In the Road Safety Bill, which the government will reveal this week, proposals include powers to vary fixed penalties for speeding. The idea is that more you exceed the limit, the higher the penalty.
Under the new scheme, up to 39mph in a 30mph limit will only result in two points and a £40 fine. The new penalties will also be applicable to speeds of up to 50mph in a 40mph zone, 72mph in a 60mph zone and 83mph in a 70mph zone. If you exceed the limits by more than 15 to 24mph, depending on the zone, you'll cop six points and a fine of £100.
Road safety groups claim that pedestrians are twice as likely to be killed at 39mph as at 30mph.
What they ignore of course is the need for flexibility depending on the conditions. Cars travelling at 39mph at 3am on a Sunday morning are highly unlikely to hit children outside a school. At 4pm on a Thursday, it's a different matter. Similarly, 83mph on an empty motorway is little or no safer than 100mph. In fog or heavy rain, 60mph may be too fast.
So the Bill reinforces the idea that as long as you drive within the limit, you're safe. There's no suggestion within the Bill that measures such as driver training and regular re-testing could achieve the aim of making our roads safer. and behind it all is a continuing reliance on cameras rather than the more flexible approach a traffic police officer could provide.
Motoring organisations back the government though. “The punishment should fit the crime,” said Edmund King from the RAC Foundation.
“Why should a driver who inadvertently goes a few miles per hour over the limit receive the same penalty as a boy racer who deliberately and habitually goes well over the limit? It’s just changing the system to make it fairer. There should be a punishment system that reflects the speed people are doing.”
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