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Banned if you Speed
Twice...
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| 6 points on your licence
for doing 45 in 30mph zone under new crackdown. |
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| Drivers could be banned after
two speeding offences under a draconian shake-up of penalties that will be
law within months. Motorists caught doing 45mph in a 30mph zone will
face a £100 fine and 6 points on their licence. Under the
'totting-up' system, if they accumulate 12 points, they would lose their
licences after two such offences. |
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| Ministers are introducing a
sliding scale of punishments that will see those caught driving well over
the limit facing tougher punishments. Currently, almost all offences
attract 3 points, regardless of by how much the limit is exceeded.
But the Government has decided that... *1. the
'punishment should fit the crime'
and those who drive recklessly over the limit should face stricter
penalties. At the same time, those driving only slightly over the
limit are expected to be treated more leniently, getting just 2 points. |
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| Road Safety campaigners
welcomed the move, but critics said millions more drivers would lose their
licences because of the 'indiscriminate' nature of speed camera
traps. The Road Safety Bill introduces variable fixed penalties for
speeding, changing the range of penalty points from 3 to 6... to 2 to 6,
depending on the severity of the offence. |
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| The lowest penalty will be 2
points on the licence and a £40 fine. A medium range penalty... for
example, for drivers doing 40-44mph in a 30mph zone... will be 3 points
and a £60 fine. *2. A higher penalty for faster speeders will mean 6
points on the licence and a £100 fine. |
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| It is expected to apply to
those driving at... |
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| 32mph+ in a 20mph zone... |
| 45mph+ in a 30mph zone... |
| 57mph+ in a 40mph zone... |
| 70mph+ in a 50mph zone... |
| 82mph+ in a 60mph zone... |
| 94mph+ in a 70mph zone. |
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| Ministers will launch a
consultation before confirming the bands. Transport Secretary
Alistair Darling told the Commons: 'Whatever view you care to take,*3.
speed
cameras are saving lives and reducing speed. We need to do more to
make sure the punishment fits the crime.' As well as paving the way
for flexible speeding fines, the legislation will increase penalties for a
wide range of driving offences. |
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| In cases of drink-driving, a
single roadside breath test will be enough for prosecution. Officers
will no longer have to take a second reading at a police station.
Offenders disqualified for 24 months or more... those with the highest
levels of blood alcohol... will be forced to retake their driving tests. |
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| Courts will be given the
power to force the worst drink-drivers to have an 'alcolock' fitted to
their car... an in-car breathalyser will stop the vehicle moving if they
are over the limit. Careless driving will incur a maximum fine
of £5,000 rather than £2,500. Drivers
using a vehicle in a dangerous condition will be disqualified from driving
for a second offence. |
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| Failing to give police the
identity of a driver will incur 6 points on a licence... up from 3.
Fines for children not wearing seatbelts will be standardised... with a
£500 fine for front and rear. Currently the fine is £200 for the
rear and £500 for the front. Drivers caught using hand-held mobile
phones also face tougher penalties. |
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| They will get 3 points on
their licence and be fined £60. Four offences, therefore, will
almost certainly mean drivers losing their licence under the 'totting up'
system. Remaining paper driving licences will be recalled, probably
by 2008, and replaced with photographic ones. For the first time,
foreign drivers face having their vehicles clamped if they commit traffic
offences in Britain. |
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| Tony Vickers, of the
Association of British Drivers, expressed concern about the new regime for
speeding offences. 'This would make sense if it was police traffic
officers making judgements about the nature of speeding offences,' he
said. 'The problem is it will not be them in most cases, but speed
cameras operating indiscriminately. They measure only speed and not
the degree of danger that an activity causes'. |
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| 'The last thing we would
condone would be people driving recklessly at speeds where lives were
threatened. But we could envisage circumstances where somebody
travelling at 90mph on an empty motorway in the early hours of the morning
in clear visibility would be liable for 6 points, when the fact is it's
very unlikely they threatened anybody's lives or even their own. At
the same time, someone driving slightly over a 30mph zone past a school
might receive only 2 point, although they put more people at risk.' |
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| In the Commons, Owen Paterson
for the Tories said a million drivers already had 6 or more points on
their licences and could be banned with one further offence. He told
MPs: 'These are on the whole very law-abiding, hardworking people trying
to go about their daily business. *4. There's a real risk we are losing
the hearts and minds of drivers when actually we want to get their
co-operation in order to improve road safety.' |
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| The Tories also dismissed as
'inadequate' a proposed *5. £100 penalty for being caught with an uninsured
car. Transport spokesman Chris Grayling said the Bill was a
'patchwork of measures' rather than a strategy for real improvement. |
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| During the debate on the Road
Safety Bill, both transport minister Stephen Ladyman and Tory Mr Paterson
admitted they *6. use a device in their cars to detect fixed
speed
cameras. Dr Ladyman said the devices, which use satellite
technology, were 'perfectly legal'. |
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| Comments. Just a
few quick comments about their latest strategy... as yet again... New
Labour gets it wrong at every turn! |
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| *1.
The 'punishment should fit the crime'.>>
Clearly the punishment will not fit the 'crime' if you rely so heavily on
speed cameras. Someone driving at 30mph past a school at 4 in the
afternoon... with rain... parked vehicles... children crossing the road...
etc. might be creating a very dangerous situation but receive no ticket at
all. Someone driving past doing 45... at 4 in the morning... with
nobody about... creating no danger... could get 6 points. |
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| *2. A higher penalty for faster speeders...
[up from £60 to £100.]>> It is a well establish fact that
increasing fines does not act as a deterrent... changing from £60 to
£100 will achieve nothing: [it is the perception of getting caught
that makes the difference.] And the fines are clearly not in
proportion when you change from 3 points for doing 44 in a 30mph zone...
to 6 points for doing 45. [See
Table.] |
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| *3.
Speed
cameras are saving lives and reducing speed.>> Despite all the
dubious statistics the Government produce... there is no proof that
speed cameras save lives. As for 'reducing speed'!?! what kind of
improvement is this to the Transport System? Traffic is now slower
than it use to be! [Article: Speed Cameras: life savers or cash cows?] |
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| *4. There's a real risk we are losing
the hearts and minds of drivers when actually we want to get their
co-operation in order to improve road safety.'>> The whole
point of this website! In many cases... hearts and minds have
already been lost. If you want peoples' support and co-operation
then you need to engage them in a pro-active way... rather than continuing
with such arbitrary punishment. |
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| *5. £100 penalty for being caught with an uninsured
car.>> In the area where the Government need to get really
tough... they fail miserably. A £100 fine is no deterrent at all
when Insurance can cost £300... £600... £1,000 or more. Illegal
drivers are the worse offenders and they continually slip through the
net. The Government target the law-abiding majority because they can
just pass a law... issue the fines... and rake in the cash. With the
law-breakers they have to get out on the streets and physically stop them. |
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| *6.
Use a device in their cars to detect fixed speed
cameras.>> And if you think there is a chance you could get
caught out by one of these devices you should take steps to protect
yourself. There are now a whole range of products with different
capabilities. Check out the following links and find out more. |
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