Peter Mckay in the Daily Mail yesterday

[Jason F]

Did anyone read what he put as a suspicion we've long harboured but now seems to be true....

'The Govt regards Speeding fines as another form of taxation. Which by 2003 could be worth £100m'

His opinion is that if motorists en masse rose up in protest against their persecution and refused to pay the fines, could we get the laws altered...

[salty]

Is it the fines that really bother you, or the fact that you could get banned from driving for a few weeks/months for a few minor infractions.

Other countries work on the principle that a speeding offence (up to a certain limit) is just a fine, and beyond that, maybe points/ban.

Personally its the points totting-up system that worries me, not the fine. I'd rather shove a couple of hundred quid the governments way then spend a few weeks with the Cerbera in the garage gathering dust.

Obviously I'd rather save my hard earned cash and hope it will pay for the service and MOT thats due £££££'s


Paul

[DIGGA]

Salty

Excellent point - something I've always been anoyed about! As you say the fines themselves are one thing, but losing your drving licence - and possibly your job - are in some instances, a bit too extreme.

As we all know, your average, generally law abiding drive, could theoretically go from a clean licence to being banned in one short drive.

I don't neccessarily condone speeding - although speed itself is no bad thing, but it seems hypocritical that the Gov't were spouting only last week about non-custodial sentences for minor criminals - so they don't risk loosing their jobs and get pushed further towards crime(?) - but are happy for people to receive driving bans for minor speeding offences.

[Roadrunner]

I agree with the above about rather paying fines than points = ban. I agree dangerous driving should be dealt with but have you ever felt harshly dealt with due to speeding alone? I used to commute to London every day. One morning I was caught on radar from a copper hiding behind a hedge on the M11. It was 5am, perfect conditions and virtually empty. I recieved an instant 6 month ban for driving just over 100. Why don't they do something useful like curb the alarming rise in car jacking? Too much bloody effort I expect.

Moral: don't go over 99mph!

P.S How good are those radar detectors and gps plotted camera position screen things? Ever been caught speeding even though you've been using these?

[horse]

Playing Devil's advocate here. If you didn't have penalty points for each offence then speeding would become a sport for rich guys who can afford a few quid now and then and only the paups would have to behave themselves.

Actually I like that idea

[bennno]

...eh 99mph is incorrect and widely belived, it is possible to loose your licence by going more than 15mph over the limit.

Know this for a fact, directly from a solicitor so to speak. Up to 15mph over the limit is 3 points anything above is at their discretion.

My neighbour just narrowly escaped a ban after a court appearance for 92mph!

Bennno

[Roadrunner]

So 85mph really is the line in the sand? Bloody hell! Did you guys also hear about the government possibly upping the national limit to 80mph?

[Jason F]

quote:
So 85mph really is the line in the sand? Bloody hell! Did you guys also hear about the government possibly upping the national limit to 80mph?

I thought that was what tories were planning..Not the Current Govt..

I object to being fined if I drive at a fraction over the limit - I have no objections to getting fined/banned whatever for 30-50mph over the limit say (but again that assumes that the limit is reasonable for the road i.e. not 30/40mph for a nice long straight dual carriageway..). This Zero tolerance type of approach will only result in more people getting killed while staring at their speedo when they ought to be watching the car in front.

I really object to all the Speed Kills propaganda (in my area there are now hundreds of signs saying 'kill your speed' not Pay attention to the road not the makeup idiot)

The car is the ultimate freedom of movement and as such I also object to the govt attempting to limit my usage and I know that most people will pay whatever it takes to keep their car on the road..

[Roadrunner]

Interesting fact I read about the safety on our roads in this country. A larger percentage of the population were killed when the horse and cart ruled the roads! Should have strapped air bags to them.

[mel]

If they up it to 80 do we still get the 15mph so can do 95 with impunity ?????

[K G]

quote:
If they up it to 80 do we still get the 15mph so can do 95 with impunity ?????

Therein lies the rub... If the speed limit is justified, there will still be people doing above, and the govt doesn't trust us not to do that.
Does it look like they trust us to do 70??

[Fatboy]

IIRC it was shown that the 85th percentile speed (speed at which 85% of vehicles are travelling at or below currently about 85 on motorways IIRC) would not increase by much with even the abolition of speed limits, so it would have little effect other than not making criminals out of hard working otherwise law-abiding citizens.

[hertsbiker]

If it were to become "fine based", they ought to work out a percentage of 1 months disposable income. Thus you'd get a bigger fine if you were rich. And the poorer people wouldn't have to resort to theft in order to pay fines.....

I'm sure that all this "ban" mentality is just contributing towards worse crimes than a bit of excess speed. Christ, lose your job because of it, and I'm sure a lot of people would become criminals to pay for their house / familes.

Carl