Which European nation has the most speed cameras and strictest penalties?

Norway has been revealed to be the strictest nation when it comes to enforcing road traffic laws with gargantuan fines far exceeding other nations the risk for anyone who breaks the law by speeding or driving under the influence of alcohol.

A study carried out by Zutobi - a European research body - processed data collected by Speeding Europe, SCBD and Auto Europe to find out which nations lay down the toughest laws if you make a mistake, such as the highest fines, the toughest speed limits and the most speed cameras.

From this data it shows Italy has a startling majority of speed cameras within its borders with a count of 8,703 speed cameras across the country. The data is framed by the number of speed cameras located in the United Kingdom, which has the second highest in Europe but less than half that of Italy at 4,014 speed cameras.

Italy’s figures are put into further perspective by the fact that despite it being larger than the UK in terms of size (301,340km² vs 242,495km²) it is considered to have a smaller road network, compared with Britain’s approximate 420,000km.

Germany and France - the largest European nations - were third and fourth with 3,813 and 2,406 speed cameras respectively.

At the other end of the scale, three nations have fewer than 100 speed cameras located within them; Portugal has 98, Luxembourg has just 24, while Slovakia makes do with just 13 speed cameras across 38,895km of road.

Be prepared to pay out big if you speed in Norway

Zutobi also created a ‘severity index’ using an algorithm developed that takes the number of speed cameras, minimum fines and laws associated with driving while under the influence of alcohol.

On this scale Norway came out ‘top’ with a score of 6.43, which is largely attributed to the vast cost of picking up a fine for speeding on the motorway which will cost you a minimum of €711.  Norway also has the strictest maximum speed limit on its motorways at 110km/h (68mph), whereas most nations cap it between 120-130km/h (73mph-80mph).

You’ll also be slapped with a humongous €5,783 fine minimum if you are caught drink driving/riding and you won’t have much room for manoeuvre either because Norway’s penalising alcohol blood limit is just 0.02%. By contrast, in the UK it is 0.08%, which is the most lenient from a European average of around 0.05%.

To put this into context, the Netherlands has the next highest fines at €186 for speeding and Italy will fine you €1500 for driving with too much alcohol in your system.

A long way behind Norway, Italy and the UK end up second and third on the final classification, albeit scored at 4.95 and 4.90 respectively. Greece  and the Netherlands round out the top five.

At the other end of the scale, the most lenient nation in Europe when it comes to fines and flexibility is Albania, which will give you a minimum €20 fine if you are caught speeding on the motorway, fine you €8 if you’re caught using your mobile phone while driving and €175 for drink driving/riding.

The nation with the lowest fines for speeding and drink driving is the Czech Republic at €19 for both, Poland has the highest speed limit of 140km/h (86mph).

Though it should be noted that four of the five countries at this end of the scale - Albania, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland - have an almost zero tolerance policy to alcohol being in your system with alcohol blood limits set between 0% or 0.02%, lower than the European average.