But at the annual dinner of the Institute of Advanced Motorists last week Brunstrom suggested many speed limits were stupidly low.

“Every one of us can think of a speed limit that appears to be completely barmy, utterly bonkers. And if you think it’s bonkers you are much less likely to comply with it,” he said. “What we need are speed limits that have credibility in the public mind. We need to have a root and branch reform of every speed limit throughout the country.”

Brunstrom, also head of road policing for the Association of Chief Police Officers, admitted he must take some of the blame for the current obsession with speed cameras and suggested a possible change of emphasis in future.

“It ought to be about the rule of law, about speeding. Speed cameras ought to be somewhere in the background, along with a host of other measures,” he said.

In a comment that offered hope to beleaguered motorists and demonstrated a refusal to live up to his nickname, Brunstrom told the audience: “The solution is not ever more draconian enforcement.”