Drivers urged to be extra cautious

Company car and van drivers have been warned to take extra care as extreme speeding persisted over the weekend.

Police tweeted details of incidents including a 151mph chase on the M1 and said that there had been several other instances, highlighting a case of 97mph in a 40mph zone on the A10.

Peter Golding, managing director at FleetCheck, said: “We’ve been hearing anecdotal reports of extreme speeding and generally very poor driving almost since the start of the lockdown, and now police reports are confirming them. It’s very worrying.

“Current traffic conditions are unlike anything most of us will have seen, with largely empty roads of all kinds, and this is clearly leading some drivers to take massive risks that endanger themselves and other road users.

“It’s not just a question of speed. We have also heard anecdotal instances of drivers ignoring traffic lights, sailing onto roundabouts without looking to the right and more. It is almost as though they believe they are the only people driving.

“There are currently few fleets taking to the roads except for those operating in support of key workers but our advice is that employers should be telling drivers to take extra care at this point in time. There are clearly specific risks emerging.

“We would place special emphasis on not expecting traffic to behave normally, that other motorists may well ignore standard rules of the road that, at other times, would be automatically followed by literally almost everyone.”