MOST drivers admit to regularly breaking the speed limit, according to a new survey.

Now, the RAC which carried out the study claims the country is in the grip of a speeding epidemic.

According to the report out today, 55 per cent of drivers admit regularly speeding.

This represents an increase of 10 per cent in a year.

More than half of drivers speed on motorways and almost two-thirds break 30mph speed limits.

Police said the results made worrying reading.

PC Roger Blythin, of Swindon traffic police, said: "The message is not getting through because people tend not to connect speed with accidents.

"The problem is that when people get into their cars, they never think about anyone else.

"There was a good TV advert recently which showed a child who had been hit saying she would be alive if the driver had been travelling at 30mph.

"These limits are there for a reason. Usually, when a driver hits a child, they say they didn't see them.

"Limits of 30mph are there because there is a danger of pedestrians or vehicles. They aren't there to annoy drivers."

The RAC said most drivers speed because the chances of being caught are slim.

Spokesman Philip Hale said: "We have a speeding epidemic on our hands. More motorists than ever are admitting disorder on the roads.

"Enough people to fill 10 commercial holiday jets die every year on Britain's roads."

The findings are sure to inflame the debate over the speed cameras.

Last week it emerged that speed cameras generate around £20 million a year for the Treasury.

Motorists Against Detection, an activist group which sabotages speed cameras, says speeding has increased because the limits are archaic.

A group spokesman said: "People select a speed which they feel is comfortable and safe to drive at.

"We've been going out damaging, vandalising and spraying cameras to get our message across.

"We need speed cameras removed from anywhere other than schools, high streets and areas of pedestrian activity."

Tamash Lal