Been caught speeding

Many cyclists don’t wear high-vis. Many do. If you don’t take responsibility for your own safety you only have yourself to blame if you get hit. Not quite the same as a badger is it.

On the speed awareness course I was surprised by how many people denied they were speeding or made excuses. Or moaned about the existence of the speed camera van. “I didn’t see it in time”. That’s the whole point 😂 “The van was hiding” - oh you couldn’t have been speeding then 🤣

It’s the same people who moan about getting a parking ticket. Don’t park over your time and you won’t get a ticket.

@TheObstinateHeadstrongGirl why would you assume they're not wearing hi-vis, though?

But even if they aren't, as a driver you need to be driving so that you can avoid unexpected obstacles, no matter how stupid you think they are

In the last year I've come round corners to floor water, sheep, deer, a dead badger, horses and riders and broken down cars.

There's no way you could stop safely at 80mph. All the hi-vis in the world wouldn't have made a difference.

I agree with JaceLancs, loads of people get done for similar minor mistakes. 6 MN'ers got tickets dropping dc at Uni in September, an unknown place for the first time, couldn't believe they had been so careless. Normally take pride in their driving. In such instances I just think it's the police, cash cow, trying to get £100 and 3 points off as many people as possible.

See, whilst I can’t get the hysteria about speeding on here, I think if you DO speed then take responsibility for getting caught.

It’s fine to hope you’re not caught, but if you are, accept it. The fact that you were in an unfamiliar place isn’t relevant - you should know road conditions and the Highway Code well enough to drive safely everywhere.

And I find it hard to believe that you were over the speed limit for literally one second before slowing down. How much over were you?

Ive been caught once driving 48 in a 40. It was a speed van that was situated about 12 feet from an area where it goes from 60 to 40. Loads of people get caught as they’re still slowing down coming out the 60 area. This happened to me - and it’s entirely my own fault. I should have slowed down sooner. I accepted the course I had to go on, and I’ve never had any points or been caught before or since. But this one time it WAS my fault and I own that

OP, please take what I say not as a telling off or as sanctimonious preaching from my high horse, but some genuine advice meant in good faith.

You may or may not get a ticket, all you can do now is wait to find out. It will either arrive or it won't. Try not to stress because either way you won't end up in jail, 80 in a 60 is 3 points and a fine. If you were doing 81 or more it may end up in court. Either way this too shall pass, it won't last forever and you will be okay. It might be stressful or upsetting, but that feeling won't last forever, you WILL be okay.

I fully understand that now and again, creeping over the speed limits does happen and we are almost all guilty of it, but come on OP, 80 in a 60 is a fair whack over the limit. I'm all for driving as close to the speed limit as possible where safe to do so, so as not to hold up others on the road, but there's really no reason for going that fast as I'm sure you know.

Remember that if you had a crash going at 80, not only would it be more likely to hurt yourself and others, but if there were serious injuries or fatalities, there's the likelihood you could be charged with "death by dangerous driving" which carries a prison sentence, all for something you could have easily prevented.

You don't seem like a bad person, you weren't speeding maliciously, you weren't intending on being dangerous but the fact is, it is dangerous. You could be the safest driver in the world but if you're going 80 and someone else makes a mistake in front of you such as pulling out on you, you've got much less time to react to it.

I hope that this fright of the threat of a fine and points is enough to bring your speed down to the legal limits, not only will it be safer but you'll save yourself some fuel too, and you won't panic next time you pass a police car as you'll be in the knowledge that you weren't speeding. From now on, enjoy the weight off your shoulders knowing that you simply cannot get done for speeding, as you won't be speeding, and any speed camera or police car can just be forgotten about rather than feeling the worry that you are right now.

Best wishes OP, try not to worry too much. We all make mistakes, we are all human, but what's important is that you learn from it 🙂

Why were you going 90 in a 60? So you were going well over motorway speed on a normal carriageway, that's not designed for those speeds.

Please do enlighten us all.

As a driver you need to anticipate hazards and give yourself the best chance to avoid them. It’s your responsibility. Flying along at 80 in the dark when you can’t see what’s around the next bend is lunacy. You can’t justify it, any way round. Pedestrians are allowed to use those roads. As are cyclists. Even if both are showing high vis, you are reducing significantly your opportunity to take evasive action to avoid them once you see them, by not driving to the conditions. It would still be your fault if you hit them.

And@TheObstinateHeadstrongGirl

A number of years ago outside Salisbury a body was found in the road

It was subsequently established that a man was walking home from the pub, was hit by a taxi that didn’t see him.
The taxi driver heard and felt something, reversed (running him over again) and still couldn’t see anything
Then drove off running him over for a third time

Agreed

I've witnessed people driving slowly but doing very dangerous things, like driving straight into a roundabout without checking what's coming, not stopping at junctions, going down one way streets the wrong way, going through red lights, not stopping at pedestrian crossings

Nobody is a perfect driver, everyone makes poor split decisions sometimes

Hopefully this will be a wake up call for op to not go 20mph over the speed limit next time

I hope you get a speeding ticket, because you deserve it for going so far over the speed limit.

Why were you going so fast? Please answer because I'd love to know.

And you'll definitely get a ticket, as the police would have E been well aware how fast you were going, as they were behind you! No way are they going to let you get away with that.

Speeding threads always bring out the worst on here
I received a speeding fine recently in the post after driving somewhere (not local) completely unfamiliar to me
I had been dropping DP off to collect a vehicle for his new job and he had driven there and I drove back
This meant I wasn’t sure who was driving at the time of the offence so checked the pictures they give you a link to online
unfortunately it was me - they also give you a film clip which I watched out of curiosity - wish I hadn’t
The film showed me driving carefully and within the speed limit - apart from for under one second when I must have taken my eye off the speedo probably because I was looking for directions
I certainly didn’t see a camera or speed van as if I had I would’ve been pretty stupid to speed up briefly for the single second it captured the image

Ah I must be punished forever more I see 🤣

Again, get over it, I did!

Are we no longer at liberty to exercise common sense?

Apparently not if you drove at 90 in a 60 zone.

I can promise you that (unless you are speeding) if you hit a person in the middle of the road, late at night wearing all black, legally you will be fine. It’s a total myth that it’s always the driver’s fault. Pedestrians and cyclists are very much expected to take personal responsibility for their safety.

Seriously though if you choose to walk in dark clothes at night, on an actual 60mph carriageway you’re a fucking idiot and don’t be surprised if a car hits you. You can’t say “on but there was no pavement”. Don’t walk in it then! Are we no longer at liberty to exercise common sense?

On country roads I realise there are unlikely to be any pedestrians going for a stroll in the middle of the night.

However, there are other hazards to be aware of. Once I was in a car on a country road. The driver was driving fast (not speeding), then rounded a corner. He had to slam the brakes on immediately, as a cow had escaped from a field and was in the middle of the road.

Another time a friend of mine was driving on a country road on a dark, rainy night. Her car broke down just after a bend in the road. There was some kind of electrical or mechanical failure and the car just stopped. She got free of the car, but just as she got to the side of the road another driver (who was speeding) came round the corner, hit her car, flipped over and ended up in a ditch. Fortunately, in both incidents all people and animals were okay.

There are just so many things that can go wrong. I don't understand people who can happily drive at 80mph on a country road in the dark - I can only assume it's a failure of imagination regarding potential hazards, or the very dangerous assumption that because there has never been a cow/broken down car around the bend previously, there definitely won't be next time.

I don't know the statistics, but I wouldn't be surprised if the fatality level on country roads is higher than on motorways.

Our main road to the motorway has a 60 limit, no lighting, no pavements and meanders, so that there are parts that are quite straight, but you still can’t see if there’s a walker or cyclist. They both trump you, as a driver, and hitting them is your fault, in law and morally, as you are controlling the big killy metal thing. If you’re driving too fast for the conditions, you haven’t got enough time to react if you see something where you wouldn’t expect it to be. Good drivers aren’t ones who can handle their vehicle and feel they are safe at speed regardless of any external factors. Good drivers respond to the conditions, recognise what is safe, anticipate hazards and mitigate the risks.

@Kanaloa did in the post that I quoted

Erm….I’m taking about cyclists who DON’T wear high vis. Too right I blame them if they get hit. not sure why you think that extends to cyclists who DO wear high vis?

And dog walkers shouldn’t be walking on 60mph roads at night with no high vis. It’s not up to drivers to see things that are impossible to see.

Play stupid games get stupid prizes.

I would suggest that @chupachump was quite correct in that assessment @3kidswouldfinishanyoneoff

Actually I think keeping to the speed limits have very little impact on safety or control of thr vehicle.

Most thirty speed limits should be 20 or even 10. There's very little difference safety wise between 30 and 40 in many 30 mph limits and 70and 80 on a motorway.

Unless you drive at 10 in front of schools and residential areas I have little patience for people preaching about 80 in an empty 60

Morally MN'ers are above all judgement and never speed. Never done 33, or 34, unknowingky/unwittingly in a 30. Ever. For most it's utter rubbish.

If cyclists aren’t in high vis and dog walkers step out into the road then it’s their own stupid fault I’d they get hit, no matter what the speed.

On many 60mph roads there's no pavement so walkers have to be on the main carriageway - drivers need to slow down and overtake when it's safe.

Many cyclists are hit even when they wear hi-vis, but I'm sure you feel better after a nice bit of victim-blaming