Speed limits and speeding :Cross Stitch – Travel and transport
There are different speed limits for cars, vans and towing vehicles on different types of roads. Make sure you know the legal speed limits for your vehicle, the penalties for speeding and when to slow down to suit the road conditions.
You must not drive faster than the speed limit for the road and your type of vehicle.
A limit of 30 miles per hour (mph) or 48 kilometres per hour (km/h) usually applies to all traffic on all roads with street lighting. This applies unless you see signs showing otherwise.
Table of national speed limits
| mph (km/h) | mph (km/h) | mph (km/h) | mph (km/h) | |
| Cars & motorcycles | 30 (48) | 60 (96) | 70 (112) | 70 (112) |
| Cars towing caravans or trailers | 30 (48) | 50 (80) | 60 (96) | 60 (96) |
| Buses, coaches and minibuses | 30 (48) | 50 (80) | 60 (96) | 70 (112) |
| Goods vehicles | 30 (48) | 50 (80) | 60 (96) | 70 (112) |
| Goods vehicles (above 7.5 tonnes maximum laden weight) | 30 (48) | 40 (64) | 50 (80) | 60 (96) |
Vans and ‘car-derived’ vans
Most vans are under 7.5 tonnes laden (loaded) weight and must follow the speed limits for goods vehicles of the same weight.
‘Car-derived’ vans weigh no more than 2 tonnes when loaded and are based on car designs, for example:
- Ford Fiesta van
- Vauxhall Astra van
- Fiat Punto van
- Peugot 207 van
- Renault Clio van
Driving over the speed limit (whether national or locally set) is against the law. The minimum penalty for speeding is a £60 fine and three penalty points added to your licence.
If you already have a certain number of points on your licence, you won’t be offered a fine and you’ll have to go to court.