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Speeding drivers are facing higher fines.

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Ghastly Whisper
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Re: Speeding drivers are facing higher fines.

Post by Ghastly Whisper » Thu Mar 23, 2017 12:14 am

I wonder what the fine is for causing a nuclear explosion?

Tomorrow I may go outside and fire a cannon within 300 yards of my neighbours dwelling, whats the fine for that?

It was also illegal until recently under copyright laws to sing the Happy Birthday song, weve all done that one. However, an American court has now ruled that the lyrics are in the public domain and no longer owned by Warner/Chappell Music.

Point is, these new fines wont make any difference at all, a deterant yes, but thats all they are. The only way to stop people driving fast is to limit every motor vehicle to 10mph, or force everyone to use horses! btw its still illegal to be drunk in charge of a horse and illegal to be drunk in a pub.
Growing old disgracefully

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paddyboy
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Re: Speeding drivers are facing higher fines.

Post by paddyboy » Thu Mar 23, 2017 4:34 pm

Iozza: I just have never done it :)

Many people say I drive like an old frat, but nowadays, even in urban areas, I just click in the old cruise control and drive serenely and SAFELY :lol:
XH558, always the first lady in my life
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C24
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Re: Speeding drivers are facing higher fines.

Post by C24 » Sat Mar 25, 2017 12:45 pm

Surely speed limits are imposed as the maximum safe speed for a type of road. Any speed higher on that stretch of road is considered unsafe for most drivers.

Drivers are supposed to drive within the prevailing conditions.

"Enjoy myself out in the Welsh mountains" irresponsible action in my opinion. Try out your bike off public roads and don't turn into a mutton.

:grr:

I must admit that my eyesight is now such that I can no longer see round corners as well as I did when I first passed my driving tests

Free healthcare for All :S
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jem60
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Re: Speeding drivers are facing higher fines.

Post by jem60 » Wed Mar 29, 2017 10:43 am

Well, despite what I did for a living for 39 years, I have to admit to having 3 camera convictions. Two for lack of attention, and one for mistakenly thinking that the speed limit was higher than it was. Am I ashamed??. Not a bit of it!. A Police Officer friend admitted to having 3 of his own!!. Speed doesn't kill. Speed IN THE WRONG PLACE does. I always considered that I drove at a speed appropriate to the existing conditions at the time and I am sure you all understand that without me going on about it. That speed may be as low as 5 mph, or as high as 100 or so. It all depends. I would, however, not be pleased with myself if I had a conviction for excess speed in the wrong time and place [busy built up area, school kids present etc.], Guy in our village is hugely against speeding in my village. I followed him to an Old Fa.rts lunch club a few weeks ago, where he was 17mph over the speed limit in thasomeone elses village!!. Hypocrisy rules O.K. Don't criminalise me on here, I do not speed in the WRONG PLACE OR TIME, and I do care for people and help old ladies across the road etc.,
On a another note whilst I am here. Was lazing two days ago on a Cruise ship in Aqaba [Jordan} harbour, heard a recognisable whine, and there, floating gently past the ship, very close at 500 feet, was the ex Mid Air Squadron silver Hunter T7 now belonging to the Royal Jordanian Historic Flight, and VERY nice it looked too, in the 35 deg. sunshine!!. :thumbs:

hertsman
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Re: Speeding drivers are facing higher fines.

Post by hertsman » Sat Apr 08, 2017 3:07 pm

A few thoughts, deliberations and questions on speed limits and speeding, in no particular order, not claiming to have covered all bases, just musing over the ethics:

What are speed limits for?
Are speed limits to be obeyed only when there is no enforcement agency (eg cameras, patrols) present?
Should speed limits be obeyed when there are no enforcement agencies present?
Does 'speed for the conditions' overrule the stated speed limitation?
How many roads do you personally know where the speed limit is too low given the state of the road?
Why are they too low?
If you injured someone else doing 30 in a 30 limit, would this make you feel better about the accident?
If you injured someone doing 50 in a 30 limit, but there was no proof you were doing 50, would that be a result?
If you are behind someone doing 30 in 30 limit, and you want to go faster, how much of a hindrance are they to you?
Should they go faster to suit you?


My views?

Well, I'm not sure cameras have done long-term good. They have engendered the feeling that if there's no camera, then you can get away with it. If there is a camera and you are caught, you can buy your way out of trouble. They are also inextricably linked with revenue more than safety, in public perception. To me this entirely misses the point - a limit is for protection of you and others.

Agree with Jem about speed for the conditions as this entails making an considered judgement about your driving; unfortunately, I think the majority of drivers give it no more thought than exists in their right foot.

The public roads are NOT the right place to prove that you could teach Lewis a thing or two, whether on 2 wheels or 4 (or more). Maybe, long ago, the risk reward balance was acceptable on largely empty roads. It no longer is. Fast driving for fun should take place in controlled conditions, not where the (probably vastly overestimated) skills of a driver have to share road space with some who would struggle with a shopping trolley and have no idea what is going on around them.

Higher fines, when and if they can be applied, may satisfy a 'that'll teach 'em' reflex, and maybe it's better than doing nothing. But it is a discouragement rather than an encouragement to try to do better. The 'awareness' courses are, in my view, a correct if too limited approach. The better answer is more comprehensive training for all, and refresher courses at regular intervals, the cost and practicality of which will probably mean they are very unlikely to happen but, there are about 3 times as many road fatalities every year as there are murders, so, are we concentrating resources in the right place?

Maybe the upcoming driverless vehicle revolution will change everything. Driving will have been delegated to connected micro-chips, servos and sensors. Will the 'internet of things' have a built-in urge for speed?

Just thinking out loud.

hertsman
If in doubt, do the right thing

hertsman
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Re: Speeding drivers are facing higher fines.

Post by hertsman » Sat Apr 08, 2017 3:58 pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39539368

Just seen the linked BBC News item about allowing motor racing events on approved UK roads/city circuits. Great idea*. In fact between posting my last message and this, two cars, a van and two motorbikes have just whizzed along the narrow, 30 mph limited road through the village where I live (no pavements, parked vehicles, children, pedestrians, tractors, horses, cyclists and dog walkers etc), clearly assuming that a race has already been approved for today.

So getting an event here would make little difference other than perhaps potholes which are liberally sprinkled along the road might have to be removed before official approval could be obtained. At least the residents would get some benefit then.

h.

* Low wit sarcasm aside, I do actually think this is a good idea if thoughtfully managed.
If in doubt, do the right thing

jem60
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Re: Speeding drivers are facing higher fines.

Post by jem60 » Sun Apr 09, 2017 8:41 am

This is an example of the draconian measures sometimes taken:
A very good friend [aged 47] was dying in a Hospice of cancer a few years ago. His wife received a call that things were very bad that night. At 01.30 that morning, she drove through a nearby village at 38 m.p.h. in a 30 limit and the camera was triggered. Her husband died later that day. She wrote to the Authority explaining the extenuating circumstances. The reply was ,'' we are sorry to hear of your loss, but this offence cannot be overlooked''. I was extremely disappointed to hear that she had paid the fine, because if I had known sooner about the penalty, II would have got the National Newspapers involved. Surely, all that needed to happen was the report to have been thrown in the wastepaper bin!!!. Humanity is dead in some cases!!!. One thirty in the morning and nothing on the road!!!!!!!!!!!
Always good to read your posts Hertsman. Regards, John.

AndrewBarclay
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Re: Speeding drivers are facing higher fines.

Post by AndrewBarclay » Tue Apr 18, 2017 10:04 am

http://www.itv.com/news/2017-01-26/uk-d ... e-way-law/ Reported in The Times Today 18th, April, 2017 From May 2017 UK drivers caught speeding in the EU will be traced and fined up to £650.00 Annually over 500,000 UK motorists are caught speeding on the Continent, Spain is probably the worse, you have been warned.

ArabJazzie
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Re: Speeding drivers are facing higher fines.

Post by ArabJazzie » Tue Apr 18, 2017 10:22 pm

As ive gotten older, i have found that getting to a speed quicker gives me more fun than driving at speed. I did however put a spanner in the works and bought a car that gets around corners faster! Well it does now that i got rid of the cheap tyres and put on what it was born with! :blush:

That aside, i dont profess to be a saint on the road, but it does get me when a news team rolls out their latest "get my face on tele" and they start by "yes speed is a factor in whatever i want it to be because i have to convince the public that the cash cow needs fed!" Dig a bit deeper into some incidents and you will see that speed was highlighted, but it didnt cause the accidents! Driver pulls out into fast moving traffic hardly gets a mention in the press when the truck and 2 cars doing the limit were brought to a sudden stop! All the "face on tele" talks about is "speed was a factor in their deaths" which masks the real issue and convinces the public that all speeders should be shot at dawn!

AndrewBarclay
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Re: Speeding drivers are facing higher fines.

Post by AndrewBarclay » Tue Apr 25, 2017 1:26 pm

http://www.saga.co.uk/magazine/motoring ... Newsletter

I've now graduated from The Wirral Globe to The Saga Magazine definately more informative.

Read all about "Smart Motorways" also find out about 6 obscure laws that carry fines, IE Hogging the middle lane one Yorkshire man was fined nearly £1000.00 pounds Oh by the way Happy Motoring.

jem60
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Re: Speeding drivers are facing higher fines.

Post by jem60 » Tue Apr 25, 2017 3:24 pm

Ah, the old chestnut about hogging the middle lane again. :)
I presume he was fined for hogging it to the detriment and inconvenience of other road users, rather than just driving in it when nobody else was inconvenienced, which does not constitute an offence.

ArabJazzie
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Re: Speeding drivers are facing higher fines.

Post by ArabJazzie » Tue Apr 25, 2017 7:52 pm

You still trying to justify your reasons for doing that! :whistle: :unsure: :lol:
Arabest,
Geoff.

jem60
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Re: Speeding drivers are facing higher fines.

Post by jem60 » Wed Apr 26, 2017 6:07 am

Of course.! I didn't get to my age without becoming a pedantic old f..t!!!. :D
As you know, my beef is not necessarily about driving in the middle lane, but that it is NOT an offence to do so when nobody else is around.[which it plainly isn't]. There is no way that a Police Officer on a bridge, overlooking the motorway, is going to see a car driving in the middle lane, when NOBODY ELSE is in sight, get in his car, pursue him, or take his number, and report him for driving in the middle lane!!!. Regards, John.

welshandy
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Re: Speeding drivers are facing higher fines.

Post by welshandy » Wed Apr 26, 2017 9:18 am

My Local Police are looking for people for a "Community Speed Watch" scheme. Had a look at the application form. Apart from the usual information, they also want to know of any Offences committed, Police Cautions, Driving convictions/cautions & Fixed penalty points & fines since your DOB!!! (Motor insurance companies only go back 5 years)

Sparts99
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Re: Speeding drivers are facing higher fines.

Post by Sparts99 » Wed Apr 26, 2017 12:56 pm

My tuppence worth. There are speed limits on roads, they are the law, you want to break that law then you take the chance on being caught, you know what the penalties are. Some caveats, even if the speed limit is 50, if it's not safe to do 50 you shouldn't, speed limits aren't targets. Similarly near school entrances at start and end of school day need special attention, the limit might be 30 but that's probably too fast 99.9% of the time.
Now I'm not guilt free when it comes to speeding, there are some stretches of road I use daily that can be used at a higher speed than the posted limit, the local police must agree as I've followed them a few times doing 60 or more in a 50 limit over the past few years.

I've been caught, first time 77 in a 70 by a temporary camera and did a speed awareness course in Kent. The course wasn't a lot of good, seemed to be a course on avoiding getting caught more than anything else, but I was amazed that out of a group of about 20, there were 3 policemen who wanted their attendance kept quiet obviously, and a number of 'professional' drivers who's livlihood depended on being able to drive and having clean licenses, so little regard for the law, I somehow doubt increased fines would've stopped them speeding.

Second time was again a temporary camera, I was in a big unfamilar junction going downhill in a 30 limit, caught at 34. I had followed the advice given on my Kent speed awareness course of putting the car into third and foot off the gas to keep under 30 so I could work out which lane and direction I should be headed. Another speed awareness course in Bristol but this time far more effective and I haven't been caught since, that's not to say I haven't been speeding since, but I have been much more aware of my speed and it's relevance to the conditions.

Slightly off topic, speed cameras aren't a deterrent to me, especially fixed ones I drive past daily, what does make me check my speed are the signs that light up telling you how fast you're going, much more effective in my opinion as they act as a reminder.
In this world there's two kinds of people, my friend. Those with loaded guns, and those who dig. You dig.

jem60
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Re: Speeding drivers are facing higher fines.

Post by jem60 » Wed Apr 26, 2017 4:03 pm

Welshandy. There is Community Speed Watch in the next village to mine. Radar and Hi-Vis jackets and all. They are dis-respected, and referred to by nearly everyone I know as 'The Vigilantes'

Malcolm
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Re: Speeding drivers are facing higher fines.

Post by Malcolm » Wed Apr 26, 2017 4:16 pm

jem60 wrote:Welshandy. There is Community Speed Watch in the next village to mine. Radar and Hi-Vis jackets and all. They are dis-respected, and referred to by nearly everyone I know as 'The Vigilantes'
And can be ignored. Unless the radar/laser gun is operated by a trained police officer, the evidence is inadmissible. The worst you'll get is a snotty letter from the rozzers which you can choose to scared by, or ignore and put it in the bin.

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C24
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Re: Speeding drivers are facing higher fines.

Post by C24 » Wed Apr 26, 2017 4:45 pm

Drive safely Malcolm :roll:
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jem60
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Re: Speeding drivers are facing higher fines.

Post by jem60 » Wed Apr 26, 2017 7:29 pm

Hi, Malcolm. Yes, aware that there are no real powers, which is why being, as it were.'grassed up' to the Police by your neighbours has lost them respect. Don't get me wrong, tho'. Being at the correct speed for the circumstances is, of course very important.

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Re: Speeding drivers are facing higher fines.

Post by slogen51 » Wed Apr 26, 2017 8:51 pm

There must be a problem or the community wouldn't be trying to eradicate it.

Why not just respect the law and your neighbours and drive within the speed limits?

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