Safe Speed Forums

Conservative MP Keith Simpson has been spared a six-month driving ban after he admitted his fourth speeding offence in three years.

City magistrates heard Simpson, MP for Mid Norfolk, was caught by a speed camera doing 37mph in a 30mph zone in Norwich on February 17.

They agreed that, because of his job, and the rural nature of his mid Norfolk constituency a six-month ban would mean exceptional hardship and instead disqualified him from driving for two months.

The 56-year-old shadow foreign affairs spokesman, whose responsibilities include terrorism, was also fined £350 and ordered to pay £35 costs.

Yesterday's hearing was told the MP, who lives in Reepham, was doing 37mph in a Landrover on the A140 Mile End Road.

He stood to lose his licence because of three previous speeding convictions in July 2002, April 2003 and January this year.

Chairman Tony Stapleton told Simpson: "The exceptional hardship is the nature of your job and the nature of the rural constituency."

The court also recognised his commitments to his frail and elderly parents, who live in Norwich and are in their mid 80s.

Simpson's solicitor, Nick Kingsley, told the court: "Before 2002 he had held a driving licence since 1966 with no convictions whatsoever."

Giving evidence the MP said last year he drove 26,000 miles, often doing 100 to 150 miles a day while travelling around his large, rural constituency.

He worked up to 80 hours a week, visiting areas and individual constituents in places where public transport was infrequent or non existent.

During the summer recess he had as many commitments as when Parliament was sitting. "I won't be having a break until the end of August," he said.

His first two offences were related to roadworks and the third to an occasion when he got lost in the centre of Leicester, where he had never driven before.

"Since February I have been paranoid about keeping to the speed limit," he said.

He declined to comment after the hearing.

A firearms officer who sped through Norfolk at 100mph on his way to visit his parents was spared a driving ban — so he can continue fighting terrorism.

Metropolitan police officer Jamie Smith, 30, was clocked at 100mph on the A11 at Snetterton, but escaped disqualification despite two previous speeding offences.

Magistrates heard he needs a car for his work, and that a ban would put a burden on already stretched police resources.

Smith, of West Horndon, Essex, was visiting his parents in Hunstanton when he was caught doing 30mph over the limit in his two-year-old Seat on January 22.

In Thetford magistrates court yesterday, Smith admitted speeding. He had five points added to his licence and was fined £600 plus £35 costs.

Andrew Lyons, mitigating, said driving was essential for his duties as a firearms officer in London's counter-terrorism unit in London

In this case I'm planning to refer to it and I need the source reference.

To me, this illustrates perfectly the problems with relying on discretion. Different people will always have different views of what constitutes "common sense", leading inevitably to cases like this where people compare decisions made by different people and complain that it's unfair. The system has to either be:
- discretion leading to random and arbitrary decisions, or
- fixed and unwielding so you always know where you are
Neither approach will make everyone happy.

But surely the problem lies in that the 'Totting Up' system was brought in before the days of judge dread style enforcement. You'd have had to be pretty unlucky or daft to be caught 4 times in three years by a police patrol.

Safety group condemns speeding MP's two-month ban

Brake, the national road safety charity, today said it was important for public figures such as Mr Simpson to "set a good example".

A spokeswoman said: "The maximum penalty for speeding is a six-month driving ban. To allow a repeat offender to get away with just a two-month ban is appalling.

"Speeding is endemic on our roads and costs lives - a child hit at 35mph is more than twice as likely to be killed than if hit at 30mph - and it is particularly important that public figures set a good example within their local communities by obeying safe driving laws at all times."

There we go then.

review the totting up system new maximum to be 120 points.

Stevei

I don't agree with your point. What people are doing is what they have always done - correctly assessing the risks and driving at a safe speed for the conditions. They are not making the risk of being caught on a camera distract them from this prime task of safe driving.