons given by motorists exceeding the speed limits are;

In 2004 the PSNI detected 28,290 motorists driving substantially in excess of the speed limit. This compares to 29,398 motorists detected for excess speed in 2003. The detections in 2004 included 9,181 detections by mobile safety cameras and 7,008 detections at fixed site safety cameras.

A vehicles speed is considered excessive when it exceeds the speed limit or is inappropriate for prevailing road conditions taking account of the time of day, weather, volume of traffic and presence of vulnerable road users, especially children.

The Department's aim is to encourage people to change their attitude to speeding through education and targeting enforcement. Research shows that reducing speed will reduce crashes.

(Statistics taken from PSNI Road Traffic Collision Statistics Annual Report 2005)