According to accepted motorway stereotyping you could be forgiven for thinking the new powers for the police to issue fixed penalties for 'careless driving' have been drafted specifically with drivers of premium German saloons and SUVs in mind.
Yes, as those DRLs blaze relentlessly into your mirror, the driver's elbow on the window sill cupping phone to head with two empty lanes to his inside you can at least rest assured he's from today liable to three points and a £100 fine. If there's anyone around to enforce it of course.
Phone calls could get a lot more costly
We detailed the scope of the
new police powers
in our story when they were announced back in June and the DfT has issued an
updated press release
to confirm their enactment.
This has prompted a fresh round of discussion on the topic in the mainstream media and among pressure groups. You can probably anticipate much of what's being said, Brake's deputy chief exec Julie Townsend saying, "We hope today's changes will help to improve driver attitudes and behaviour. But we are concerned penalties still aren't nearly high enough to deter all bad drivers and reflect the potentially appalling consequences of bad driving." Brake is asking the government to increase fines to between £500 and £1,000.
The Institute of Advanced Motorists meanwhile broadly supports the moves, albeit with caveats. "If the police target the worst and most persistent offenders this could be good news for road safety," says IAM chief exec Simon Best. "If, however, it just becomes another numbers game with thousands of careless driving tickets issued then the impact will be limited. The IAM believes that driver retraining courses have a much bigger potential to actually improve poor driving than simply issuing a standard fine and should always be offered as the first stage of prosecution."
[Sources: DfT, Brake, IAM]
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