Going around 160km/h on highways in Europe is pretty common, also higher speeds for eg. in Germany
http://www.unecartedumonde.fr/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/car...
is it? That is 20-50km/h above the limit in all european countries other than Germany. There are people going that speed, but in my experience across a few countries 99% of the traffic does not go that much above the limit.
Sources:
https://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/specialist/knowle.... https://autotraveler.ru/en/spravka/max-speed-limits-in-europ...
Personally, I tend to cruise at an indicated 100mph because above that enforcement ratchets up. Which is about 160kph. I certainly think it's fair to describe that as not uncommon. I do similar speeds in France and Germany and am rarely the fastest vehicle around.
In the UK? OK, at least it's clear what you think of the law.
Personally, I hope you get nailed for it. That sort of contempt for both the law and other road users ought to be penalised.
(Maybe you only cruise on empty motorways at 3 AM, and so that makes it acceptable...?)
And yeah, I think the law is stupid. I believe that we should eliminate speeding tickets and have police only enforce "reckless driving". Going the speed limit could be much more dangerous than exceeding it given traffic and road conditions. Going 2x the speed limit with no other cars in sight should be penalized much less than failing to signal when changing lanes while in traffic; the former only puts the driver and passengers at risk, while the latter risks all cars within a half mile or so if they cause a pileup.
Police seem to enforce the former far more than the latter because it's easier, not because it has the biggest impact.
As far as getting nailed goes, it would be a fixed penalty ticket, if anything. I don't agree that it's contempt for other road users, any more than it is to do that speed (or significantly more) on an autobahn.
This was on a relatively quiet, well sighted motorway in good conditions. But there were other people clearly in a hurry!