Speeding fines change/increase TODAY, Monday 24/4/17

[Saracen]

As of today, Monday 24th April 2017, fines for speeding motorists are increasing, and possibly very drastically, as now, they're based on your income. Premiere league footballers beware.

Band A – lowest level of speeding, e.g. 1 to 10 mphcabove posted limit. The starting point for the penalty is :-

- 3 points on your licence, and
- a fine of around 50% of your weekly income.

Band B – More serious speeding, e.g. 11-20 mph above posted in a 20 or 30mph zone, or in a 40mph zone at 56mph to 65mph, or up to 100mph in a 70mph, starting point is :-

- 4 to 6 points on your licence, or
- disqualification for between 7 and 28 days
- plus a fine of 100% of your weekly income.

Band C – Mosr excessive speeding, e.g. 41mph or above in a 20mph zone, 51mph or above in a 30mph zone, or more than 100mph in a 70mph zone,

- 6 points on your licence or
- disqualification for between 7 and 56 days,
- plus a fine of 150% of your weekly income.

These are all starting points, and can be increased or reduced according to mitigating or aggravating circumstances and your record. But note, the more you earn, the higher the fine is likely to be... and about damn time too, IMHO.

[shaithis]

Yey, another area that "self employed" people can exploit! Being paid 60k+ a year and paying yourself £200 / week, means nice low fines for high-income people.

[Jowsey]

Yey, another area that "self employed" people can exploit! Being paid 60k+ a year and paying yourself £200 / week, means nice low fines for high-income people.

You'd hope they would pro-rata the income declared on the persons last self assessment return!

[ik9000]

It's the 1-10mph thing that is a joke. There really ought to be a margin of error since it is not possible to have a needle speedo that is bang-on accurate. Nor is it ok to assume that a human is able to hold speed at bang-on 30mph. A 10% margin of error seems far fairer. It's even worse now everywhere seems to be getting 20mph limits (for no good reason - it actually increases pollution, engine wear, noise and traffic - but try getting the liberals to acknowledge that at a council debate. Apparently it's all because people apparently can't be bothered to teach their children how to cross a road, and we'd all have died in our youth if we'd had to deal with living on 30 and 40mph roads...) The last car I drove did not like 20mph. I mean it really didn't, the gearing was such that neither 1st nor 2nd were happy and you were constantly wearing out your knee cartilege switching gears, and then finding the natural torque in the engine kept trying to bring it to 25mph where it would happily settle.

[TeePee]

That will make everyone safer....

[spacein_vader]

That will make everyone safer....

If you don't speed its not a problem.

[Gunbuster]

This for England and Wales only. Though mind that Scotland basically just ruled that even when parked, if you have the engine running and you use your phone you can get 6 points on your license and a fine.

One case is making a wireless payment at a drive through.

[shaithis]

If you don't speed its not a problem.

Yes, lets have everyone looking at their speedometer, instead of the road, in case they accidentally go over the speed limit! That's the way to make the roads safer lol

[Ravens Nest]

It's the 1-10mph thing that is a joke. There really ought to be a margin of error since it is not possible to have a needle speedo that is bang-on accurate. Nor is it ok to assume that a human is able to hold speed at bang-on 30mph. A 10% margin of error seems far fairer. It's even worse now everywhere seems to be getting 20mph limits (for no good reason - it actually increases pollution, engine wear, noise and traffic - but try getting the liberals to acknowledge that at a council debate. Apparently it's all because people apparently can't be bothered to teach their children how to cross a road, and we'd all have died in our youth if we'd had to deal with living on 30 and 40mph roads...) The last car I drove did not like 20mph. I mean it really didn't, the gearing was such that neither 1st nor 2nd were happy and you were constantly wearing out your knee cartilege switching gears, and then finding the natural torque in the engine kept trying to bring it to 25mph where it would happily settle.

That's the problem i have with it, its so easy to go over the speed limit by accident and there are situations you have to get around obstacles (i.e. Parked vehicles, Cyclists) and have to accelerate above the speed limit for a second to get around them safely.

If you don't speed its not a problem.

In an ideal world that's fine but i find it difficult to keep a constant eye on the dial just to make sure im not .5 mph above the speed limit, and while i am checking that i miss the pedestrian who runs out into the road at the same time im looking at the speedo.

Yes, lets have everyone looking at their speedometer, instead of the road, in case they accidentally go over the speed limit! That's the way to make the roads safer lol

Exactly

[jimbouk]

That's the problem i have with it, its so easy to go over the speed limit by accident and there are situations you have to get around obstacles (i.e. Parked vehicles, Cyclists) and have to accelerate above the speed limit for a second to get around them safely.

And you wouldn't have been just as safe slowing down and waiting to pass the parked vehicle or cyclist? I do fall victim to this thinking myself at times - I just need to get past this or nip in here - but speeding up is rarely in reality the safer option.

[kalniel]

It's the 1-10mph thing that is a joke. There really ought to be a margin of error since it is not possible to have a needle speedo that is bang-on accurate. Nor is it ok to assume that a human is able to hold speed at bang-on 30mph. A 10% margin of error seems far fairer. It's even worse now everywhere seems to be getting 20mph limits (for no good reason - it actually increases pollution, engine wear, noise and traffic - but try getting the liberals to acknowledge that at a council debate. Apparently it's all because people apparently can't be bothered to teach their children how to cross a road, and we'd all have died in our youth if we'd had to deal with living on 30 and 40mph roads...) The last car I drove did not like 20mph. I mean it really didn't, the gearing was such that neither 1st nor 2nd were happy and you were constantly wearing out your knee cartilege switching gears, and then finding the natural torque in the engine kept trying to bring it to 25mph where it would happily settle.

I presume in an area that's considered hazardous enough for a 20mph limit, there would be little issue with you travelling slower if that was safer for your car

I also presume there are still going to be caps on the fines, rendering progressive charges somewhat moot.

[EndlessWaves]

It's the 1-10mph thing that is a joke. There really ought to be a margin of error since it is not possible to have a needle speedo that is bang-on accurate. Nor is it ok to assume that a human is able to hold speed at bang-on 30mph. A 10% margin of error seems far fairer.

Then drive at 27mph?

The last car I drove did not like 20mph. I mean it really didn't, the gearing was such that neither 1st nor 2nd were happy and you were constantly wearing out your knee cartilege switching gears, and then finding the natural torque in the engine kept trying to bring it to 25mph where it would happily settle.

Car design needs to reflect the law and safety concerns, not the other way around. If your car didn't suit the road laws because it had poor gearing choices or too small a speed indicator then complain about the manufacturer's design choices, not the law.

I do find it annoying how many manufacturers persist on using analogue speedometers that devote a quarter of a circle - or less! - to the legal speed range. Some of them even use such speedos displayed on screens, which could be easily toggled into a track mode to access the higher speeds.

[spacein_vader]

I believe car manufacturers err on the side of caution and there is already a margin of error built into the speedo, hence why a sat nav displaying the 'true' speed is always 3-4mph higher. As for contstantly looking at the speedo, keeping a constant speed is not that hard, and they do tend to put the speedo as close to eye line as possible.

[TheAnimus]

When I first got my own car I found it hard to judge speed correctly, so I just set the speed limiter to 30mph. Then quickly learned in London that is not appreciated by other road users.

[Ttaskmaster]

Some of them even use such speedos displayed on screens, which could be easily toggled into a track mode to access the higher speeds.

That'd be even worse.
I prefer analogue because you learn where 20, 30, 40 etc is and it's always the same place, so a quick glance down at the needle position tells you if you're even close.
A digital display needs your eyes to refocus from distance to close-up and takes longer to see. A screen which could be displaying one of two or more different scales presents the problem of having to check which mode you're in, once your eyes have refocussed... Better to have one scale going all the way to 70mph, with everything after in red.

When I first got my own car I found it hard to judge speed correctly, so I just set the speed limiter to 30mph. Then quickly learned in London that is not appreciated by other road users.

I still can't judge, especially if I'm in the car and don't have the wind blasting against me.
My older bikes gave me a clue from the feel, based on what gear I was in, but the current one does over 70mph in 1st and pulls like a train at almost any revs in any gear, so that's no help.

[DDY]

This doesn't change anything, my rule still applies, don't crash, don't get caught

How hard can it be?

Sign has numbers printed on it, don't drive faster than that number... Easy. Especially when driving past that yellow box on a grey pole. If you can't spot a fluorescent banana pointing a radar gun at you, that's your own fault.

Why are people fixated on driving exactly at the speed limit?

If you're finding it hard to keep the needle on exactly the speed limit? Drive slower for goodness sake!