20mph is as enforceable as any speed limit.  20’s Plenty for Us asked Police Forces whether and how they actually enforce 20mph speed limits.  Many do enforce 20mph and 2/3 of speeding tickets come from Fixed Cameras (across ALL speed limits) 

20’s Plenty for Us is often asked whether 20mph is enforceable.  The answer is clear: “20mph is as enforceable as any other speed limit”.  In light of the increasing number of places implementing lower speed limits, 20’s Plenty for Us asked all Police Forces in Great Britain whether they are actually enforcing 20mph speed limits.  It turns out that many are enforcing 20mph.  We found out that most (more than 2/3) of speeding tickets in ALL speed limits come from Fixed Cameras.

41 out of 44 police forces in Great Britain[1] responded to three questions:

• How many Notices of Intended Prosecution (NIPS) for speeding offences had they issued in 2022;
• How many of those were issued in each speed limit; and
• How many were from fixed cameras?

Four key findings

• Notice of Intended Prosecutions: The 41 responding police forces issued 3.6m NIPs in 2022[2]. Where forces supplied equivalent data for 2021, the number of NIPs was broadly similar in 2022, with the exception of the Metropolitan Police Service, which showed an increase of 40%.
• Fixed cameras. Over two thirds of all NIPs were generated from fixed cameras; ¾ of Police Forces generated more than 50% of NIPs from fixed cameras.
• 20mph roads. 21 Police Force issued NIPs on 20mph roads in 2022 totalling 260,000 NIPs (7% of the total). After the Metropolitan Police Service, Avon & Somerset issued the most number of NIPs in 20mph places: 20,328.
  Since most NIPS come from fixed cameras, when previously 30mph arterial roads are made 20mph, enforcement automatically increases on 20mph roads.  This is demonstrated in London, where the number of NIPs on 20mph roads doubled between 2021 and 2022.
• Reporting capability. This varies considerably by Police Force, with the Metropolitan Police Service and Northants Police leading the way with excellent on-line dashboards

[1] North Yorkshire, Dyfed-Powys and Gloucestershire were unable or declined to respond.

[2] The figures quoted include NIPs which are subsequently cancelled.

Notes:

1) Top Ten NIPs issuers

2) NIPs by Police Force and speed limit