Safe Speed Forums

Drivers can escape fines at 86mph
Drivers caught speeding at up to 86mph will be able to avoid penalty points under a new scheme to be adopted by most police forces.
By Nick Collins 7:30AM BST 09 Apr 2011

A driver caught at 86mph can keep a clean license by taking a course

Under the new guidelines ministers will raise the limit at which drivers can escape prosecution, provided they pay to attend a speed awareness course which costs about £100.

Thirty seven of England's 44 police forces have so far agreed to put the new framework in place, and it is already under way in Oxfordshire.

Proceeds from the courses would be used to buy more speed cameras or to recommission disused ones - which they are no longer permitted to do with money raised from speeding fines.

Drivers can already pay to attend courses in order to escape points or fines for speeding, but now the upper limit at which the option is available is being raised.

The courses have so far been limited to drivers caught travelling up to ten per cent plus 5mph above the speed limit, but this is being raised to ten per cent plus 9mph.

This means that in a 70mph area, where drivers travelling faster than 79mph should expect to be prosecuted, a driver caught at 86mph can keep a clean license by taking a course – higher than the previous limit of 82mph.

In a 50mph area, where speeds above 57mph usually result in fines, the option of a course will still be available at 64mph, rather than the previous level of 60mph.

Drivers in a 30mph area would usually be prosecuted at 35mph, but the ceiling for those who take courses will be lifted from 38mph to 42mph.

The courses can only be taken by the same driver once every three years, to prevent repeat offenders from abusing the system.

Officials said the guidelines were not fixed and that police chiefs were free to set their own levels.

Figures from the Department for Transport show that in 2009 almost 600,000 drivers, excluding those in London and certain other areas, chose to pay for a speed awareness course rather than paying a £60 fine and receiving three points on their license.

The same number of people paying £100 for a course would raise almost £60 million, and by raising the level at which the courses are offered police can expect the number of drivers electing to take them to rise significantly.

Robert Gifford, executive director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS), told the Daily Mail: "Increasing the latitude for motorists to do speed awareness courses means more will fall into the net. But the Government supports using the cash from the courses to fund the cameras."

Proceeds from the courses would be used to buy more speed cameras or to recommission disused ones - which they are no longer permitted to do with money raised from speeding fines.

The real kicker is this:


Playing around the rules by finding a different means of 'fining'. The 'speed industry' is really becoming a self-licking lollipop, to the detriment of a holistic approach to road safety and driver quality.

I find it curious that any one should criticise a law enforcement agency for trying to "to maximise the number of offences detected."

I find it curious that any one should criticise a law enforcement agency for trying to "to maximise the number of offences detected."

[How does that sound?

Stupid. It is one thing to criticise the law. Quite another to criticise the police for applying the law.

Stupid. It is one thing to criticise the law. Quite another to criticise the police for applying the law.

Stupid.

Stupid. It is one thing to criticise the law. Quite another to criticise the police for applying the law.