For the second time in 6 months my wife has been caught by speed cameras. Exactly the same place and speed (41 in a 30 limit). She was fined £60 last time. Does anybody have any idea what she should expect this time? She argues with a perfectly straight face that she can't be expected to drive and watch for speed limit signs at the same time! Needless to say things are a bit tense in the house at the moment.

It should be roughly the same fine etc. as last time, assuming that the conditions were similar.
Funny how people come up with lame excuses for speeding. I was a driving instructor many moons ago, and brand new drivers had no trouble coping with all their new skills, picking up new ones AND driving at or near the speed limit!
I think £60 is the standard fixed penalty and it will only be more if it goes to court....unlikely if it didn't first time round.
Tony

It shouldn't go to court as long as she admits guilt.

Despite agreeing with much said in the Speed Camera thread I am slightly alarmed that your wife doesn't think that the speed of the car isn't part of driving especially in a built up area and especially in an area where she's been caught before. Perhaps it time to bring in tests for multiple offenders.

Tom

Extreme pedestrian (who's only just got a car)

Hi tom,
does she only have the 3 points on her licence imposed for the origial speeding offence?
If so she can be dealt with as before but now you may find its going to impact on your car insurance.
Also, has she held a full licence for at least two years. If so you are ok, but if not she will face having her licence revoked back to a provisional - therefore needing to retake her test.
If you contest the issue you may end up with more points/more fine but that is down to the court - I don't know how they work in Scotland.
Hope this helps a little.

Chaps

If you are caught on camera it is a £60.00 fine plus 3 points. If you argue in court and loose, expect to pay £150.00 plus costs plus points.

If you are stopped by a police car, it is a £60,00 fine plus 3 points. However, if you pay within 14 days, you get let off with £30.00.

In this instance, the Lady will pay £60.00 plus 3 point. Her insurance premium will probably be loaded by £60.00 for 3 years.

Regards

Mick

Hi
I think you'll find that the penalty is a £60 fine and 3 penalty points with no reduction for paying earlier than the 28 days allowed.
Regards
jim

A fixed penalty issued by a policeman may be changed at the discretion of the chief constable of any region.

Therefore prompt payment discounts may be given.

A camera is a fixed penaly full stop. No discretion allowed except by a magistrate.

Mick

Thanks folks. She is an experienced driver with maximum no claims etc (25+ years, and for the past 10 years or so about 30000 miles per year) and if it wasn't coming out of the family pocket I'd say a large fine might teach her a bloody lesson. She's not a "girl racer" by any means, in fact on the motorway she tends to drive extremely cautiously. It's extremely difficult to describe her driving without sounding like an MCP so I'll leave it at that.

A camera is not a fixed penalty full-stop. You can still receive a court summons. All fixed penalties are given at the discretion of the police.

You could theoretically receive a court summons for doing just 35 in a 30 whether caught by camera, by police officer with radar/laser gun, or by police in a patrol car.

If a clampdown or purge is announced in the local press (bugger you if you just happen to be travelling through an area where you don't live and don't have access to the local papers) then magistrates can virtually name their price/number of points put on your licence.

We don't have a fixed penal code in this country unfortunately. One is at the mercy of capricious magistrates.

quote:

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Funny how people come up with lame excuses for speeding. I was a driving instructor many moons ago, and brand new drivers had no trouble coping with all their new skills, picking up new ones AND driving at or near the speed limit!

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It does get more difficult as you get older and more experienced though. Our sense of judgement and responsibility tends to make us adjust our speed in accordance with the conditions rather than just obeying the figures in the red discs.

Also, speed limits (often revised downwards in recent years) can change frequently and it's easy to forget what the figure was in the last red disc you saw. Many new lowered limits are now rather arbitrary in comparison with a few years ago when it was easier to follow a pattern that actually made sense.

In Cannock they've revised a limit down from 40 to 30 along the Avon Road to Wolverhampton, removed all the 40 signs and put up signs all along the revised speed section that say:

REVISED SPEED LIMIT AHEAD

Shouldn't the word "ahead" be removed from the sign, or is this ploy to raise revenue? Yes there are cameras along this road...

I know that in a 30 zone by law there don't need to be any reminder 30 signs, and that in a revised 30 limit that follows a pre-existing one just removing the 40 signs is perfectly legal.

Is it fair though?

Regards,

Steve.

[This message was edited by Steven Toy on SUNDAY 07 December 2003 at 04:27.]

Tom,

If you shop around some insurance companies may not load the premium at all. Speeding fines and penalty points are becoming so commonplace these days that some insurers are wising up to the fact that someone who has popped a couple of cameras isn't necessarily a higher risk driver where potential claims are concerned.

If anything, having six ponts on her licence is more likely to make her drive with increased care and attention.



Regards,

Steve.

There's a knack to it, people get it eventually, but basically it involves a little less pressure on the right hand pedal and occaisional use of the middle one.

"Let your life proceed by it's own design. Let the words be yours, I have done with mine"

Hi Mick
you are obviously better informed than me, but can you tell me does the same apply in Scotland as in south of the border (down sassenach way).
Regards
Jim

I have to be honest and say that I am not sure about Scotland.

Regards

Mick

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Originally posted by Mick Parry:
I have to be honest and say that I am not sure about Scotland.

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Not many English are

Tom

Actively enjoying it all

quote:

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Not many English are

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There appear to be quite a few Scots down here, so presumably they're not either.

Hi Patrick
I'm in Scotland and I'm not either.
Regards
Jim

"She's not a "girl racer" by any means, in fact on the motorway she tends to drive extremely cautiously."

41mph in a 30mph limit is equivalent to nearly 96mph in a 70mph limit (and probably considerably more dangerous) so if your wife gets off with a £60 fixed penalty then she's pretty lucky.

BTW I had a house in Linlithgow for many years - it's a nice town. I'd probably still be living there now if the rebuilding of the Newbridge roundabout 7 or 8 years go didn't cause so much chaos with the traffic into Edinburgh.

Regards
Steve

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41mph in a 30mph limit is equivalent to nearly 96mph in a 70mph limit (and probably considerably more dangerous)

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I honestly don't think you can say that without knowing the stretch of road etc.

I don't speed in built up areas - you would assume a 30 zone to be a built up area .... however there are more and more stretches now of open wide road, no houses etc - yet a 30 zone!

If it wasn't for the difficulty of enforcing, most (reasonable) police officers would much prefer to prosecute only for inapropriate speed rather than simply excess speed.

A lot of the simplistic approach to speeding now does take away judgement - some drivers will drive at excess speed just because the 'limit' is something they feel they should meet - despite perhaps road conditions that mean they should drive well below it.

Additionally a driver can be driving perfectly safely on a nice clear open road, good visibilty etc etc - but if the speed is over the given limit...... bad person!
Meanwhile - numpty driving 2 foot from the back of the car ahead, or with no concept of lane control, inappropriate use of fog lights, or weaving as too busy tending to kids in the back ...... etc etc - no simple prosecution!

Final insult for the motorist who is happy for traffic police who can apply judgement rather than cameras that raise lots of revenue ...... if the speeding motorist was caught but had been doing the excess speeds in a stolen car - chances are, they won't be hit anything like as hard as the honest hard working Joe Public.

quote by Ultra Violet:

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If it wasn't for the difficulty of enforcing, most (reasonable) police officers would much prefer to prosecute only for inapropriate speed rather than simply excess speed.

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Agreed!!!
And i will think you'll find most do that - unless greeted by the person with ABA....
(A Bad Attitude...)

"I honestly don't think you can say that without knowing the stretch of road etc.

I don't speed in built up areas - you would assume a 30 zone to be a built up area .... however there are more and more stretches now of open wide road, no houses etc - yet a 30 zone! "

I'm not aware of any such stretch of road with a speed camera on it in central Scotland.

BTW I'm no angel and I've been done for speeding several times in the past, however people who speed in built up areas because they aren't concentrating enough to be aware that they are 11mph (and perhaps indicating 15mph) over the limit IMHO deserve to get booked.

Regards
Steve