Belfast City tops the speeding league table for Northern Ireland with more than 13,500 offences detected by police and the Road Safety Partnership in 2024.
But Antrim and Newtownabbey is not far behind with drivers caught breaking speed limits almost 13,000 times in the same period.
New PSNI figures obtained by The Irish News show how many speeding offences were recorded in each district across the region in 2024. According to the data, received via a freedom of information request, Belfast City soars above the rest.
Antrim and Newtownabbey come in a close second, followed by Ards and North Down. In these three areas, there have been numerous fatal road traffic collisions in recent months.
Although the cause of each of those collisions is not known, police have previously said speeding was the main factor in 10% of cases, and a contributory factor in many other collisions.
The chart below shows the number of speeding detections by the PSNI and Road Safety Partnership combined in 2024:
The figures also reveal that speeding offences in Northern Ireland are on the rise.
In 2020, the number of speeding detections by both the PSNI and Road Safety Partnership was 55,330, but by 2024 the total number of detections was 88,669 - a rise of over 33,000 in just four years.
Of the total of more than 88,000, the largest number (13,621) was in Belfast city with Antrim and Newtownabbey a close second with 12,918 speeding detections in 2024.
A local residents group in Belfast reacted to the news, warning children are in danger.
Beechmount Residents Collective, based in west Belfast, have recently advocated for the local community to take more care on the roads. The group has launched a community campaign.
Residents have been putting up posters telling drivers to slow down in the area, as well as sending a letter to everyone in the community.
Member of the group, Seán Doherty, told The Irish News he believes people do not take driving seriously enough: “Personally I think everyone can be guilty with a bit of speeding, but there’s a lack of education around it too. People think you’re bullet proof inside a car, you’re not.
“The kids in street playing are in danger. We had an issue in Beechmount before when a child was knocked down.
“Lots of the community were concerned, and even the younger people have now come round, saying they were maybe being a bit silly.”
Mr Doherty added: “Everyone has a granny, a niece nephew or a son or a daughter and it could be a serious risk for them. No one wants to see a serious death or a serious injury.”
