Speeding fines

[Lawnmower Man]

Money well spent in that case - I wish it had been an option when I got done!

F

I totally agree.    IMHO  the option of a course should be offered to any first offender.    I believe the course is only offered for those doing 35 or 36 in a 30.
To my mind someone doing 39 is in more need of the traning.

I also be quite happy with a scheme of say.  A fixed Penalty that is a warning not to be caught in the next say 12 Months.  So basically if you are caught on Camera they issue the fixed penalty.    But you don't have to pay it unless you commit a second offence in the12 Months.   

Another alternative I thought of was before you get snapped you take the course and that gives you one exemption from a Fixed Penalty for the next 12 Months.   

t.

[Leftie]

Money well spent in that case - I wish it had been an option when I got done!

F

I totally agree.    IMHO  the option of a course should be offered to any first offender.    I believe the course is only offered for those doing 35 or 36 in a 30.
To my mind someone doing 39 is in more need of the traning.

I also be quite happy with a scheme of say.  A fixed Penalty that is a warning not to be caught in the next say 12 Months.  So basically if you are caught on Camera they issue the fixed penalty.    But you don't have to pay it unless you commit a second offence in the12 Months.   

Another alternative I thought of was before you get snapped you take the course and that gives you one exemption from a Fixed Penalty for the next 12 Months.   

t.

Tom,

We've already done that by reading the Highway Code and passing the Drivering Test.

There is no excuse really for disobeying the Laws of the Land. Don't get me wrong here as I've amassed many points and several lengthy disqualifications over the years all to my cost. Even going into bancrupcy once because I was stupid.

As a construction design engineer specialising in highways, we attempt to make the highways of this country for all users as safe as possible, and yes I agree, we do make mistakes. Not many of us would agree, but I allways put my hand up and have never passed the buck onto a lackie.

There are many instances where the signed speed limit appears inappropriate. But, the signed limit is the Law. If there is no signed limit and there is street lighting,  TREAT IT AS 30 MPH.

If you are caught speeding by a camera, you have little chance. If you are caught by a Police Officer, you may be able to talk your way out of it.  I have.

[Lawnmower Man]

Money well spent in that case - I wish it had been an option when I got done!

F

I totally agree.    IMHO  the option of a course should be offered to any first offender.    I believe the course is only offered for those doing 35 or 36 in a 30.
To my mind someone doing 39 is in more need of the traning.

I also be quite happy with a scheme of say.  A fixed Penalty that is a warning not to be caught in the next say 12 Months.  So basically if you are caught on Camera they issue the fixed penalty.    But you don't have to pay it unless you commit a second offence in the12 Months.   

Another alternative I thought of was before you get snapped you take the course and that gives you one exemption from a Fixed Penalty for the next 12 Months.   

t.

Tom,

We've already done that by reading the Highway Code and passing the Drivering Test.

Well of course there was the time when you didn't need to take a test though I'm not sure there are many people in that category these days.
Then there is the Question of how relevant is the Driving test I took 40+ years ago to todays motoring? 

There is no excuse really for disobeying the Laws of the Land.

No I agree.    I was not suggesting that you take the course and than gives you carte blanche to speed.  I meant it as a way of stating that you do understand
the implications of Speeding and are taking a positive step in doing the training.    Thus you should be less likely to speed.    However,  We all know that maintaining any given speed is a judgment thing.   So if having taken the course you misjudge your speed and get snapped doing 35 or 36 in a 30 you can
cash in your training so to speak.

t.

[Dangermouse]

There are many instances where the signed speed limit appears inappropriate

Too true......I go along a 60mph single track on my way home.....with pedestian acess and pavements......there are two industrial estates with turnings onto the road, one MOT station for HGVs, two  garages and two residential areas.........all within 1/2 a mile.....you can imagine 44 tonners pulling out (the road has a giant S bend in it too) and having to come down from 60mph.
Keep going, and two roundabouts later on the same road, nearly a mile in length....  NO pavements....NO road or pedestian access.....straight road....40mph!

MADE for cameras I would say.

Just my 2p worth
First 3 points in March this year after 27years clean, 38 in a 30. 

[termietermite]

French speed camera saboteurs demand ransom to halt attacks
Charles Bremner in Paris
French anti-terrorist police are hunting a “guerrilla” organisation that is
blowing up speed cameras and demanding a ransom from the State.

Police are taking seriously claims from the Nationalist Revolutionary Army
Faction (FNAR) that it is responsible for the destruction of six radar
installations on roads in the Paris region over the past six months.

The latest attempted attack was on Tuesday on a motorway close to the
village of Baillet-en-France, 20 miles north of the capital. The device,
consisting of a bundle of explosive and a timer, did not detonate. It was
spotted by a road maintenance team and defused after police closed the
motorway for five hours.

The FNAR, which also calls itself the National Anti-Radar Front, is reported
to be demanding a significant sum of money to halt the attacks, as well as
tax cuts and less rigorous enforcement of the law on the roads.

Related Links
  a.. Socialists put their foot down on speed
  a.. I'm not a speed freak, but. . .
The group sent its demands to the Interior Ministry in October. Worded in
the grandiose jargon of 1970s revolutionary groups, it complained about the
oppression of “the owner State which robs its citizens”. The police said
they did not know if they were dealing with one person or a group, “but
either way, this is dangerous stuff”.

Dozens of France’s 1,100 roadside speed cameras have been destroyed or
vandalised since they were introduced in 2003 – later than in most
neighbouring countries. The devices have contributed to a sharp drop in road
deaths, but many drivers still consider their presence “unFrench” and a
breach of their civil rights.

Many believe they were created to fill the state coffers with tens of
millions of euros in fines a year. Many motorists rejoiced last month when
officials reported that speed readings could be exaggerated if the cameras
in the steel-encased units were slightly misaligned with the road. The
Government said that the report was wrong.

Road safety campaigners deplored the violent attacks on the cameras, which
were installed after the former President, Jacques Chirac, decided to get
tough on France’s high death toll on the roads. “The speed cameras are more
than symbolic,” said Chantal Perrichon, president of the League Against
Highway Violence. “Thanks to them, we have saved so many lives.”

Police said that the attacks, which were carried out with primitive homemade
explosives connected to a timer and which appear to be linked, represented a
threat to passing drivers.

The gang is being compared to a mysterious group that planted bombs on
railway tracks in 2003 and demanded a €10 million (L7.2 million) ransom. The
authorities made two unsuccessful attempts to pay the ransom, including a
delivery by a helicopter that failed to find a rendezvous point designated
by the group.

The organisation was never traced and disappeared after announcing in 2004
that it was temporarily suspending its campaign while it improved its
methods. Police said that the railway group appeared to be more professional
than the speed camera saboteurs, but did not rule out a possible link
between the campaigns.

President Sarkozy, who was the Interior Minister at the time of the railway
campaign, has ordered police to crack down hard on the vandalism of speed
cameras, which each cost thousands of euros to install. Attacks on them are
not amusing and are an afront to the authority of the state, he said.

[nopanic - neil]

Made me smile -    - sorry

A policeman has been banned from driving after a speed camera twice caught him posing with his thumbs up as he raced to emergency 999 calls.

   
PC Mayes was driving at 73mph in a 40mph zone
A policeman who twice smiled and stuck his thumbs up at a speed camera while responding to 999 calls at 70mph has been banned from driving.

Pc David Mayes, 34, admitted that the stunts were acts of "complete stupidity" while safety campaigners said he showed a reckless disregard for others' safety.

The officer was photographed taking both hands off the wheel to make the gesture on July 26 last year as a female colleague sat beside him. He did it again 75 minutes later at the same camera on his way to catch a suspected thief.

The images were taken on a 40mph road in Sheffield, and show Pc Mayes hurtling past the camera at 68mph and 73mph - legitimate speeds for emergency responses.

His behaviour enraged senior officers in the South Yorkshire force and he was charged with two counts of careless driving. Pc Mayes admitted both counts at Halifax Magistrates Court where he was banned from driving for six months and fined £400. He has also been removed from public duties and faces a misconduct hearing.

Andrew Entwistle, the magistrate, told him: "You exhibited a blatant disregard for the safety of other road users and failed to take into account the risk to the passengers."

Tom Nutter, defending the married father-of-two, said that the officer of eight years was ashamed and full of remorse. He said: "It was an episode of complete stupidity."

A spokesman for the road safety charity Brake said: "This story shows us that the culture of excessive speed, combined with a reckless disregard for the safety and lives of others, worryingly extends to some police officers."

A spokeswoman for South Yorkshire Police said: "His conduct fell well below what we and the public expect of our officers."

[Christopher]

What a complete plonker!