Driver caught speeding at 136mph on the A5 in Conwy

Four people were caught driving at speeds of over 120mph on roads in Wales last year - with one topping 136mph, the Institute of Advanced Motorists has revealed.

Three of the worst speeders were caught on the A5 in north Wales, while the other was on the M4 in south Wales.

It said the 136mph driver broke the 60mph limit in Conwy by 76mph and was one of the worst cases in Britain.

The figures for 2014 were released following a freedom of information request from IAM to the welsh forces. The figures showed Wales' worst speeder was recorded by North Wales Police at 136mph on the A5 Ty Nant to Dinmael road in Conwy.

The A5 also saw two further instances of over 120mph speeding recorded; 122mph on the Ty Nant-Cerrigydrudion stretch in Conwy; and 121mph at Halton, Wrexham.

The final case of 120mph being exceeded was captured by South Wales Police: 125mph on the M4 between Junction 35 Pencoed and Junction 34 Miskin, where a 70mph limit is in force.

The charity is campaigning for an increase in visible policing to deter excessive speeders.

Vicar spared speeding ban despite being caught for a fourth time

Reverend Tudor Rowlands was caught speeding for the fourth time in four years and escaped a driving ban because it would stop him preaching to his rural parish. (Cant say that his god wasnt watching out for him on that one!)

The 74 yer old vicar was caught doing 40mph in a 30mph area. He already had nine points on his licence from three previous offences.

Mr Rowlands, whose parish is in Powys, North Wales, said a ban would affect the ‘spiritual health of communities’ if he couldn’t reach elderly people who cannot get to church. 

Apologising for his speeding, he also pleaded 'exceptional hardship'  as he apologised for his speeding. 

The court heard Mr Rowlands, who has been a minister for 46 years, was still in charge of 10 chapels across a very large rural parish around Welshpool.

He said he believed he had learned his lesson after being caught for a fourth time in just four years.

Prosecutor Justin Espie told the court Rowlands, of Rhewl, Ruthin, pleaded guilty to driving too fast in a 30mph zone in Talybont on May 10, 2014, reports the Powys County Times.

In cross-examination, Mr Espie questioned Rowlands as to whether he would lose his job or his home as a result of being disqualified. The priest admitted he would not.

Magistrates accepted his argument of exceptional hardship and fined him £70, ordered him to pay costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £20

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Speed Camera Earns £800,000 in Just 6 Months

Britain's most lucrative speed camera is in Cardiff, sited on Newport Road which has a 30mph limit. It has raked in £800,000 in just six months. To achieve this figure it is trapping an average of 71 drivers every day (it has already caught an astonishing 13,624 drivers this year)

This has overtaken the earnings from a
camera at Junction 25 on the M60 in Greater Manchester which averaged catching 26 speeding drivers per day. (figures from research conducted by LV insurance)

Motorists are obviously feeling angered by the speed camera after road chiefs hailed it a massive success. The camera was installed in 2012 but it has only just became 'fully commissioned'

Mother-of-three Karen Leyshon, who was caught going at 34mph through the speed trap, said: 'It's is ridiculous - I've been driving on that road every days for years without any problem whatsoever until this camera was put up. It is nothing but a cash cow. It's outrageous, the camera does nothing to improve safety of this road. It may be a busy stretch but it's perfectly safe. I didn't notice the camera going up, I got caught doing 34mph and I had to pay £85 for a speed awareness course. It was a complete waste of my time and money - I'm sure that most of the other 13,000 people would tell you exactly the same thing.'

In the first half of the year 5,906 people who got caught by the camera completed speed awareness courses after being caught speeding at the junction. A further 3,064 people paid speeding fines in the same six months. Assuming the minimum fine of £100 and a typical cost of £85 per place on speed awareness courses, the camera could have netted an astonishing £808,410.

The GoSafe partnership say that the area has a high flow of traffic and motorists should always comply with the speed limit. Road safety groups have said the camera is not doing it's job properly and should be there to reduce speeds rather than bring in money.

Tim Shallcross, from the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said: 'The whole purpose of speed cameras is to slow people down, because it's felt that excessive speed in that area causes casualties. 'If a camera is issuing a small number of fines, or none at all, it's doing its job. If it's ticketing that many people, it's not having that effect.

'The local authority, which is responsible for road safety, should be looking at those figures and saying, 'We seem to have an issue here - the camera is catching a lot of people. 'Let's make sure that it looks like a 30mph highway, and that the cameras are clearly visible and the signs aren't obscured by vegetation'.