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Produced by the Sentencing Academy

Snapshot 24

Speed Limit Offences (Speeding)

Bringing together relevant statistics and trends relating to sentencing

by Annalena Wolcke

Last updated: Jul 2025

Overview

  • Sentencing Council guideline range: Band A fine – Band C fine
  • Maximum sentence: Level 3 fine (level 4 if motorway)
  • Other common sentences include penalty points and driving disqualifications
  • Convictions increased over the last 10 years, from less than 167,000 in 2015 to over 205,000 in 2024
  • This snapshot summarises key trends over the past 5 years

Sentences Imposed

Figure 1: Sentences for Speeding, 2020-2024

  • Almost all convictions resulted in a fine12

Figure 2: Sentences Imposed for Speeding, 2020-2024

  • Trends in the use of principal sanctions for speeding have been stable over the last 5 years.

Sentencing Outcomes by Sex

Figure 3: Sentencing Outcomes by Sex, Speeding, 2020-2024

  • Female (n=218,777); Male (n=719,177)
  • Between 2020-2024, there was no significant difference in sentence outcomes by sex.

These rates do not account for various factors that influence sentencing decisions, such as the offender’s criminal history and the seriousness of the specific offence. Additional research would be needed to determine whether gender affected the sentence imposed.

This Snapshot is one of a series on sentencing trends in England & Wales. Others can be found here. For further information, contact Annalena Wolcke at a.wolcke@sentencingacademy.org.uk

  1. Data source for these and all other figures below: Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly December 2024, published 15th of May 2025. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2024 ↩︎
  2. ‘Other sanctions’ include: immediate custody, suspended sentence order, community order, discharges, and the category ‘otherwise dealt with’ ↩︎