Speed Camera Hotspots

Where in the UK has the most speed cameras?

Speed cameras are more advanced and efficient than ever before, and if you’re caught you face a minimum of a £100 fine with the potential of being disqualified from driving altogether for repeat offences, which could impact the cost of your temporary car insurance premiums.

But where in the country are you most likely to be caught out by a speed camera? To find out, we submitted Freedom of Information requests to police forces around the country to see how many speed cameras are in operation, as well as which cameras have clocked the most offences in each area.

Note that not all forces responded to our request, while some only answered certain parts of the request, refusing others, so some data is not complete.

The areas with the most cameras

1. London

Total fixed cameras: 995

Fixed cameras per km2: 631

While it might not be surprising to know that London has the most speed camera sites overall (with just under a thousand), the capital also has the most even when we look per square kilometre, with 631. These include spot speed sites, red-light cameras, ‘speed on’ green sites and average speed cameras.

2. Derbyshire

Total fixed cameras: 958

Fixed cameras per km2: 365

The area with the second-highest number of camera sites was Derbyshire, which had 958, just 37 fewer than London, and 365 per square kilometre. The largely rural county covers much of the Peak District and the highest speed recorded by a camera in the past three years was 148 miles per hour.

3. West Yorkshire Police

Total fixed cameras: 402

Fixed cameras per km2: 198

As well as having the third-highest number of cameras overall, the county of West Yorkshire also had the third-most per square kilometre (198). The area is home to a number of major urban centres such as Leeds, Bradford and Huddersfield and is crossed by two major motorways, the M62 and M1. The highest speed clocked in West Yorkshire between 2018 and 2020 was 159 miles per hour, the second-highest of the areas that responded.

The areas with the fastest recorded speeds

1. Humberside – 163 mph

The fastest speed that was recorded by any police force that responded to our request was an incredible 163mph, which was recorded in Humberside, which is almost 100mph above the speed limit. The driver in question was caught on the M62 between Junction 37 and 38.

2. West Yorkshire – 159 mph

West Yorkshire had the third-highest number of cameras in the area and was also the place that recorded the second-highest speed in the last three years. One driver was caught doing 159 mph on the M62 which runs across the county, connecting it to Manchester and Liverpool on the other side of the Pennines.

3. Essex – 158 mph

Essex clocked the third-highest recorded speed, with 158 mph, just one mile per hour slower than that of the driver in West Yorkshire. The roads in Essex are busy at peak commuting hours with workers travelling into London, with a number of radial commuter roads connecting it to the capital, such as the M11, A12, A127 and A13.

Methodology

All data was sourced from a Freedom of Information request made to each police force in the UK, requesting the number of fixed speed cameras currently installed, as well as the camera that recorded the most offences and the highest speed recorded between 2018 and 2020.

25 forces responded to our request with information, although some unfortunately withheld certain aspects so some data is incomplete.