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?

According to Brake around half of deaths on UK roads in 2021/2022 were to do with exceeding speed limits or inappropriate speed for the road conditions -

I don't know the recent stats, but I would say at least 50% of the accidents on the M62, especially the section between J22 and J24 are a result of speed. There is an accident on that section virtually every day.

Andrew Thompson. One of the top motoring law barristers in this country.

He has also offered to pay the fine himself for anyone who can prove they were prosecuted for a few mph over the posted limit (ignoring the current '20 limit everywhere' debacle for a moment).

That offer has been posted on motoring forums for years and yet no one has ever come forward with proof, because it doesn't happen.

And anyone talking about "band" anything fines for 1mph over the limit deserves a contemptuous response.

They could but they don't.

Isn't that 25%? 388 out of 1538?

How does speed cause these accidents exactly?

Reduction in reaction time

You were speeding and the cameras went off, you may be lucky and they were resetting (I've had it happen to me before and had 2 weeks of stress even though I wasn't speeding!) but equally you deserve to have had them go off.

@PepsiMaxx0 - sorry about your bad news. You know this was a mistake which could potentially have had very serious consequences. The UK’s roads are amongst the safest in the world and I think the speed limit is part of that. But you can’t put back time and you didn’t have an accident on this occasion.

Many moons ago, we had a Ford Focus which cruised very comfortably at 80. I was sometimes fairly horrified if driving on an empty road (and therefore without other drivers as a measure) when I realised how my speed had crept up. I’m very careful now and keep a close eye on my speed.

You will likely face points and hopefully a speed awareness course. You may be able to argue that it was the same offence.

Try not to worry, OP. Just make sure you learn from this and don’t speed again.

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

“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.

@goldenretrievermum5

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

They don't have to, but they do.

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.

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!

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)

@Jovacknockowitch it's becoming less common.

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.

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.

How utterly sanctimonious