Speed limits for cars

A car in Great Britain and Northern Ireland may travel at 60 mph on a single carriageway and 70 mph on a dual carriageway or motorway, unless signs set a lower limit. The usual built-up default is 30 mph in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and 20 mph on restricted roads in Wales. Those figures are on GOV.UK speed limits and in Highway Code rule 124, both checked in 2026, and they come from the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, Schedule 6, as amended.

A dual carriageway is defined by a central reservation, not by the number of lanes. A wide single carriageway with two lanes each way and a painted centre is still a single carriageway at 60 mph for a car. A two-lane dual carriageway with a barrier is 70 mph for a car unless signed down. The national speed limit sign means the national maximum for that vehicle on that road, not 60 mph on every road.

Yes. The national figures are maxima where no lower limit is signed. GOV.UK says local councils can set their own limits, for example a 20 mph zone near a school or 50 mph on a stretch with sharp bends. Variable signs on some motorways and dual carriageways change the maximum. Until the sign changes, the current signed limit is the legal limit. Rule 125 says the speed limit is the absolute maximum and does not mean it is safe to drive at that speed in all conditions.

Repeater signs are generally not used where a restricted-road default applies. In Wales that default is now 20 mph, so you should not wait for a repeater 20 on every lamp post. In England a street-lit road is generally 30 mph unless signed otherwise. Mixing those two habits is how people still do 30 mph in a Welsh town that is 20.

GOV.UK says the minimum penalty is a £100 fine and 3 penalty points. If a camera catches the car, a Notice of Intended Prosecution and a section 172 notice should be sent within 14 days, and the section 172 must be returned within 28 days naming the driver. A court can fine up to £1,000, or £2,500 on a motorway, as a percentage of weekly income, and can disqualify. New drivers lose the licence at 6 or more points within 2 years of passing.

A speed awareness course may be offered if the police decide it is appropriate and you have not been on one in the past 3 years. There is no right to a course. Endorsement codes SP30 and SP50 are the usual speeding codes, 3 to 6 points, staying 4 years from the offence. Totting-up is 12 points in 3 years.

Towing one trailer drops the car to 50 mph on a single carriageway and 60 mph on a dual carriageway or motorway, and bars the right-hand lane of a three-lane motorway. A motorhome over 3.05 tonnes unladen uses 50, 60 and 70 mph rather than 60, 70 and 70. Most vans use goods vehicle limits. Those are different pages. A car remains a car only while it is a car, not towing, and not rebuilt as something else.

Company cars, hire cars and foreign cars on GB roads use the GB car figures while they are cars. A hire agreement can set a lower in-contract cap. That is not a different national limit. It is a contract. Disabled drivers and older drivers get no published extra mph. Rule 125 still says slow down when sharing the road with people who need extra care.

England, Scotland and Northern Ireland use 30 mph as the usual built-up default. Wales uses 20 mph on restricted roads from 17 September 2023, unless a 30 mph exception is signed. Single, dual and motorway car figures are the same 60, 70 and 70 in all four nations. nidirect publishes the NI table. The calculator on the hub includes a nation choice so the built-up default can switch.

Street lights no more than 200 yards apart are the usual way to recognise a restricted road. That is the Welsh Government's description and the historic GB definition. A road can still have a signed limit that is not the default. Believe the sign you can see.

That a national speed limit sign always means 70 mph. On a single carriageway it means 60 mph for a car. That two lanes each way is a dual carriageway. It is only dual with a central reservation. That 20 mph in Wales is every road in Wales. It is the restricted-road default. That the camera will always allow 10 per cent plus 2. NPCC guidance is not a right, and this site's speeding pages explain that separately.

That a powerful car can use HGV lanes as a target. The legal maximum is still 70 mph on a motorway. A limiter on a minibus is a different vehicle class. If you are in a car, use the car row.

Highway Code rule 124 cites the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, sections 81, 86 and 89 and Schedule 6, as amended by the England and Wales variable speed limit regulations and the Welsh restricted-road order. GOV.UK speed limits restates the same rows. GOV.UK speeding penalties names the £100 and 3 point minimum, the 14 day Notice of Intended Prosecution, the 28 day section 172 reply, the court maxima of £1,000 and £2,500 on a motorway, and the 6 point new-driver revocation.

nidirect publishes the Northern Ireland Highway Code text for rules 103 to 158. The calculator on the hub applies those published rows to the nation and road you enter. A lower posted limit always wins. Rule 125 says the speed limit is the absolute maximum and does not mean it is safe at that speed in all conditions.