Compliance with speed limits is generally poor, and speed limits are often exceeded with relatively little public disapproval of speeding. Drivers themselves readily admit to exceeding the speed limit.

	50 km/h urban roads	80/90 km/h rural single carriageway	100/110 km/h expressways	100-130 km/h Motorways
Denmark		67		40
Finland		52	23	15
France	64	58	44	40
Great Britain		7	39	56
Ireland		36
Netherlands		40		20/55
Spain	71	16	22	25

Table 1. Percentage of cars exceeding general speed limits in different countries (ETSC, 1995)

According to the most recent SARTRE III survey, the feeling of EU drivers to be checked "often", "very often" or "always" for a problem of speeding is relatively high in the EU (18%). Figures differ however greatly from country to country, with the lowest subjective risk being reported from Sweden (3%) and Denmark (5%), and the highest from Cyprus (40%) and Great Britain (36%).

Excess or inappropriate speed is involved in around one third of accidents resulting in vehicle occupant fatalities (ETSC, 1995).