The New Speeding Fines etc

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col8

Vital Football Legend
Doe's anyone know of anyone who has been convicted under the new scheme?

What does that mean if I'm caught speeding?

Band C speeding fine

A Band C speeding fine means that anyone speeding at 51mph or above in a 30mph limit - for example - faces a fine equivalent to 150% of their weekly income, and 6 penalty points on their driving licence, or disqualification from driving for up to 56 days. If you’re disqualified for 56 days or more you must apply for a new licence before you're able to start driving again.

For anyone earning £25,000 a year, a speeding fine equivalent to 150% of their weekly income means handing over a minimum of £720 - no small amount.

Band B speeding fine

You might receive a Band B speeding fine for doing between 41-50mph, in which case you'd face a fine equivalent to 100% of your weekly income (£480), and 4 penalty points on your driving licence, or disqualification from driving for up to 28 days.

Band A speeding fine

A Band A speeding fine would be appropriate if you are caught speeding between 31-40 in a 30mph zone, and you can expect to receive a fine equivalent to 50% of your weekly income (£240), and 3 penalty points on your driving licence.

By way of comparison, the average speeding fine handed out in 2015 was just £188.
 
Just £188? It's utter madness. It's the government topping up their revenues because they are ideologically opposed to making rich people pay their fair share.

Speed limits are nonsense. They were imposed after a trial period of two weeks in the summer when the weather was especially good. The conclusion was that speed limits resulted in fewer accidents but the UK would see fewer accidents if it just had better weather.

We all know that the effective stopping distances of our cars is different. A brand new S Class Merc with its advanced safety technology stops much faster than a 1970's Mini.

The safe speed to drive a car depends on the car, traffic conditions and weather conditions. It's also effected by the skill of the driver and the condition of the driver (tiredness etc).

None of those factors are considered by speed limits.

We, as drivers, also need to consider the condition of the road. Obviously, if the road is in poor condition, we slow down.

Dangerous driving isn't only related to speed. Driving too slowly can also cause accidents. If the speed limit is 80mph and a car is driving 10mph in the fast lane, it's likely to cause an accident. Nipping in and out of traffic, cutting people off, not giving enough space to cyclists and motorcycles, it all causes accidents.

The Germans don't have speed limits on their autobahns and they are fine with it.

If safety was the primary concern of the government, they could limit the speed of cars sold in the UK but they don't. They don't because they are increasingly dependent on the revenue generated by speeding fines, which is what this is all about.
 
If you make £25k a year in the UK as a single income family, you are probably struggling to make ends meet.

Having to pay £240 for driving 31mph in a 30 zone is probably going to push you over the edge into payday loans or food poverty.

It's a huge punishment for a trivial crime.
 
In case you haven't noticed, I detest speed limits. The idea that some Norbert in an office knows better than me the safe speed to drive my car in the conditions present at the time is outrageous and a huge impingement on my civil rights.

I drive at a speed that is safe in the conditions presented to me at the time. When the traffic is slow, I drive slowly. When the weather is bad, I slow down. When I'm tired, I slow down. When I'm on an empty motorway in good weather conditions and I'm feeling alert, I've been known to exceed the speed limit.

 
You say 31-40 mph, but don't you get the leeway of 10% ie 33mph or is that a falacy? My argument would be, I too busy keeping my eye on the traffic etc to see if I was doing 30 or 31mph....

It's just a money making machine....

 
Pride of Lions - 16/5/2017 09:45

I too busy keeping my eye on the traffic etc to see if I was doing 30 or 31mph....

It's just a money making machine....
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Exactly. I wonder how many accidents will now be caused by people paying too much attention to their speedometers and not the road ahead and the conditions around them.

Just a pathetic money-making exercise.
 
I was told it was a fallacy Pride and I got done at 33mph once in a 30mph zone (they were hiding behind hedges and to add insult to injury, totally clear day, dry and not only that but it was right at the bottom of a very steep hill. Even the oldies who don't speed would find it difficult to be at 30mph at that spot!

I think high fines for totally reckless driving sounds good. So does having their cars taken off them for x months and then totally if they do it again. But this seems like another money making thing.

It would actually work better IF they had increased the speed limits and then said because we are increasing them we are going to make damn sure that people don't exceed the new limits.

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As BB says, the limits were done in a different day and age. The breaking distance for cars in the 60's were so totally different to the stopping distance now.

And in actual fact there are places that could have the limit reduced and like in America, really good signage as to why and very tough laws if you break them. Some spots are known death traps and then anywhere around schools at going in and going out time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_speed_limits_in_the_United_Kingdom
 
On one of those motorway police programmes the traffic policeman said they use speed limit + 10% but I guess that was for motorway only as I got done in Wales for 32mph in a 30. Mind you the North Wales police are notorious for using speeding as a money making exercise.
 
Also I think depends how the police feel at the time or who you are caught by. I've been done several times (clear at moment) just 2-3 mph over limit and same as you, twice in Wales!
 
There is a sharp turn on my way to work. The road was badly designed and the angle is too tight for a road linking one motorway to another. The speed limit there is 30kmph (we us KM in Malaysia).

I usually take that turn at 50 or 60kmph but it depends on the traffic conditions and how tired I feel.

Malaysia gets tropical rain storms where it absolutely buckets down and it can reduce visibility to a few meters. One day, I was making that turn during a rain storm so I slowed right down TO 30kmph. It's the only time I've ever taken that turn under the speed limit.

It made me realise that the Herberts in the office have to account for all weather conditions so they calculate the maximum safe speed in the worst possible conditions and then expect us all to abide by them regardless of the conditions.

It's absolute madness.
 
Interestingly enough, I got done in Wales years ago - 73mph coming off the M4 near Cardiff.

The moral of the story, as far as I am concerned, and backed up by Sir Dennis' and The Fear's experiences, is to not go to Wales.
 
Watch out for the speed cameras on the so called 'smart motorways'. The police now have the authority to switch them on permanently. Also when you see them always switched on when the road is clear it's nothing to do with safety but is all about lowering emissions.

What a pathetic excuse for a money making exercise.
 
That's exactly it. It's all about the money. If it was really about safety, there are loads of other things they could do instead.

I see the latest high tech cars can detect speed limit signs and slow the car down to stay under the speed limit automatically using the adaptive cruise control. They could make that mandatory if they were so concerned with safety.

Or how about banning new cars which get less than a 5 star Euro NCAP rating?

I bet they'll abolish speed limits when self-driving cars become the norm.
 
One of our cadets has just been done doing 46 in a 30 mph and a hefty £900 fine....
:2:
 
He must be a very well paid cadet as driving 41-50 in a 30 zone is classed as a Band B fine, recommended to be 100% of weekly wage. Does he earn £900 per week? Or is he talking out of his rear end? Or is there more involved than just speeding?

 
Villan Of The North - 2/6/2017 10:04

He must be a very well paid cadet as driving 41-50 in a 30 zone is classed as a Band B fine, recommended to be 100% of weekly wage. Does he earn £900 per week? Or is he talking out of his rear end? Or is there more involved than just speeding?
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To be honest it was a she driving and it was one of the other cadets who told me, Ill have to check again.
 
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