zero tolerance on speeding !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Funkfingers

Even if zero tolerance were enshrined in law, enforcement would be extremely difficult. (The small matter of admissible evidence.)

On the main only road into the county where I live, a good bit of hurtling occurs on the last three lane section before the two Westbound lanes narrow into one. On one occasion, myself and one other driver both overtook a pair of caravans at the last possible moment. This was observed by a police traffic patrol car, lurking in a field gateway, with a hand-held speed camera. 

Two cars, breaking the exact same regulation, one behind the other. The speed camera can only focus on the vehicle in front. Within two miles, the traffic cop had overtaken me in pursuit of the other driver. Firstly, he had been the one in front. Secondly, his registration number was from out of the county. The local constabulary likes to fill its coffers from tourist pockets.

57Deluxe

can only be a matter of years that we will be permanently tracked and road use charged and fined accordingly - for parking too...

roundthebend

I'm out of the loop on this story, and have seen conflicting items on social media.
Has any law actually hanged this week with regards to speeding? Or is it simply that:

1. a High-Ranking police officer has stated his opinion to remove any 10% tolerance
2. some new speed cameras have been switched on for some motorways which record speeding vehicles 24/7?

fields5069

Fines for all shitty parking would be so awesome. There are so many dicks in the streets around where I live.

p90fool

roundthebend said:

I'm out of the loop on this story, and have seen conflicting items on social media.
Has any law actually hanged this week with regards to speeding? Or is it simply that:

1. a High-Ranking police officer has stated his opinion to remove any 10% tolerance

That's about it, but it's fairly effective and costs nothing. 

I'm willing to bet a few people are now a bit more conscious about how much they break the speed limit, though like every other measure it'll have no effect whatsoever on genuinely dangerous drivers. 

Phil_aka_Pip

p90fool said:

I'm willing to bet a few people are now a bit more conscious about how much they break the speed limit, though like every other measure it'll have no effect whatsoever on genuinely dangerous drivers. 

In other words it'll crminalise the people who aren't a problem and do nothing about the people who are.

p90fool

Phil_aka_Pip said:

p90fool said:

I'm willing to bet a few people are now a bit more conscious about how much they break the speed limit, though like every other measure it'll have no effect whatsoever on genuinely dangerous drivers. 

In other words it'll crminalise the people who aren't a problem and do nothing about the people who are.

Well kind of, but that's inevitable when you police by remote control. 

Sambostar

Sambostar

Rocker

RiftAmps said:

I'd support a zero-tolerance policy on speeding, along with yearly driving tests and much smaller drink-drive limit

I agree totally with your last point.  In fact it should be <10 whatever the measurement is.

Annual driving tests would be unworkable due to the number of drivers and the number of testers required.  Every five years I would go along with.

Speeding must be linked to the road and not be a national arbitrary number.  I cannot understand why the speed limit on the carriageways out of cities is the same as on the carriageways into the city.  Surely the objective is to get cars out of the city as quickly as possible.  But to return to speed being linked to the road, Secondary National Routes in Ireland have a speed limit of 80 or 100 Kph.  Yet tiny link roads usually have a speed limit of 80 Kph.  Nobody in their right mind would drive any faster than 40 Kph on these link roads but most have difficulty in keeping the speed under the limit on straight Secondary National Routes.

I do agree with the comment(s) that speeding fines are simply money earners for the authorities and, as such, have nothing to do with making our roads safer.

Clashman

Well I enjoyed speeding when I was younger but I think most people as they age and become less
pleasure seeking and learn that it can be dangerous exceeding the speed limit.Well that's my tuppence
worth at this present time.

Clashman

I ask anyone if you gave them an opportunity of driving a fast car they would not be tempted to press
their foot down and just see...I have been in Porshes B.M.W's and various other fast cars but once
raced a Sierra Cosworth from around Lancaster to Settle ..he beat me by a few yards but I was in
a 1.3 Escort with nothing added ...

boogieman

Foster said:

Does it really mean zero tolerance, must cost a bit to calibrate speed cameras to catch someone driving at 30.000000001mph

This. Prosecuting for going 1mph over the stated limit is never going to happen.

Firstly car manufacturers only have to build their instruments to a 7% tolerance. You could argue that you thought you were driving at the right speed. 

Secondly, if you did get fined for going over the limit by 1 (or 2 or 3) mph, most people would get lawyered up and demand to see when the speed gun or camera was last calibrated and how accurate it is. The police would be in court constantly. That’s why the 10% tolerance is in place at the moment. 

Thirdly, the police are already hugely understaffed. Where are all these extra officers coming from to enforce the speeding fines? They already can’t do anything about the thousands of twats blatantly on their phones while driving, what’s going to change all of a sudden? 

ICBM

boogieman said:

Prosecuting for going 1mph over the stated limit is never going to happen. 

Firstly car manufacturers only have to build their instruments to a 7% tolerance. You could argue that you thought you were driving at the right speed.

No you can't. The speedo must not under-read, by law - it may over-read, by up to 10% plus 6.25mph. If your speedo says you're doing 70, you're probably only doing about 65mph and in theory as low as 58mph. For you to actually be speeding, the speedo will clearly say you are.

https://www.thecarexpert.co.uk/how-accurate-is-a-car-speedometer/

boogieman said:

Secondly, if you did get fined for going over the limit by 1 (or 2 or 3) mph, most people would get lawyered up and demand to see when the speed gun or camera was last calibrated and how accurate it is. The police would be in court constantly. That’s why the 10% tolerance is in place at the moment.

No it isn't. The 10% "tolerance" is advisory and at the discretion of the police. And yes, the police will be able to show that their equipment is calibrated if it goes to court. The tolerance of it is much tighter anyway, +/- 2mph below 66mph and +/-3% above that.

There's no reason they couldn't prosecute for 2mph over the speed limit, but it's unlikely unless they have a very good reason. It would only need a marginal improvement in measurement accuracy to get it to 1mph. Average speed cameras are already much better, as good as 0.1%.

http://www.roadlawbarristers.co.uk/tag/average-speed-camera/

boogieman said:

Thirdly, the police are already hugely understaffed. Where are all these extra officers coming from to enforce the speeding fines? They already can’t do anything about the thousands of twats blatantly on their phones while driving, what’s going to change all of a sudden? 

Expect to see a lot more use of average speed cameras.

They're actually a much better idea anyway, since they deter driving at any speed you like until you see a speed camera, then slamming on the brakes (itself potentially dangerous sometimes), then speeding up again.

They're already getting more common in Scotland, particularly on dangerous roads like the A9, and there is a definite change in driver behaviour.

Wolfetone

Big fan of zero tolerance here. I don't think it's a driver's inability to keep to the limit but  more of a contemptuous  attitude to the law. Car speedometers are super accurate these days and furthermore, most cars come with a speed limiter/cruise control.

That said, if the Government were really serious about speeding every car would be speed limited   in particular speed zones. The technology is there. The will to do it isn't.

Wolfetone

Garthy said:
Too many cunts drive 10mph under the speed limit thinking they are driving safely because they aren’t speeding, well that’s just one box they’ve left unticked really as they drive in a fucking daze or on the phone or completely unaware of their surroundings. 

So, in your book, if I'm driving at 60mph on a motorway, I'm a cunt????

Wolfetone

Sambostar said:

Wish it would happen.  Everyone, I mean everyone is up my arse straight away on the roads through the villages around here and everyday at least once a day I see someone narrowly avoid a horse or a cow on the road by skidding to a halt.  No one pays any attention to the speed limits  I not jealous but I'm thoroughly fucked off with modern motors which are essentially status symbol mobile armchairs. 

Zero tolerance and hang them if they get caught taking the piss three times in a row.

There is no place for speed on commuter roads.  Even if you have the best brakes in the world you can't predict the future.  We're not in control of ourselves or anyone else it's an illusion, if you think you are and speed you are a twat.  Cat got run over the other day in a thirty zone, which people treat like a 50 zone, if that was the girlfriends grand daughter there would be nothing left of her.  Everyone goes on about drink driving, but it's far safer to be slightly over the limit the next day and be cautious than to think the world owes you a favour by speeding everywhere.

Absolutely dead on fella.

Phil_aka_Pip

Wolfetone said:

more of a contemptuous  attitude to the law

I think the people that make the laws need a less contemptuous attitude both to the laws they're making and the people who they expect to abide by them, before Joe Public is going to have a higher view of law. I've heard people say to their children "There's nothing wrong with it, it's just that the government doesn't want you to do it". That attitude won't change until the lawmakers change. Which isn't going to happen any time soon.

p90fool

Wolfetone said:

Big fan of zero tolerance here. I don't think it's a driver's inability to keep to the limit but  more of a contemptuous  attitude to the law. Car speedometers are super accurate these days and furthermore, most cars come with a speed limiter/cruise control.

Some of us don't have the wedge to drive cars from "these days". Don't assume cruise control is a part of everyone else's world just because it's part of yours, and it barely exists on motorcycles whatever your budget. 

My contempt for the law is nothing compared to its contempt for us. If they put speed cameras outside primary schools and not on the only safe overtaking straight for seven miles around here I might stop questioning their motives. 

Teetonetal

All for it. If you can't stick to the speed limit, then it immediately raises thoughts on you suitability to drive and stick to other rules.

It's not about 31 or 71 suddenly being unsafe. It's about your ability to control your car.