Almost half of all drivers have been caught breaking a major driving law across key motorways and A-roads in the UK risking hefty fines and punishments.
New research found that police forces across the UK caught roughly 48 per cent of drivers speeding with some even going as fast as 90mph on 30mph roads last year.
The Freedom of Information request revealed how almost nine in 10 drivers caught by police had been travelling more than 60mph on 30mph limit roads.
In one shocking instance, Leicestershire Police reported that they caught a driver travelling at a staggering 167mph on a 70mph stretch of the M1.
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In one case, a driver was caught speeding 167mph on the motorway in Leicestershire
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The highest logged speed on an A-road was a whopping 161mph on a 50mph eastbound stretch of the A303 in Somerset.
Under UK law, drivers caught speeding could face a penalty of £100 as well as three penalty points added to a licence, although extreme cases could lead to driving bans and a fine of up to £2,500.
The FOI also detailed how more than half of the police forces surveyed (58 per cent) caught drivers speeding more than 140mph with the majority taking place on the motorway.
South Yorkshire Police caught a driver going 146 mph on a 50mph southbound stretch of the M1, while Police Scotland detected someone travelling at 148mph on a 60mph section of the A68 in the Scottish Borders.
RAC road safety spokesperson Rod Dennis said the data shines a light on "incredibly dangerous actions" taken by drivers, putting road users at serious risk.
He shared: "There is no place for the vastly excessive speeds that some people are prepared to drive.
"While some speeds were recorded in the middle of the night when traffic will have been lighter, this isn’t always the case - some of the fastest drivers were clocked at other times of day when they’d have been sharing the roads with many others.
"Speed is the leading cause of deaths on UK roads. We look forward to the Government’s forthcoming road safety strategy understanding what can be done to reduce such avoidable casualties on the UK’s roads."
Chief Constable Jo Shiner, lead for roads policing at the National Police Chiefs’ Council explained that some speeding cases can be "genuine mistakes or errors" but this was not the case as drivers deliberately broke the law.
She added: "Speed limits are set based on many factors including the road layout, what’s in the surrounding area and taking into account where there might be more vulnerable road users. Choosing to drive above those limits is reckless, selfish and completely unacceptable.
"We all have a responsibility to keep each other safe and do whatever we can to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads each day."
West Midlands Mayor Richard Parked warned that "too many people" are being killed or seriously injured on UK roads with authorities needing to "act now".
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South Yorkshire Police caught a driver going 122mph on a 30mph road
PAHe added that the authority has launched a Road Safety Action Plan and appointed road safety commissioner, Mat MacDonald, to make sure communities' voices are "heard and real action is taken to prevent more tragedies on our roads".
