Caught doing 87 on an A road - stupid - what will happen?

[Speeding87stupid]

We were on holiday, road was empty and we were rushing to get to a check in.

Just got home and received a scary letter in the post from the police.

I know it was monumentally stupid. Will write back immediately saying yes it was me.

I’ve never had a speeding fine - can’t believe I was so stupid, I never usually speed.

What will they do - will I lose my licence?

She HAS made excuses. Heaven forbid they were late for accomodation check in eh. If she wasn't aware of how fast she was going at 17mph over the limit then she's a poor driver and has probably done it many, many times before. I doubt it was the only time in her life that she hasn't been aware of her speedometer.

If you haven’t done it before you will probably get offered the course. I did a motorway one (I wasn’t speeding but lurking in the lane with a Red Cross for too long) but the stats they give you about speeding are very interesting and really will make you not to it again so I hope you do.

She said she's aware that that's not an excuse though hasn't she?

Well no, because if you’ve done it a thousand times you clearly haven’t learned the lesson from the first time you did it. Which OP has. That’s the difference. And it’s very relevant. Unfortunately it hasn’t stopped people from weighing in with ‘advice’ telling OP things she clearly already knows.

I don’t think I’ve read a thread so full of smug, sanctimonious, self righteous finger pointers before.

People should also remember that it’s important to note the proportion of the excess speed limit relative to the limit itself- 87mph in a 70 means she was 25% over the speed limit. It’s not the same as 17mph over in a 20 where she’d be almost double the speed limit. It’s important to look at it in context.

You normally just have to reply to the initial letter to confirm it was you driving. Then they send you out another letter with the details of the fine/points /speed awareness course etc.

I also think a lot of posters are ignoring the fact that OP said the road was empty and if it’s a 70mph limit, then pedestrians are unlikely, so not the same risk as significantly over a lower speed limit in a built up area with pedestrians to consider.

Not on a roads they don’t. If you are talking about something like the autobahn these are motorways. And there can be speed limits in certain conditions amd the whole thing isn’t limitless. This is comparing apples to oranges and say well it’s all fruit.

Never ceases to amaze me how posters ignore what an OP has actually said, in favour of making it up as they go along. And she acknowledged that the fact they were late for check in was not an excuse. So, no. No excuses, she was quite resigned to facing the consequences and posted for advice on what the likely consequences would be. Instead she got a load of sanctimonious keyboard warriors out in force for a juicy pile on.

Yeah I don’t know. If you have direct experience of someone being killed on a country road from someone speeding (which I do) you may feel differently. It’s a far cry from being sanctimonious when you have attended that funeral and want to warn others to not be in that situation.

in modern cars it’s easy to speed unless you keep a close eye on the speedo

And on some roads. There's a long, straight, gently downhill bit of the M3 southbound before Winchester services, where it's really easy for the speed to creep up. (I was quite impressed my car could go that fast when I first did it, years ago.) I go that way often, so I know to keep a particular eye on it, but if you're not familiar with it, I can see how you could easily do it without noticing, because no one is staring at their speedometer all the time (or shouldn't be) - there's the road itself, other vehicles, possible wildlife...

I don't think you will be banned. Appear in court smartly dressed, be very sorry and have your solicitor point out it is your first offence, and I think you will not be banned.

I think you should be banned, just thinking of the reality of how the courts work.

None of this will be required. She'll just have to pay the fine and accept the points.

The police are constantly on the A64 and yes it’s dual and a road where you can potentially drive at that speed without apparent risk. There are a lot of junctions though which is where the risk comes in. If you didn’t see the police I can guess exactly where you were are they were, they were on a bridge over the motorway. They catch huge numbers on that road at that speed. I suspect you’ll get more than 3 points but that’s life. Breathe and move on.

Not sure if it's still true but Germany used to have no limits on the Autobahn and they were no more dangerous than the UK motorways, not suggesting that we do away with motorway limits but I generally felt safer driving in Germany.

What do you mean by that?

The thing about dual carriageways is that they can have junctions on them.
The A64 has a particular crossing near Castle Howard, when cars have to cross one side, wait in the middle, and then join the other side if they want to turn right.

At 70 mph, you can see a car crossing and potentially brake if it looks like you might hit them.

At 87mph, you see the same car crossing. But because of the speed you are doing, you are going to have travelled much further before you even react.

And then your speed will slow done when you brake, but you still have a lot of kinetic energy because kinetic energy is proportional to the square of your speed.

So not only do you travel much further when you see you are about to hit something, you are travelling with more energy as well.

Unlikely you will be going to court if this link holds true https://www.northyorkshire.police.uk/foi-ai/north-yorkshire-police/foi-disclosure-2021-22/january-2025/foi-0479-202425--speed-tolerances/
I realise that will be a disappointment to sone posters…..

Not round Dortmund... speed limits aplenty round there.

What will it take for you to learn your lesson?

OP said quite clearly in her opening post that she’s never done this before and won’t again. Still - not reading or comprehending gives you the excuse to add needlessly to the pile on doesn’t it ?

And she won’t go to court. She wasn’t going fast enough. It will be points and a hefty fine. Generally court appearances are for those caught at 20mph or more above the speed limit, depending on circumstances and whether there are any other offences involved.

Agree
I think all they want to know at the moment is who was driving the car so they can write to and fine the correct person.

There will be no court appearance - she was less than 20mph over the speed limit. It will be a fine and points. And if you were to impose bans for this sort of thing half the motorists in the UK would be off the roads, judging by what I see on the motorway every day - 70mph on the inside lane and traffic flashing past as a matter of routine.

And you, perhaps, need to read posts properly. It said "I might be tempted", followed by a wink. Was your sense of humour surgically removed?

Maybe for something to be funny, it actually needs to be funny. Humour is subjective but adding a winking emoji doesn't make a childish comment objectively funny.

Of course people are "judgey"! People have lost family members to speeding.

Should we also not judge drug dealers? Muggers? Sex offenders?