Monday 20th October 2003

Speeding - Who Cares?

No stigma attached to speeding convictions any more says Autocar

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Britain’s motorists are becoming desensitised to speeding convictions because of the massive growth in speed cameras, Autocar reveals this week.

The magazine has discovered that one in six drivers now has points on their licence, compared to five years ago with only one in ten. Government figures are unable to calculate how many motorists have points for speeding – so Autocar commissioned its own research with NOP World.

The findings prove that being caught speeding no longer has a stigma attached. A massive 52% of motorists polled said they were not embarrassed to have points on their licence. Only 16% said they were ‘very embarrassed’. The research suggests that speed cameras are merely seen as a daily annoyance, rather than a law-setting tool to respect.

The number of speeding offences recorded in Britain has soared in recent years and is tipped to break the 2 million barrier soon:

1995: 690,000
1996: 761,000
1997: 891,000
1998: 975,000
1999: 1,015,000
2000: 1,165,000
2001: 1,369,000

Other revelations from the survey included:

• 16% of motorists have points on their licence for speeding
• 19% of males have points on their licence for speeding and 12% of females
• Motorists in the West Country and Wales are most likely to have speeding points (25%)
• Motorists in Scotland are least likely to have speeding points (6%)
• 18% of motorists know someone in their immediate family who has points for speeding
• 47% of motorists would turn a blind eye if they saw someone vandalising a speed camera

[t1grm]

"Government figures are unable to calculate how many motorists have points for speeding"

BS. More like they're afriad to release the figures for fear of the public backlash that telling the truth would generate.

[thub]

So what exactly do the DVLA do, Mr Personingovernment?

[jam1et]

They're telling me that in this business age of statistics, targets, goals and objectives that the DVLA have no figures for the amount of people given points for speeding? Quite frankly I believe thats total crap.

[Plotloss]

I reckon I would need about 4 hours access to their database to find that information...

Complete and utter bcks!

[mondeoman]

Plotloss said:

I reckon I would need about 4 hours access to their database to find that information... Complete and utter bcks!

That long???

I reckon you'd only need to walk into one of their offices, it'd all be nicely graphed on the wall for you .!

[Plotloss]

30 seconds to run the query and 3:59.30 to update all PH'ers license records!

[XM5ER]

"47% of motorists would turn a blind eye if they saw someone vandalising a speed camera "

That should give the idiots a wake up call. Your popoulation has absolutely no respect for law enforcement, is one way to read it. The other way is of course that your population knows exactly what you're up to and wishes you to pizz off.

[oppressed mass]

"47% of motorists would turn a blind eye if they saw someone vandalising a speed camera "

The other 53% would assist!

[ian d]

the limits were set in the steam age, FFS, RAISE THEM. i'd be in the 53%

[Stuart]

Must declare an interest here. I'm the publisher of Autocar (albeit also a huge PH fan..)

This story has, to say the least, hit a nerve with the british public and many PH'ers will no doubt have seen coverage of it on BBC breakfast news and much of the national press. This story isn't going to go away, and we'd very much like to try and galvanise the support of people who agree with what we're saying to make the government change their current "scamera" policy in favour of a more educational approach to speeding that actually does something to improve road safety.

We'd appreciate your feedback both here and here www.autocarmagazine.com/diarycategorylist.asp

Who knows, maybe they'll sit up and listen after all.

[v8thunder]

Note the complete lack of connection to road deaths?
Speed kills, my arse!

[johnsam]

Well I actually care as my insurance premium went up (and stayed up the next year) by some £35.00. I thought it was the Government's prerogative to punish me not the insurance companies.

It was a major crime! I did 37mph in a 30 zone which had just been reduced from 40.

[Ballistic Banana]

47% of motorists would turn a blind eye if they saw someone vandalising a speed camera

Is that all, i would have thought it would have been higher...
Probably about the same as the amount of people who would ignore someone being attacked to

Stuart, well said, we all need to start voicing our opinions and making the goverment take note.
Problem with this country is to many of us just take it on the chin and mossey on.

BB

[Tahiti]

The straw poll in my office (mostly women) says 80% of them wouldn't report anyone damaging a speed camera. The other two's point of view didn't matter!!

[alans]

when i passed my driving test way back in 1972, the only people with points were complete and utter idiots who really should not have been on the road. Now everybody seems to have them or have had them.