Source: Flickr
More than 1,000 drivers a week are being caught speeding on smart motorways, according to police figures obtained by the BBC.
Last year, 52,516 Fixed Penalties were issued on a number of these roads, including parts of the M1, M4, M25, M42 and M6.
This compared to just 2,023 on the same stretches in 2010-11, before they were upgraded to smart motorways.
Smart motorways use variable speed limits and the hard shoulder to control traffic flows. They use overhead gantries, which contain speed cameras, to direct traffic and change speed limits according to traffic volume.
There are currently more than 236 miles of smart motorways in England.
Further stretches are currently planned or under construction, for example a long section of the M60 in Greater Manchester.
Some motoring experts have suggested that speed cameras on smart motorways are little more than a stealth-tax, but the government says they are used to improve capacity, not generate revenue. Although questions have also been asked about the safety of smart motorways, Highways England, which operates them, insists that they are “the safest motorways on the network.”
A driver who accepts a Fixed Penalty for speeding will receive a fine of £100 and 3 penalty points. If the speed is deemed to be too high for a Fixed Penalty, the Police may instead issue a Summons to Court or a Single Justice Procedure Notice.
Any driver who reaches 12 penalty points for offences committed within three years of each other is at risk of a totting-up ban, unless he can show that this would cause exceptional hardship.
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