To be terrified I'll lose my license

[PepsiMaxx0]

I have a clean driving license. Driving for over 40 years with no incidents. Like many others I sometimes go over the limit on motorways if I consider it safe to do so....
I was travelling back from Manchester airport on the m62 during the early hours of this morning. Almost empty motorway. Doing about 80mph average I would say. Occasionally crept to 85. I noticed a camera flash on the gantry. No limits were lit up. I assumed it was from the other side and carried on. Several miles later it did it again and yes for a 3rd time which is when I thought this is too much of a coincidence it must be me! I've just woken and have that sick feeling. The only defence I can offer is motorway was empty, it was between 4 - 5 am this happened and I do not think I was driving dangerously. I just wanted to get home to bed after a late night flight. What will be the penalty for this?

You are not entitled to break the law and drive dangerously fast just because you wanted to get home.
You could have killed someone. Hopefully you will be punished.

She could have killed someone doing 70mph. Or 60mph. Or 40mph...

Some years ago I was driving at 80 on the motorway. I saw the car on the bridge but thought “speedo overreacting, plus a bit of generosity from the police I’ll be fine”. I wasn’t, they registered a speed of 79 and the cut off was 78. I had a clean license and was offered the speed awareness course. Almost never speed now, it doesn’t actually buy you a significant amount of time, is harder work for your brain and uses much more fuel.

Undoubtedly.

Few MN threads attract such uneducated nonsense as a motoring themed one.

Don't the odds change as the speed goes up?

I'm sorry but you have no excuse -bad news or not
Always remember last summer reading about a pregnant woman who died when she was in the car with her sons and nephew
And an idiot speeding hit her.....

From about 40mph up, not really.

Assuming what the OP told us is correct that there weren’t reduced limits in place and she currently has a clean license then there is ZERO chance that she’s getting a ban. Stop talking shite.

Or the awful crash where the young woman was killed after the Range Rover power onto train tracks

This is not the place to come if you want a rational discussion about speeding, or driving in general.

Most posters appear to be intensely law-fearing, nervous drivers who drive tiny little electric hatchbacks and think anyone in anything bigger is a killer, and anyone who hits the speed limit, let alone creeps over it, is a murderer.

As with all things, it depends entirely on circumstances - if OP hits a pedestrian on the motorway, anything over 20 mph will likely have a higher likelihood of fatality for the pedestrian, but the difference in outcome between 40 and 80 isn't likely to be much.
Of course, the time OP and others have to react is reduced with increasing speed, and the kinetic energy released is higher with higher speeds - but speeds need to be judged in context, otherwise we'd have a blanket 20mph limit on all roads including motorways (which I get the impression some posters would favour).

Surely you acknowledge there's a difference between accidentally hitting 2/3 mph over the limit, and intentionally driving at 80/85, while tired, and distracted, in an attempt to rush home? OP has admitted they weren't in a good frame of mind, wanting to get home faster and was well aware they were speeding.

This. You’ve got to suck up the punishment. Why you didn’t slow down after the first flash baffles me though.

And the Darwin Award goes to....

As long as you don't take some poor innocent soul with you.

Like many others I sometimes go over the limit on motorways if I consider it safe to do so....

yh many people also lose liscenses & gain fines for the same mentality....

Cool story but no road bike that can do 150mph had cable brakes - what a laugh. Even if it did, there's no heat transfer to brake cables that could melt one - it's just nonsense.

Have to agree with this.

Driving at night, after a flight, when tired, and having had bad or upsetting news is a serious set of conditions to deal with. Add significant speeding on top, well you are lucky if a fine / points/ mags court is all you have to worry about.

God this thread is full of pearl clutchers. You were not going very fast, yes over the limit but not excessively so, motorway was empty. Just say your name is KP as per other currently active thread and you'll get off with a slap on the wrist.

Honestly, most people speed on an empty motorway - 70mph is far lower than other European countries at 112kph. If you had been going 95-100 then that is serious speeding but not what you were doing. You've never had points in 40 years so pretty good record imo.

Go on then, I'll bite.

Darwin Award for which?

85mph is excessively fast.

Are people really relying on camera flashes to judge whether or not they might be done for speeding?
There's quite a few motorways around the NW now that have cameras that don't flash when they catch you. And they are certainly in use, as the pages of my local town Facebook groups will attest to!

There's one stretch with 3 cameras near me and when people have been caught it's been counted as 3 separate incidents as others have said - so if a clean licence, one speed awareness course and two sets of points/fines. And you have to pay for the course itself so its 3 lots of money iyswim

@PepsiMaxx0 gosh you're getting an awful bashing here! Try not to fret or let it consume you. You won't be banned!

Sorry to hear about your bad news. Don't be too hard on yourself.

Xx

Worst case scenario you'll get 3 points per flash, best case is you'll get offered a speed awareness course for one flash and 3 points each for the others

You can have up your 12 before you lose your licence. Let's hope you haven't missed a flash to get during the trip.

Why should anyone have sympathy for someone who knowingly speeds? It’s not as if OP acknowledged her mistake and slowed down.. The bashing is self inflicted + deserved

We need to make our own judgement about what's safe, not rely on an arbitrary number while driving like a zombie.

Does this only apply to speed limits or driving generally?

"We need to make our own judgement about how much is safe to drink before driving, not rely on an arbitrary amount when alcohol affects different people differently..."

"We need to make our own judgement about what age is safe to drive, after all some 12 year olds are taller and more responsible than 17 year olds"

Indeed if we are using germany as a comparative for what we should be allowed to do on roads, how about countries where its legal to drive from 14?

Actually fuck it lets just expand it to all laws. "We need to make our own judgement about what age children are mature enough to consent to sex rather than an arbitrary age of 16."

Can't see any way that could go wrong at all.

You might think some of them are inappropriate or outdated but laws are in place for a reason and "I don't agree with them" or "they do it differently in another country" isn't a valid defence.