AA Calls for Record-Breaking Driver to be ‘Prosecuted for Speeding’

A record-breaking driver who drove the length of Britain from Land’s End to John O’Groats in nine hours and thirty six minutes has been called to be prosecuted for speeding by the AA.

It has been reported that during his 841 mile trip, Tommy Davies journeyed through 15 police constabularies while also passing 50 speed cameras and spotting 7 police cars. Despite an average speed of 90mph, he did not receive a single speeding ticket.

Mr Davies undertook the challenge with a friend in a specially adapted Audi S5 with a 4.2 litre VS engine back in September. It is believed that they had planned to try and beat previous unofficial records for the trip for six years.

Previously, the earliest held record was on a motorbike when Neal Champion achieved the same route in 11 hours and 14 minutes at an average speed of 78.4 mph back in 1984.

Ian Crowder, Head of Road Safety at the AA, said:

“This is just totally reckless and irresponsible.

“Britain’s roads are crowded, and far too many people are injured and killed in road accidents every day.

“For somebody to deliberately set about to break the land speed record, film it, and admit how many police he passed and how many cameras he avoided is an outrageous example of putting thousands of people’s lives at risk.”

Andy Cash, Head of Motoring Law at Cartwright King Solicitors summarised by saying:

“At first sight it seems incredible that the length of Britain can be driven at such speed without coming to the attention of the Police. I would suspect that the event is only being publicised now as we are well outside the normal 6 month time limit for prosecuting speeding offences.

“We are often asked to represent people who have been charged with more than one speeding offence arising from a single journey. In some cases we can argue that only one offence should be applied, but that argument would be very unlikely to succeed over such a long trip. While technology can help identify speed cameras and control areas they are not certain and the only and best advice is to be aware of the road type you are on and drive within the speed limit for that road. Attempting to break a land speed record would not be a defence.”

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