MSE News: Tough new penalties for speeding to be rolled out next week

Legacy_user

Motorists caught driving well over the speed limit will be slapped with fines of up to 175% of their weekly income...

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'Tough new penalties for speeding to be rolled out next week'

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esuhl

A slight improvement. I think the "heavy" fines should apply for anyone driving 10mph or more over the speed limit, with double the proposed fines for the excess speeds mentioned in the article.

So many people drive at illegal speeds that it's almost considered normal. Hopefully the new fines and a police crackdown might improve safety on our roads.

Pincher

There was a section of the M4 near Bristol, which had road side signs saying 50mph MAX, uneven road surface. Everybody ignored it and overtook me.

If I drove at 70mph, like very body else, that means:

"Those clocked at 11 to 21 mph over the limit fall into the 'band B' category and can expect to pay between 75% and 125% of their weekly income. Offenders could also face points on their licence."

What uneven surface? Just normal motorway quality.

deaston

The penalties are pointless when there's no-one enforcing the limits.

Most people drive the same routes day to day and quickly become familiar with the positions of the fixed (and clearly visible) speed cameras. The rest of the journey it's foot to the floor knowing the chances of a police officer actually seeing you are close to zero.

shaun_from_Africa

I just wish that the police would spend a little bit more time and effort targeting the increasing number of drivers who seem to thing that it's perfectly okay to drive through a red traffic light providing that it's only been red for a second or two.

There are a couple of large roundabouts near to where I live and both of these are controlled by traffic lights.
Almost without fail, whenever I'm at one of these roundabouts I will see a driver going through a red light often at a fair speed.
There are no cameras there but there are a couple of areas where an unmarked police car could easily stop and have a good view of most of the lights and I'm sure they would catch a great many offenders each day.

However, the revenue gained from speeding motorists must be more attractive, even if some of these motorists may only be a few mph over the limit but still driving perfectly safely for the conditions and traffic at the time.

kathrynha

Pincher wrote: »

There was a section of the M4 near Bristol, which had road side signs saying 50mph MAX, uneven road surface. Everybody ignored it and overtook me.

If I drove at 70mph, like very body else, that means:

"Those clocked at 11 to 21 mph over the limit fall into the 'band B' category and can expect to pay between 75% and 125% of their weekly income. Offenders could also face points on their licence."

What uneven surface? Just normal motorway quality.

They definitely need to sort out some speed limits that are silly. There is a stretch of road near me, dual carriageway with bus lanes, so 3 lanes each way, not a residential area, and it's a 30 zone. Really frustrating as it would be totally safe at 40 or even 60mph.

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

I just wish that the police would spend a little bit more time and effort targeting the increasing number of drivers who seem to thing that it's perfectly okay to drive through a red traffic light providing that it's only been red for a second or two.

There are a couple of large roundabouts near to where I live and both of these are controlled by traffic lights.
Almost without fail, whenever I'm at one of these roundabouts I will see a driver going through a red light often at a fair speed.
There are no cameras there but there are a couple of areas where an unmarked police car could easily stop and have a good view of most of the lights and I'm sure they would catch a great many offenders each day.

However, the revenue gained from speeding motorists must be more attractive, even if some of these motorists may only be a few mph over the limit but still driving perfectly safely for the conditions and traffic at the time.

I have noticed a growing trend for people going through red lights too. Have quite a collection of dashcam footage of it.

theburningcat

So are the standard £100+3 points through-the-letterbox fines going and will this only apply to convictions at court?

I'm all for more enforcement on stretches of road with sensible speed limits but I think too many stretches of road have stupidly low (and also sometimes stupidly high) limits.

Consider the very high number of motorways that are 50mph (when the workers have gone home), dual carriageways that others have mentioned, slow movement from 30mpg to 20mph in residential areas and the fact 70mph is a very low national speed limit by international standards.

Car_54

Pincher wrote: »

There was a section of the M4 near Bristol, which had road side signs saying 50mph MAX, uneven road surface. Everybody ignored it and overtook me.

If I drove at 70mph, like very body else, that means:

"Those clocked at 11 to 21 mph over the limit fall into the 'band B' category and can expect to pay between 75% and 125% of their weekly income. Offenders could also face points on their licence."

What uneven surface? Just normal motorway quality.

Those signs are advisory only, and can't be enforced.

Reaper

The police and government are obsessed with speed and only speed. Frankly if I drive 90mph on an empty motorway I am much less of a danger than the driver doing 70mph a few feet from the car in front.

It would be simple to make a machine that looks for such tailgating but they can't think beyond speed as the only cause of accidents.

phillw

deaston wrote: »

The penalties are pointless when there's no-one enforcing the limits.

Most people drive the same routes day to day and quickly become familiar with the positions of the fixed (and clearly visible) speed cameras. The rest of the journey it's foot to the floor knowing the chances of a police officer actually seeing you are close to zero.

Speed on it's own rarely causes accidents and it's not even the cause in the majority of accidents that involve death. Police have more worthwhile things to do than enforce stupid speed restrictions.

If anyone was seriously interested in getting people to slow down they wouldn't just be putting up cameras. They won't for example put up 30 mph speed limit signs, instead you have to be aware of the distance between street lights (which don't have to be visible). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Built-up_area_(Highway_Code)

The A303 has sections where the central reservation disappears but is still multiple lanes in both directions, the money they've made from that would pay for the central reservation to be fitted all the way but it would stop their revenue stream.

According to a survey we break on average 5 rules a week.

VT82

kathrynha wrote: »

They definitely need to sort out some speed limits that are silly. There is a stretch of road near me, dual carriageway with bus lanes, so 3 lanes each way, not a residential area, and it's a 30 zone. Really frustrating as it would be totally safe at 40 or even 60mph.

A34 near Walsall by any chance? Ridiculous. And it's downhill in one direction too - you have to brake quite sharply just to not break the speed limit through gravity alone!