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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Speeding tickets

124 replies

DeckSwabber · 10/01/2014 13:45

Fed up with it.

I drive most days. I am a careful driver. But I can't seem to keep my driving licence clean. Every ticket I have had is for exceeding the speed limit on a huge road when there has been very little traffic - not zooming down narrow residential streets or burning it up with the boy racers - just driving a bit faster than normal on a three lane carriageway because there is no traffic and it feels natural to go above 30mph.

So. I've never had more than three point on my licence at any time, but I clear my old penalty points and six months later I get another ticket.

I know its my own fault. But grrr anyway.

OP posts:

SirChenjin · 11/01/2014 16:33

Our small residential cul de sacs have a 20mph limit. There is no way it would be safe to do 30 in them although some arseholes do

sashh · 11/01/2014 16:42

If it is always the same type of conditions and the type of road, you need to remind yourself of that when you are on those roads.

I often do a journey that is quite long, it goes motorway and then duel carriageway both with a 70 limit, I then turn off in to a 50 zone for a short time and then 30.

30 feels so slow after 70, but I know this and I am extra careful on this bit of road.

I've been driving 30 years too, I have no points but did attend one speed awareness course - they are really good.

But there is never a really clear road, I have had a fox cross a motorway in front of me.

pippitysqueakity · 11/01/2014 17:06

Ooh,ooh can I be the first to say 'it's a limit not a target'

SwimmingMom · 11/01/2014 17:29

Few years ago when DH got points for using his phone when driving, I must say I was secretly relieved. Years of arguments & discussions couldn't drive home the point like those 3 points had (pun intended!) - do not use the phone when driving even for 1 second!!! The ticket probably saved his (and mine + DC) and others lives by preventing an accident that was only a matter of time.
I'd even shown him the movie '7 pounds' to show how a moment of distraction can destruct lives.

So those points have a purpose - to remind us to be MORE careful than before - each & every time.

MrsAMerrick · 11/01/2014 17:44

The speed limit is there for a reason. Local councils or the Highways Agency (depending on who is responsible for the road) set the speed limit when they take into account all the conditions, the numbers of accidents there have been, and other factors. It is ludicrous for drivers to think that they know better and can deem themselves to be safe and so have the arrogance to drive at more than the speed limit.

I got a speeding ticket for doing 40 on a dual carriageway that was actually 30, it had barriers on the nearside, and barriers on the central reservation, so I am not sure why it was 30. However I dont think that made me right and the police who caught me wrong. It did make me think about what I was doing.

That was 22 years ago, and I've never been caught for speeding since, because I have never speeded since. If the speed limit is 30 then I drive in 3rd gear as its very difficult to exceed the speed limit unwittingly if you do that. I also make sure I am aware of what the speed limit is at all times.

OP, try being aware of the road conditions and speed limit. Or don't drive as, tbh, you sound like a liability. And if you are offered the opportunity to do a speed awareness course, take it.

AmIthatWintry · 11/01/2014 19:11

FFS

I drive every day. I am a careful driver. I have kept my licence clean. For 32 years. Grrrrr indeed. It aint hard

magimedi · 11/01/2014 20:40

I have been driving for forty years. I have a totally clean licence. It's not hard - just be aware of the road & signage at all times.

pointythings · 11/01/2014 20:54

I have been driving for 27 years and have not had a speeding ticket. I've recently changed cars and my current one is much more powerful, so I have been extra careful not to go over because I know how easy it would be to do so - the car is very quiet, the engine tells you nothing about what you are doing.

There are no excuses.

MrsOakenshield · 11/01/2014 20:54

having a clean license and never speeding are not the same thing, and unless you drive with your eyes glued to the speedo, which you make you a very unsafe driver indeed, you cannot possibly know that you have never once, even for a second, crept over the speed limit. So can we stop with the smug 'I've got a clean license, it's not hard' bullshit. You've never been caught, that's all.

pointythings · 11/01/2014 21:02

True, MrsOakenshield but if you can't keep your licence clean at all then you are doing something wrong. I know that I have crept over the speed limit in my new car - there have been a few 'oh shit' moments. if I had been caught I would not have grumbled, but at least I have been actively trying not to speed and learning what my current motor does.

SirChenjin · 11/01/2014 21:05

I've never been caught - but then I don't drive over the speed limit so regularly that I massively increase my chances of being caught and try not to speed. The OP must be speeding as a matter of course if she's getting caught that often.

Jinglebellsforthebetter · 11/01/2014 21:10

Clean licence for 26 years - not smug, just aware.

It. Really. Isn't. Hard.

MrsAMerrick · 11/01/2014 21:34

hear hear jingle

mrs oakenshiekd you dont have to watch the speedo and nothing else, of course that would be unsafe. It's easy to be aware of the speed you're doing, you can glance at the speedo for a split second.

Excuses for speeding are just that. Excuses. There are drivers who speed and drivers who don't. Drivers in the first group run the risk of getting points on their licence, they shouldn't moan that it's not their fault when that happens.

Bartman · 11/01/2014 21:34

It's easy to mostly exceed the limit and keep a clean licence you just need to look further ahead than ten feet in front of your bonnet. Advanced observation and forward planning should not only keep you accident free but free of points as well. It's not like the cunts in the camera vans are hard to spot.

Objection · 11/01/2014 21:45

there are drivers who speed and drivers who don't. Drivers who speed run the risk of getting points on their license

drivers who speed run the risk of killing or seriously injuring other people or themselves. its not worth it.

[not arguing just using the phrase to make a point]

Objection · 11/01/2014 21:47

Yes, breaking the law is easy and completely justified, Bartman, so long as your observant

I always wondered why people had a problem with speed cameras/vans - not an issue if you obey the law

Bartman · 11/01/2014 22:03

I always wondered why people had a problem with speed cameras/vans - not an issue if you obey the law

Because they have nothing to do with road safety and everything to do with ripping of motorists. Thanks to the last labour government we have a generation of mindless drivers on the road who seem to think that because they don't speed they're all brilliant drivers. I'd much rather passenger with a decently trained driver above the speed limit than at the limit with one of these morons who fail to look further than the end of their bonnet - they're the sort who kill people but they think they're excellent drivers as they never exceed the limit.

SirChenjin · 11/01/2014 22:11

That's a very simplistic argument. There are plenty of drivers who are perfectly capable of driving within the speed limit, to road conditions, whilst looking much further ahead than the end of their bonnets.

Unfortunately there are too many drivers who think they are better than they are, and therefore able to to drive faster than the speed limit - because somehow their reactions are faster than everyone elses. Which is bollocks, of course.

Lemons1571 · 11/01/2014 22:14

I did a speed awareness course a couple of months ago. It wasn't great. Mostly full of white van men who tore back out the car park when it had finished, at some speed. Plus a guy who kept standing up and announcing 'Zis country neeeds flares'. Bizarre experience.

ComposHat · 11/01/2014 22:17

I wonseeed how long till some willy waving prat would wander onto the thread and proclaim they are perfectly safe despite routinely drivong above rhe limit/talking on phone/consumong an all yhey can eat buffet.

For clarity's sake. No one is saying not speeding makes you a safe driver. But not being aware of the speed limit, not seeing camera/speed limit signs is an indication that you are completely unaware of what's happening around them.

Bartman · 11/01/2014 22:20

But not being aware of the speed limit, not seeing camera/speed limit signs is an indication that you are completely unaware of what's happening around them

Brilliantly put

FortyDoorsToNowhere · 11/01/2014 22:59

I have had my licence for 10 years and no points.

I drive within the speed limit, still read the Highway Code from time to time and keep my car in a safe working order.

AnUnearthlyChild · 11/01/2014 23:09

Because they have nothing to do with road safety and everything to do with ripping of motorists.

No. Not true.

They have everything to do with road safety.

Objection · 12/01/2014 08:32

so what your trying to say Bartman is that your above the law (designed for the safety of everyone in mind) because you are a better driver than everyone and are above the calculations and analysis made by experts in the field?

Objection · 12/01/2014 08:32

*you're

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