Speeding Fines - just a heads up

[daffy]

On the 24th April the new Speeding Fine rates and penalties come into force. The fines are no longer like the old Monopoly game, but serious amounts.

As a Road Safety officer said to a group of speed miscreants a few months ago - I was one of them - with modern technology and the attitude towards speed offences being one of intolerance (rightly so in my view) - "It's not going to be 'if' you get caught if you exceed speed limits, its 'when'."

Saga Magazine sent me an email with details of the new rates today so I thought I'd pass it on. After all, losing your licence for up to 56 days (or longer) and having to pay a fine of up to 150% of your weekly income  (or more) , is an incentive none can ignore.

Note also the new penalties for mobile phone usage mentioned at the end of the article.

Drive safely and sensibly everyone, and keep your hard earned for more trains, not fines.

https://www.saga.co.uk/magazine/motoring/cars/using/the-uks-new-speeding-fines-explained?scid=eml-n%7Cpub%7Ccar%7Cna%7CMag_Subscriber_Newsletter%7CControl%7C22_Apr_2017%7CArticle_8%7CButton&utm_source=newsletter-22Apr17&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Print%20Newsletter

[austinbob]

Thanks for that Daffy.
I've never understood the outcry about increased fines for speeding, mobile phone use or anything else for that matter.
If people stick to the law and the rules it doesn't make any difference what the fines are does it???

[MJKERR]

Note, for speeding no change in the Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) system
Compare the previously known Level A fine it has been renamed as Band A

These new guidelines only apply where a FPN cannot be issued AND the Crown Office / Fiscal decide to proceed to prosecution
Overall, there is very little change compared to current sentencing and is just an alignment to income ranges based on the offence

[NeMo]

I've never understood the outcry about increased fines for speeding, mobile phone use or anything else for that matter.
If people stick to the law and the rules it doesn't make any difference what the fines are does it???

Amen to that, brother.

Speeding causes seriously accidents. There were 1,780 road deaths in the UK between March 2015 and March 2016, the latest dates for which the numbers have been published. Speed is one of the main factors to these according to the road safety professionals.

People get terribly hot and bothered about axe-wielding child murders and crazy terrorists blowing up who-knows-what. But far, FAR more people will be killed in the UK by people going too fast. We need to make speeding as socially unacceptable as drink-driving has become, or for that matter, as unacceptable as being complicit in any other type of dangerous activity that causes harm to those around us.

Speed limits aren't a target, they're a maximum, and going above them takes you over what's considered to be safe in that particular road environment.

Cheers, NeMo

[Yet_Another]

Sailing dangerously close to political here.

To be honest, it's quite hard to have a serious accident without going fast.

Speeding is just one aspect of the rampant bad driving that occurs across the country all the time.

There should be mandatory driving tests every five years for everyone, which are harder than the first one, to reflect the experience that the driver should have. And a failure should take you back to stage zero - no licence.

Sorry. Bit of a hobbyhorse.

[daffy]

Perhaps my original post here was prompted not just by the email from Saga, but also by my journey to Bradford yesterday along the A18, M180, M18, M62 and M606.

The best I can say about the driving of some is: I survived to write this.

[crepello]

Yes it's a bit political but the views on here confirm mine. I'm a pedestrian and see lots of appalling driving, mainly excessive speed. Why can't local authorities raise lots of revenue by putting up cameras and clobbering these idiots?

[oscar]

I've never understood the outcry about increased fines for speeding, mobile phone use or anything else for that matter.
If people stick to the law and the rules it doesn't make any difference what the fines are does it???

Amen to that, brother.

Speeding causes seriously accidents. There were 1,780 road deaths in the UK between March 2015 and March 2016, the latest dates for which the numbers have been published. Speed is one of the main factors to these according to the road safety professionals.

People get terribly hot and bothered about axe-wielding child murders and crazy terrorists blowing up who-knows-what. But far, FAR more people will be killed in the UK by people going too fast. We need to make speeding as socially unacceptable as drink-driving has become, or for that matter, as unacceptable as being complicit in any other type of dangerous activity that causes harm to those around us.

Speed limits aren't a target, they're a maximum, and going above them takes you over what's considered to be safe in that particular road environment.

Cheers, NeMo

Funny, that! Official figure of 'speeding' accidents is give or take 7%, whereas inattention comes out as the biggest cause. (Most likely the holier-than-thous gazing rapturously at their speedometers!)
Just to clarify, I don't agree with excessive speed: it's just (changed by forum) councillors , some of whom don't even drive, dumbing down realistic speed limits just " 'cos they can".
Limits should be set by professionals, i.e. the traffic police.

Just my observance as a retired tanker driver of 40 years...

[austinbob]

Doesn't alter the fact that a speed limit is a 'limit' and should not be exceeded. I'd hate you to be one of the 7% you quote, involved in an accident.
Don't normally need to gaze at your speedo to know you're speeding. Most of the time its damned obvious.
I would imagine people using their mobile phones whilst driving account far more for the 'inattention' accidents.

[njee20]

Must admit I had no idea about this! Is there a maximum on fines? The Saga numbers seem a bit misleading, are they all based on a £25k salary? Fairly significant disincentive!

[PaulCheffus]

Must admit I had no idea about this! Is there a maximum on fines? The Saga numbers seem a bit misleading, are they all based on a £25k salary? Fairly significant disincentive!

Hi

It's capped at £1000 for the band b and £2500 for the band c for people earning over £50k.

Cheers

Paul

[njee20]

Very interesting, thank you Paul.

[Newportnobby]

Having driven cars on company business (mainly motorway) and for personal use (a mixture of roads) I can say since I passed my driving test in 1982 I have clocked up over ½ million miles so have, to a certain extent, seen it all.
I can tell by what gear I'm in and the sound of the engine what speed I'm doing so don't need to constantly refer to the speedo.
Many folks drive dangerously below the speed limit which then causes an accident when someone gets impatient and overtakes where they normally wouldn't.
Even though I have hands free phone capability I will not use it - it's still distracting me.
I find councils do raise revenue by planting lots of speed cameras and removing the speed signs so it's easier to be caught.
With the state of the roads at present far too many are busy avoiding potholes instead of paying attention to what's further ahead as trying to make a claim off councils for damage to a vehicle is a nightmare.

When motorway driving I was no angel but, if driving at 70mph, you're a hazard. How I have never been stopped or cited for speeding I have no idea.
Oh, and before I took up driving cars I rode motorbikes and still believe that has made me a more observant driver.

Interesting thread but can we make it more 'comments' and less 'preaching' please

[GrahamB]

So, from Monday, I expect the number of accidents to rise because people will be paying more attention to their speedometers than what is going on around them. Madness.

[Newportnobby]

To say nothing of using a satnav becoming part of the driving test
The person taking the test won't know whether it's part of their test or not until they get into the car.