Mr Scott said he concurred fully with the report’s observation that the principal reasons for the sharp rise were the massive increase in the number of roadside speed cameras and the consequent reduction in the stigma attached to speeding convictions.

One statistic, which will undoubtedly worry those behind the various safety camera partnerships, is that 47% of drivers would turn a blind eye if they saw someone vandalising a speed camera.

Autocar and the RAC Foundation are this week launching the Talking Sense on Speed campaign, calling for better driver education instead of penalties. At present only a handful of police forces offer training courses for convicted speeders as an alternative to penalty points.

Of the motorists who took part in the survey, 56% backed the concept of training courses instead of fines and points for speeding offenders.

Mr Scott, whose organisation claims the policy of focusing on speeding was allowing more serious road traffic offenders to escape justice, said, “I agree with everything said by Autocar and the RAC, but with one exception. Training of drivers needs to be broad-based and should relate to awareness of the road-worthiness of the vehicle, road hazards, not driving too close, the dangers of drink and drugs and so on, and not just to the dangers of driving too fast.

“Otherwise the training merely reinforces the overemphasis put on speeding to the detriment of other forms of bad driving.

“Earlier this month, for example, the Department for Transport reported the largest increase since 1990 in deaths caused by drink driving. At the time both the AA and RAC blamed this directly on the current obsession with speeding.

“We in the ABD believe the switch in emphasis from enforcement to training won’t happen because the speed camera partnerships are on the cash rollercoaster. They can’t quit the addiction because it pays their wages.”