Safe Speed Forums

I have been a driver for more than 25 years. When I wanted to ride a bike I had to take another complete test. Yet if I get a ban through totting up driving a car I am also banned from riding a bike. I would probably lose my job, which involves a considerable amount of travelling.

Would it not make sense to separate the points between a bike and car. That way there would still be punishment but would give a route to keep employed. Anyone who is banned from driving would still have the option of taking a bike test. This would also have the effect of re-training as the bike test is as least as strict as a car test.

As more and more people fall fowl of totting up the must be a way to avoid the economic impact on a family of losing an income whilst still keeping the spirit of the conviction.

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Speed camera policy Kills

I wholeheartedly agree , but I suspect there will be opposition to this idea .

Devil's advocate answer:

But if someone is banned for showing a criminal degree of irresponsibility on the roads do we really want them to have another bite at the chance of killing us?

Perhaps what you're really saying is that the only reason for banning someone should be if their attitude is so bad that it causes danger. If they don't have the skills perhaps we should retrain them instead? (I don't know about the folk who are too stupid to learn.)

And if their attitude and their skills are acceptable then they shouldn't be banned at all?

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Even more devil's advocate:

What if a biker is banned for poor driving? Would you want them to be able to get into a car and get up to the same tricks? Would it be okay for them to go and try for an HGV or PSV licence?

I'm not so keen, though I'd be prepared to go along with the idea for offences that are applicable only to the car or the bike. The only example I can think of is that getting 12 points for persistently not wearing a seatbelt shouldn't stop someone riding their bike. Maybe there are others.

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Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein

What if it applied to totting up only.

It seems daft that a truck driver who rides a motorbike at the week end can loose his job by getting busted 4 times doing 35 in a 30 limit on his motorbike.

There are more and more instances of 35mph convictions. You can easily get a ban without driving unsafe, even in one day if you were unlucky.

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Speed camera policy Kills

Not likely from the Camera Partnerships since it would double the revenue potential of anyone who has both licences.

Is it equally daft that a truck driver who drives a Caterham at the weekend can lose his job by getting busted 4 times doing 35 in a 30 limit in his car?

Separate tests, separate licences.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Yeah, but in this case it's the 35mph convictions that are wrong. We don't need multi-partite licences to fix this - we need intelligent enforcement.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Just brainstorming

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Speed camera policy Kills

I was just thinking this when I made my post above. We come up with all these wheezes for allowing capable drivers some respite from the current enforcement regime - but what we need is to get the regime back to the common sense of old.

Many of the suggestions have merit - such as graduated power limits or speed limit exemptions for those who have passed an advanced test - but too often we're addressing the symptoms rather than the cause.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

I too would like to see this - as a regular biker and car driver (with 0 points, and 0 conviction I may add ) it is frustrating not only from the points side, but from the insurance side.

Combined no claims bonus history is not taken into consideration across car and bike policies - you have one for each - I think riding a bike (properly) makes you a much better road user in general as you are exposed to hazards a car driver would not normally consider. For me in particular this has affected my car driving (for the better)

Not only the Camera prats - but the DVLA - can't you hear the hands rubbing together at the thought of even more loverly lolly , oh and jobs -

Seperate the licences, charge a fee to do that - bring in a car licence - fee for that , bike licence -another fee - pretty soon we'd have a separate licence for everything we drove ,and at a cost -because as sure as DVLA is a government dept , we'd have civil servants creating new empires and new departments which don't talk to each other.
As someone said - lets remove the root cause - enforcement gone daft.
Why not bring in more trafpols - and let them use judgement - ticket or charge for the lecture - a token fee - record the stop -if stopped for same offence in a reasonable period - ticket - in a nutshell - self funding and education.( points would then mean prizes, after all this is brainstorming)