Record-breaking driver slammed for driving length of Britain in nine hours

Critics say the stunt was reckless and irresponsible as motorist averaged speed of almost 90mph

Record-breaking driver slammed for driving length of Britain in nine hours
Tommy Davies set a new land record after driving between the two extremities in less than ten hours at an average speed of 90mph.

A record-breaking driver who traveled the length of Britain in just nine hours should be prosecuted for speeding, critics say.

Tommy Davies broke the land speed record from Land’s End to John O’Groats in nine hours and 36 minutes, hitting just one red traffic light.

He drove through 15 police constabularies, went past 50 speed cameras, and spotted seven police cars on the 841-mile trip.

Despite an average speed of almost 90mph, Davies didn’t get caught speeding.

“Reckless and irresponsible”

Ian Crowder, head of road safety at the AA, said: “This is just totally reckless and irresponsible.

“Britain’s road are crowded, and far too many people are injured and killed in road accidents every day.

“For somebody to deliberately set about to break the land speed record, film it, and admit how many police he passed and how many cameras he avoided is an outrageous example of putting thousands of people’s lives at risk.”

The 26-year-old undertook the challenge in a specially adapted Audi S5 with a 4.2 litre V8 engine in September.

Davies said: “If you speak to a lot of people, the ten hour mark doesn’t seem possible to break, with the average speed cameras and the police, the odds were stacked against us.

“A lot of people said it couldn’t be done – so we went out to prove them wrong.

“We believe we are the only ones to do it that quick on land – only a FG1 Phantom fighter Jet has done it faster in just under 47 minutes.

Car modifications

“We needed a car that was fully equipped to handle this sort of thing, so we made a number of modifications to it.

“It’s a worthy adversary to a police car, with upgrading taking it to 400 brake horsepower, counter measures to avoid speed traps and a detector to pick up police radio signals so we know if there are any police with in a kilometer of us.

“It may just look like a lot of beeps and warning lights, but to us it’s vital information that helps us build a picture of what or who is around us.

“We had a fuel tank in the boot that extends the range of the car from 250 miles to over 400 miles which meant we only had to stop once.”

Neal Champion, who held the previous record on a motorbike, did it in 11 hours 14 minutes at an average speed of 78.7 mph back in 1984.

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  • #158800 Reply

    A record-breaking driver who traveled the length of Britain in just nine hours should be prosecuted for speeding, critics say. Tommy Davies broke the
    [See the full post at: Record-breaking driver slammed for driving length of Britain in nine hours]

    #158815 Reply
    jim walker
    Guest

    What a complete prat ! a, for doing it and b, for publicising he’d done it, a 3 year driving ban and £3000 fine might bring him to his senses.

    #158821 Reply
    Steph Savill
    Guest

    Does this qualify for the Guinness Book of Records? Best to drive ‘Le Jog’ equivalent of 841 miles on the racing track in future.

    #159083 Reply
    DARJAC
    Guest

    Speed limits in municipal / built up areas should be enforced rigorously. Protecting pedestrians etc is a primary. However, I’d take issue with a couple of points.

    Why is he a prat ?
    Was he caught ?
    Why ban him for being a well equipped driver that took on a pre-planned task in a well prepared vehicle with totally legal Detection devices such that he was appraised of the speed camera locations.
    Weren’t speed cameras originally located in built up areas or to warn of accident black spots, not mounted on motorways to trigger at 80mph ( 10% plus 2mph over any posted limit as per ACPO guidelines) On that basis, the driver appeared to equip himself with the knowledge of where the danger areas on his route were & avoid becoming a statistic himself !
    Why should he be prosecuted for an alleged road traffic speeding offence that was not detected ?

    Could I offer that those gushing moral fortitude, pontificating on the use of speed in excess of the national speed limit should try sticking to 70mph on the M4 on any given day to measure how much of a risk driving at the national speed limit actually is !
    One may want to acquaint themselves with NCAP crash test criteria. 30mph impact testing may give you a warm feeling of safety. Try the same test at 50mph, nevermind 70mph.
    A sobering calculation for you :
    “Kinetic energy is directly proportional to the mass of the object and to the square of its velocity: K.E. = 1/2 m v2 ” How safe are you at 70 mph compared to 100 mph if you collide with a solid object when our crash tests are all performed at 30 mph ?

    I teach high speed driving & prepare vehicles for customers on this basis to drive the worlds most dangerous race track. Excessive speed in isolation is not the issue imho. A magistrate would consider circumstances so why should we pass judgement without all the facts ?
    How is driving overnight between the hours of 10pm & 8am on Saturday night from Lands End to John O’groats a problem ? Clear, sparsely trafficked roads supported by good driving conditions would clearly minimise the risk in a venture of this kind imho.

    My apologies for what is a rant from a mechanical Engineer that’s developed & tested motor vehicles for 30 years. All I would ask is that you question more & dismiss less when it comes to use of motor vehicles on the road.

    Darren

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