Scotland’s worst speeding driver caught at 129mph

Police Scotland have made tackling speeding motorists a top priority. Picture: John Devlin

The highest speed was 129mph – approaching twice the 70mph limit – on the A90 dual carriageway west of Brechin.

The figures came a day after Police Scotland Chief Constable Sir Stephen House announced that speeding motorists was one of the public’s top three concerns.

The second highest speed was 127mph, clocked by a camera on a dual carriageway section of the A9 at Moulinearn, near Pitlochry.

In third place was 125mph recorded on the A74(M) near Beattock.

It is not clear if the speeders were in cars, vans or on motorcycles – or if any escaped prosecution.

Police Scotland admitted last year that nine speeders caught doing between 114mph and 139mph in the 14 months to last June had got off scot-free.

This is because their number plate was not detected, road markings were not clear or paperwork was not completed in time.

The new figures, from a Freedom of Information request to Police Scotland, come after the IAM revealed the worst cases south of the Border were two people caught doing 146mph on the M25 in Kent.

The IAM said such speeders should be put on retraining courses – which transport minister Derek Mackay is considering introducing in Scotland.

Chief executive Sarah Sillars said: “A person who finds driving at these speeds acceptable on a public road needs to undergo a complete rethinking of their attitude with a training and rehabilitation programme.

“We firmly believe this is the best way of tackling what are undoubtedly persistent and repeat speeders.

“We also renew our call for highly visible policing to ensure the threat of getting caught remains in drivers’ minds.”

All but two of the top 20 speeders caught by cameras were on the same roads, with the others on the M80 near Denny and the A1 in East Lothian.

On Wednesday, Police Scotland said that a poll of 43,000 people had put speeding as their greatest policing concern, along with violent crime and drug dealing.

Sir Stephen said: “It’s one of the top concerns consistently raised in the public feedback we get from communities – that’s why it’s one of my top priorities for Police Scotland.”

He added: “More people are killed on our roads than are murdered each year. To me, this is unacceptable and to many of our local communities it is unacceptable.

“The impact on families and our communities is nothing less than devastating, yet as a society we can sometimes be immune to its impact, which is why we need to look at our approach to ensure we cover every stage of life from the very young to the elderly to influence and encourage positive driving behaviour.”

A Police Scotland spokesman added: “Our message is clear – if you are caught speeding, you are breaking the law and will be given penalty points plus a fine.”

Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “There’s breaking the law and then there’s smashing it to a million pieces.

“These drivers are so far over the limit the chances of being involved in a collision with a law-abiding road user travelling at perhaps half their speed are very high, and the consequences almost certainly fatal.”