Drivers of around four in 10 cars on the road Greater Manchester are taking advantage of quieter roads during the coronavirus lockdown by exceeding local speed limits, mayor Andy Burnham says.
While the number of vehicles on the roads has fallen by around three million since mid-March, the number of speeding motorists has doubled.
Greater Manchester mayor Burnham described the figures as ‘worrying’ and said ‘stretched’ police would be enforcing the rules at hotspots across the region.
He said there were some benefits to having quieter roads, namely cleaner air and less noise for those living in built-up areas.
Speaking in his weekly press briefing on coronavirus, Mr Burnham said: “People are taking advantage of the less congested roads but that potentially is putting the public at greater risk.
“That would be more worrying in any event but it’s particularly worrying when more families are out and about taking walks and there are people running and cycling.
“There are just more people on our pavements.
“The police are stretched of course but we will be targeting hotspots where speeding is happening.”
Figures from Transport for Greater Manchester show that an estimated five million trips were made on March 9, and that a quarter of those travelled above the speed limit.
The total number of trips dropped to its lowest - around one million - on March 29, when 40pc of vehicles were exceeding the speed limit.
But Mr Burnham said he has hopes for some ‘positive’ change to come out of the lower traffic levels created by the lockdown.
“There is obviously a beneficial effect which is cleaner air and less noise particularly for people who are living in our more densely populated areas,” he added.
“I’ve noticed fewer transport complaints coming through to me on a daily basis.”
Mr Burnham concluded by saying that once the coronavirus crisis is over, he would be calling on the government to bring forward funding that will allow people to switch to electric vehicles to capitalise on the cleaner air being created by quieter roads.
