To be terrified I'll lose my license

More like 25% but neither I or the PP is was replying to were talking about all these accidents being fatal, most accidents which cause motorway queues aren’t fatal. The number of reported accidents which involve exceeding the speed limit is around 6%, less than the number of accidents caused by pedestrians failing to look properly - maybe we should ban walking 😁

They've also had a lot of training in driving at speed.

The key difference is that they are speeding legally and out of necessity, not just some arse who thinks that they’re more important than everyone else + above the law

I try not to, but I do find the vast flappy majority of replies on any motoring thread on here very entertaining.

What makes you think they’re a ‘bad’ driver? They’ve only admitted to being an occasional fast driver.

By your ‘logic’, emergency services under blues and twos are ‘bad’ drivers.

They tend to read over the actual speed.

Pretty much every car I have driven reads over compared to the Garmin. Not by much though - maybe 3-4 mph at 70 mph.

They do that because of the way the regulations are constructed.

I think you're replying indirectly to me amongst others possibly.
My car is 2 years old and the speedo is inaccurate. If I accept that my satnav is accurate and that also those cameras that show you what speed you're doing as you drive past are also accurate, my speedo is out by about 10%.

But yeah, you're right that you have to know your own car and whether or not you could "get away with it" or not.

Think people claiming modern car speedometers are inaccurate and a reading of 85 is closer to 77/78 are deluding themselves. If they were in accurate then the speed on my googlemap apps or the garmin I use must also be similarly inaccurate as the readings are always exactly the same as what’s on my speedo.

Also, not sure ‘yeh, my speedo said 80 but, like, that means its like only 72 IRL, rite?’ is much of a defence in court.

Don't worry you won't lose your licence for this.

How utterly sanctimonious

Another stat I recall from the course. If you hit a child at 40mph they have an 80% of dying. If you hit a child at 30mph they have an 80% chance of surviving. Scary but important to be aware that an additional 10 miles an hour could take a child from their family. I am very conscious of reading speed limits properly.

You speed, you have less time to think, less time to judge. If you hit a big puddle of water and aquaplane you're a gonna. If you turn a corner too fast you'll skid out of control. If your tyre bursts at speed the consequences are dreadful.

@Jovacknockowitch it's becoming less common.

Firstly, you can ask for all of these to be treated as one offence. It is one incidence of speeding (over a protracted period) not three. See here: scullionlaw.com/what-happens-if-you-are-caught-speeding-twice/

But I think that can only be decided in court not by police.

Secondly, slow down (but you know that anyway)

I had to do a speed awareness course. Think it was 33/34 in a 30.
Upon arrival they asked us to write down the reason why we were driving over the speed limit. Mine was I genuinely didn’t see the 30mph sign. No excuse!
At the end of the course they told us to imagine we had killed someone with our speeding. The reason we put at the beginning of the course is what we would say to the family. It’s stayed with me.
Imagine telling the family of loved you just wanted to get home!

So the outcome is affected by speed, but exceeding the speed limit isn't the sole cause of crashes. All crashes could be avoided by vehicles never moving.

They don't have to, but they do.

What a ridiculous extrapolation - no-one actually gets prosecuted for 1mph over a speed limit in the UK, that's just a fact, not anyone claiming the law doesn't apply to them.

@JJathome this isn't true. Police forces have the discretion to accept a few mph over but they don't have to

To be fair there is a tolerance, it’s about 2 or 3 miles.

it’s 2 miles above 50, in a 50 zone. I got caught doing 53 and had to do a course.

My friends husband did this . I was a bit mind boggled by the behaviour. But he just got points and a course. If you were 80 /85 I think 6 points and a speed awareness course. Or you can declime the course and take 9 points. I’d not advise it.

I know, I’m purposefully ignoring it - I’m glad that both the barrister and you believe that you’re above the law. 1mph over is still 1mph over. His job doesn’t mean that he’s not a speeding tosser as well.

@goldenretrievermum5

I forgot to @ you in my reply to your question, so it's quoted here.

“Needs longer braking distance and quicker reaction times. Neither of which would be likely late at night/early in the morning or under the current wet and rainy weather conditions. The force of impact for someone going 80mph is huge. I found an online calculator that said crashing at 80mph is the equivalent to being crushed by something weighing 120,000lbs”

This. Plus the faster a car is going, the more likely it is to spin out of control because of driving conditions or something on the road or just because of the road layout. There’s no mystery about why driving at high speed can be dangerous.

Needs longer braking distance and quicker reaction times. Neither of which would be likely late at night/early in the morning or under the current wet and rainy weather conditions. The force of impact for someone going 80mph is huge. I found an online calculator that said crashing at 80mph is the equivalent to being crushed by something weighing 120,000lbs