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Fairly sure I got caught speeding last night - what am I facing?

65 replies

Indiechick · 05/12/2008 09:53

Doing about 35 in a 30 zone? What should I expect?

OP posts:
VirginBoffinMum · 27/12/2008 19:43

Nasty bastard speeding ticket people!

AugustusGloop · 27/12/2008 19:45

correct to day of postage and the court presumes " good service".
the calibration argument rarely if ever works.

I do knwo a very easy and clever way to get out of speeding fines but there is no way I am telling you lot.

VirginBoffinMum · 27/12/2008 19:54

Go on Gloop. I will trade you for my top secret elite university entrance tips.

boffinmum at hotmail.co.uk if you want to be private.

We are all safe drivers victimised by the Treasury so be kind!

frasersmummy · 27/12/2008 20:30

is that the one where you just say you werent driving and you dont know who was?????

holidaywonk · 27/12/2008 20:34

35 in a 30 zone isn't safe driving, Boffin!

Quattrocento · 27/12/2008 20:37

Aeound our way it is a £60 fine and 3 points on your licence. I have a friend who lives in Nottingham and she got a driver awareness course.

VirginBoffinMum · 27/12/2008 23:21

It bloody is, holidaywonk, if there's nobody about, the limit is only there because of an arbitrary city boundary, the conditions are clear and dry and you're stone cold sober. However even 20-25 mph in a 30mph zone is pretty damn negligent if none of those things apply.

nannyL · 28/12/2008 09:45

the guy who ran me over was doing 50mph in a 30mph zone...

right between a primary school (whose hedge i landed in) and the recreation ground,(where i came out the gate) next to the 'red triangle children running across the road' sign

he got NOTHING.... no points and no fine as he had a shock

had i have died (which i very nearly did) he would have lost his license and probably gone to jail for 'death by dangerouse driving'

virginboffinmum i dipute the 'when nobody is about' theory as there was no one around when i got runover... i just apeared out of the gate, as anyone could do from any gate / house at any moment in time...

i do agree that when its wet / icey / foggy / children are walking to their school etc a safe speed is much less than on a clear dry day with lotso f visibility etc

AuntieMaggie · 28/12/2008 09:49

The 10% thing is a myth - the equipment is so accurate there is no margin for error.

AuntieMaggie · 28/12/2008 09:53

OMG @ "Nasty bastard speeding ticket people! " you shouldn't be speeding - the limit is 30 for a reason!

My sisters friend got hit head on at 40 and was dead by the time the ambulance got there.

Speeding is wrong full stop. Another motoring thing where people only think about getting caught not the consequences of having an accident (along with drink driving, using your mobile, etc).

VirginBoffinMum · 28/12/2008 10:01

So it's OK to drive like a moron at 20 mph then because that's apparently legal????

VirginBoffinMum · 28/12/2008 10:04

If I say I am a Clarkson fan will you flame me??

holidaywonk · 28/12/2008 12:13

Boffin, do you think that there should be speed limits at all, or do you think it should be entirely up to drivers' discretion?

paolosgirl · 28/12/2008 12:22

No, if you were driving like a moron at 20mph you'd be charged with other offences.

Don't say you're a Clarkson fan. It either means that you're an 11 year old boy or that you give viewing time to a pathetic middle aged man whose entire career is built on trying very hard to be anti authoritarian but coming up with nothing very radical. Neither is good.

holidaywonk · 28/12/2008 12:34

There is a poster on here who is extremely knowledgeable and sensible about speeding, cameras, revenue and road safety. Unfortunately I can't remember who s/he is

holidaywonk · 28/12/2008 12:40

Ah, it was IvyKaty44.

Her idea was that instead of points/fines, if you've been snapped speeding the next few sets of traffic lights along your subsequent route should be set to deliberately slow you down (turn red as you approach).

Obviously would be quite complicated but it is a magnificently evil idea, and might well be more effective than fines etc.

VirginBoffinMum · 28/12/2008 12:42

I'm not a total speed nut actually. I think that there should be more use of variable speed limits and associated driver guidance and education, now we have the technology. Weather and visibility are really important factors in driving, for example, and people are generally reluctant to slow down sufficiently. Similarly many people drive too close to the car in front, for some reason I can't fathom, which is also a very bad idea.

I would put more traffic police out there to stop and explain to drivers exactly what they are doing wrong in the case of minor offences, which concentrates the mind a lot more than being fined IMO. They should also put speed limit signs on safety cameras so there was no doubt for drivers - believe it or not, most drivers don't actually want to knock people over and understand cameras are used in accident blackspot areas (although when I looked into the relationship between accidents and cameras in our area, sometimes they had been put up in response to relatively minor incidents on busy roads whereas there is one place locally with a badly designed crossing where there were two extremely nasty accidents in as many years, including a fatality, but on a road with less traffic, and this has not had a camera installed, which leads me to think there is a link with possible revenue here).

My view is that if you have had to issue a ticket, then something policy wise or transport planning wise has failed, particularly if more and more tickets are being issued over the years, which would suggest drivers are getting 'worse' or less compliant rather than better.

I got my one and only speeding ticket in 20 years simply because a speed limit was arbitrarily changed in the middle of a long road at the geographical location of a county boundary, which was a political reason for the speed limit change, rather than a safety-based one in my view. This just makes a mockery of the system and I was not impressed once I worked out what had happened. I had allegedly been doing 37 mph in what used to be a 40mph zone until a few weeks before, which isn't so extreme. Interestingly there were also two cars on the picture when I looked, and it wasn't even clear I was the one who had been doing 37mph at the time, but I was advised by the solicitor it would cost me £2000 to contest the ticket. Now what sane person is going to bother standing up for him/herself in such instances? So it was easier to pay the fine and just be cross about it. BTW in my area they don't do driver awareness courses either, which I thought was a bit unfair.

In summary, I think it is all too easy to bully relatively safe drivers for odd minor offences, whilst missing the bigger picture sometimes.

frasersmummy · 28/12/2008 12:48

I personally think they should introduce more of these average speed cameras . you know the ones that track your speed over several miles...

Any areas I have visited with these seem to have much slower calmer traffic

Does away with idiots screeching to a halt in front of you as they see the single camera

holidaywonk · 28/12/2008 12:49

Ah, that seems fairly sensible Boffin. Variable limits might well make people sit up any pay attention a bit.

However, I just don't have any sympathy for people who deliberately break speed limits as they stand and then whine about the consequences.

Plus, your points about visibility and conditions etc. don't really address the point of the 30mph limit - which is the most important one and the one that should definitely be observed in my book. I don't care about people doing 50 in a 40 zone, but don't have much time for people who deliberately do 35 in a 30 - whatever the time of day.

VirginBoffinMum · 28/12/2008 12:55

I quite like the idea of variable cameras actually, because it should all be about raising the overall standard of driving, and treating generally law-abiding people like adults, not fining people arbitrarily and criminalising them for minor offences. And in some cases, as I am sure we are all aware, it's actually very easy to exceed 30 mph for a few seconds unless you keep your eye totally glued to the speedo, which is also an example of bad driving. People should be looking around, using their mirrors and generally being more alert.

frasersmummy · 28/12/2008 12:55

holidaywonk

I dont understand that logic

surely a limit is a limit...

and they are set for a reason......

if someone you loved was knocked down and killed by a driver doing 49 in a 40 zone how is that better than being killed at 39 in a 30 zone????

VirginBoffinMum · 28/12/2008 12:57

Can I add my grandfather was killed by a speeding motorist in an urban area, so I am quite thoughtful about these things, but I still don't think arbitrary and punitive treatment of motorists helped my grandfather.

holidaywonk · 28/12/2008 13:38

frasers - I see what you're saying. My point is that the 30 limit has a very well-evidenced basis ('It's 30 for a reason' and all that) - if you hit someone at 30 they are likely to survive. If you hit someone at 40 they're likely to die, so in that sense there's not a lot of difference (survival-wise) between 40 and 50.

Plus, pedestrians feel safer in 30 limit zones and might exhibit slightly risky behaviours - such as stepping out between parked cars - that they're less likely to display in 40 zones.

Just to be clear, I'm in favour of speed limits myself and abide by them as much as possible.

Pet hate: people who drive at 35mph in 40 zones, then continue to drive at 35pmh in 30 zones. If you can only drive at 35mph, you're rubbish and you should get the bus!

holidaywonk · 28/12/2008 13:44

Sorry to hear about your grandad, Boffin.

frasersmummy · 28/12/2008 13:47

mmm that argument makes sense on paper but not sure I agree with it

but there are a lot of people in my area who should get the bus