From the 24th April, new curbs to tackle excessively high speeding motorists will be launched with new fines capable of charging an offender up to 175% of their weekly wages combined with an automatic driving ban and potentially time in jail.
The new range of fines are a stunning indication of how serious the police and government are at tackling and deterring the impact of speeding on the lives of other motorists on the roads.
According to Think!, in 2015 over 160,000 people were found guilty of speeding, and in 2013 3,063 fatalities caused by excessive speeding states the Metro. The Sentencing Council’s felt that the current charges are not proportionate to the “potential harm of speeding”.
| Band | MPH over stated speed limit | Fine (Percentage of relevant weekly wage) | Number of points on a licence, or length of disqualification |
|
Band A (For going up to 10 mph more than the speed limit) |
1- 10mph | 25%- 75% | 3 points |
|
Band B (For going up to 11 – 21 mph more than the speed limit) |
11 – 20mph | 75% – 125% |
4 – 6 points OR 7 – 28 days disqualification |
| Band C
(For going 21 mph more than the speed limit) |
Over 21mph | 125 – 175% |
6 points OR 7 – 56 days disqualification |
Table illustrating the new changes to speed limit fines
Caps for speeding fines will be the same – up to £2500 on the motorway, and up to £1000 elsewhere – but the new law will increase the number of speeders being dealt with the top fines.
Whilst the current minimum fine of £100 and 3 points will remain the same, the new law allows courts to fine motorists who are caught driving well above the speed limit 150% of their weekly income, instead of the current cap of 100%.
The court can then adjust the percentage by a further 25% addition or subtraction based on factors such as weather conditions, previous convictions and the number of people in the area.
Average earner fined £1000
According to the Office of National Statistics, the average salary in April 2015 was £27,600, this would mean that the maximum fine an average earner could face would be £928.85, or 175% of a weekly salary.
The current rules regarding disqualification and points on your licence are remaining the same, so you would still also potentially be disqualified for 56 days, or face 6 points on your licence.
Peter Williams, from the RAC said: “Anyone who breaks the limit excessively is a danger to every other road user and is unnecessarily putting lives at risk.
Hopefully, hitting these offenders harder in the pocket will make them think twice before doing it again in the future.”
For those who use SatNavs, we strongly recommend that you keep them regularly updated to know what the speed limit is for that road. If you have a car with a speed limiter or warning indicator, we strongly recommend you set it so a level to ensure you know that going beyond that speed will hit you in the wallet.
What do you think about the new speeding fines to be launched next week? Are they a good thing, do you think they will deter speeders? Let us know in the comment section.
I am astounded that yet again the use of accident statistics is being used to increase the revenue from speeding motorists. Many of the current speed cameras are set up in areas where there appear not to have been accidents but which are areas that catch motorists speeding slightly over the limit. Very often theses vans are located to catch motorists on entering a speed limit or 100 metres before leaving the speed limit. In these cases it is quite obvious that 100 metres down the road it has been deemed safe to increase your speed when leaving the limit.
I myself have been caught by a police unit where the officer was not wearing a hi-viz jacket and was in fact out of sight behind a hedge. I cannot see that this is any deterrent but a way of ensuring catching as many motorists as possible. When I was stopped it was even said by one of the officers that this trap always caught a lot of motorists which seemed to be very amusing to the 5 police personnel present.
It would appear also that no information is kept of would be given regarding the location of these speed traps relative to accident occurrences at the site especially where speed was a contributing factor.
This reluctance to give information would appear to resist motorists actually questioning the need or even legality of the speed trap.
Whilst speed is a factor in some accidents it is not the only area of driver education needed some motorists due to age or poor attention can be lethal in a car at 10 mph. but nothing seems to be done to address this problem.
In these days when we hear that police numbers are too low and budgets tight it is odd that one of the priorities still seems to be catching speeding motorists. I am of an age where this problem was dealt with by an officer who would stop the motorist and use common sense regarding conditions. speed and time of day etc. to decide how serious the offence was.
It should be noted that these are fines imposed by courts following conviction. They do not apply to fixed penalties imposed by post, which do not result in a conviction (unless you appeal to a court and fail).
But still points on the licnce and increased insurance premiums for years.
I agree Bruce – I am a retired Police Traffic Patrol Officer. I always used common sense and discretion when booking offenders, for whatever reason. Nowadays, it seems to me that it’s all about targets and statistics and a ‘cash cow’ mentality. The powers that be have lost the plot and don’t seem to care at all about the effect it has on the motorist and increasing public resentment against the Police. White camera vans parked on Motorway bridges (illegally parked on the pavement) catching unwary motorists on roads which are much saver than minor roads.
We all see on a daily basis the increasing use of Mobile phones whilst driving and I often look around and think, if only there was a Police Officer here right now but due to severe cutbacks, there no longer Police patrols and the public is not getting the service they deserve or pay for. Increasing fines for using Mobile phones is not going to have any effect because the chances of being caught are now so very slim.
What about drunk drivers (drink or drugs)? Cameras don’t catch these offenders!
If I was still serving as a Police Officer, I would feel emarrased at what’s happening right now and I really feel for serving officers who are forced to carry out their duties without proper back-up. Sadly, it’s now all about making money from motorists – what a sad society we are living in!!! 🙁
More than anything this sounds like an opportunity by the government to shore up finances by ‘taxing’ speeding motorists. Speeding is not the only factor when it comes to saving lives. There are other ways to deter than to fine the hell out of an individual.
Unless something has changed radically in the last few months, the prime cause factor in the majority of accidents is inattentativeness or carelessness. Exceeding the speed limit is very rarely the prime factor. Excessive speed for the road conditions is more a factor but this is usually a speed below the legal limit. Akin to dangerous driving.
With all the static speed cameras, I’m sure more people get fined as a result of these than mobile police officers. There aren’t many of them. Very few of the speed cameras, usually refered to by the powers that be as ‘safety cameras’ , are installed at accident black spots. Most are sited where motorists tend to exceed the legal limit because the road is safe to travel at that speed at that time. Cash cow I think is the term often used for these. So true.
And yes I have investigated traffic accidents during my time in the police service. Now retired, thank god.
Surveillance of the individual is being tightened around the public’s neck and in particular the motorist. It is already a fact that your phone and sat-nav can disclose your location at any given time, day or night. This extends to whether you are moving at the time. We have already heard that our TV in some cases can continue to monitor conversations although it is technically switched off. Where is it all going to end.
This latest round of penalty hikes and fines has little to do with the main aim of safety more to do with revenue, I would like to know where it all goes and on what. We, the motorist already pay heavily for the privilege of driving through a multiple layered system of taxation, but the message seems at the end of all that ” Don’t you dare use it” or we will devise another form of extracting revenue.
Are all speeding motorists employed,what will happen to people seeking asylum in U.K. Breaking our laws,illegal immigrants etc.So many people driving around with no insurance ,MOT,road TAX.why isn’t any thing done about this.This stupid idea is directed solely on the working class people.p.s the law about driving in the middle lane on the motorway is it been monitored how many people charged.Sorry this doesn’t make easy money.
Speeding within built up areas should be of a higher priority enforcement than the open road, also including the use of mobile phones. These seem to be of little importance to the law.
So what about the pensioner who does 40 in a 30 limit? He is unemployed, therefore he doesn’t get a fine but may be jailed, free food, a warm bed etc etc.
Just what the doctor ordered!!!
NEVER – have I seen a group of bloggers talking so much sense in a rational non aggressive way. AND the fact that some of these folk are retired traffic offers – etc. speaks volumes. What an excellent well rounded website this has become!
Guess what I heard… you can actually avoid these fines by not speeding in the first place.. i know right thats amazing. If you can’t pay the fine don’t do the crime
As an expat living in Thailand I only visit the UK once a year for a couple of weeks and it is a nerve-racking experience.
The abundance of speed cameras makes driving extremely dangerous as I find myself spending so much time checking for changing speed limits on unfamiliar roads I know that I am not concentrating as much as I should on my actual driving.
I make a point now of hiring a car with a speed limiter so that I can dial in the new limits as i see them, once again taking my concentration from the road. The alternative is to risk a speeding fine for an accidental minor infringement and any resulting points on my licence may even make it impossible for me to hire a car for future trips due to rental company policies.
In my opinion speed cameras, placed as they frequently are on quite safe open stretches of road, are a danger to motorists and their only purpose is to raise revenue.
Just another money making exercise by the vindictive against the motorist. Local authorities are like sheep introducing 20 Limited around towns. How ridiculous. What not start by removing free parking in all Civic Offices for staff or charge the staff the same parking rates as hospitals in the are they are located in. Let’s dump the national 70 speed limit and let’s live a little again, beurocrats be damed.
Presumably the rules about speed limit apply equally to the local authority as they do the motorist.
Locally where I live, (West Sussex) the local authority pays scant regard to speed limits. Often the speed limits signs are missing, hidden behind foliage, faded or very dirty.
The local authority is also supposed to erect speed limit repeater signs at prescribed intervals, if the speed limit is 20, 40 or 50mph (or 60mph on dual carriageways). There are also supposed to erect speed limit repeater signs on 30mph roads where there is poor or no street lighting.
With such poor (or zero) signage such as this, how on earth is the motorist expected to be aware of what the speed limit actually is?
I have written to a whole paper and photographed the speed limit signs in my locality which has been sent to West Sussex Highways. The reply that I got was that the maintenance of speed limit signs was ‘low priority’. What have then done about them? Absolutely nothing.
Sadly Peter Gibbons your information is now out of date.
Since April last year, councils are only legally required to place ONE speed limit sign and those useful repeater signs are consigned to history as they are no longer required by legislation..
Now. you may well ask why when the government is so totally obsessed with speed limits would they do this?
This must have come from industry lobbyists of the speed camera industry, Speed Awareness Course providers and all those with their snouts in the trough.
If you want more ‘speeders’ just keep downgrading speed limits, it is that simple and that is what is happening.
The emphasis should be on HOW people are driving, rather than their speed.
The DfT issue guidelines on setting speed limits, but these are totally ignored by councils, hence we have a mish-mash of speed limits, totally un-related to the actual road environment. Because they are now set on the whims and fancies of local councillors, who are only interested in pleasing local voters, thus taking priority over maintaining an efficient NATIONAL road system.
We have local and a general election coming soon, but something most people do everyday (travel) never gets mentioned, so when that election leaflet drops through your door, send it back and ask them what they are going to do! Our APATHY is the governments best weapon!
I am astounded that yet again the use of accident statistics is being used to increase the revenue from speeding motorists. Many of the current speed cameras are set up in areas where there appear not to have been accidents but which are areas that catch motorists speeding slightly over the limit. Very often theses vans are located to catch motorists on entering a speed limit or 100 metres before leaving the speed limit. In these cases it is quite obvious that 100 metres down the road it has been deemed safe to increase your speed when leaving the limit.
I myself have been caught by a police unit where the officer was not wearing a hi-viz jacket and was in fact out of sight behind a hedge. I cannot see that this is any deterrent but a way of ensuring catching as many motorists as possible. When I was stopped it was even said by one of the officers that this trap always caught a lot of motorists which seemed to be very amusing to the 5 police personnel present.
It would appear also that no information is kept of would be given regarding the location of these speed traps relative to accident occurrences at the site especially where speed was a contributing factor.
This reluctance to give information would appear to resist motorists actually questioning the need or even legality of the speed trap.
Whilst speed is a factor in some accidents it is not the only area of driver education needed some motorists due to age or poor attention can be lethal in a car at 10 mph. but nothing seems to be done to address this problem.
In these days when we hear that police numbers are too low and budgets tight it is odd that one of the priorities still seems to be catching speeding motorists. I am of an age where this problem was dealt with by an officer who would stop the motorist and use common sense regarding conditions. speed and time of day etc. to decide how serious the offence was.
It should be noted that these are fines imposed by courts following conviction. They do not apply to fixed penalties imposed by post, which do not result in a conviction (unless you appeal to a court and fail).
But still points on the licnce and increased insurance premiums for years.
I agree Bruce – I am a retired Police Traffic Patrol Officer. I always used common sense and discretion when booking offenders, for whatever reason. Nowadays, it seems to me that it’s all about targets and statistics and a ‘cash cow’ mentality. The powers that be have lost the plot and don’t seem to care at all about the effect it has on the motorist and increasing public resentment against the Police. White camera vans parked on Motorway bridges (illegally parked on the pavement) catching unwary motorists on roads which are much saver than minor roads.
We all see on a daily basis the increasing use of Mobile phones whilst driving and I often look around and think, if only there was a Police Officer here right now but due to severe cutbacks, there no longer Police patrols and the public is not getting the service they deserve or pay for. Increasing fines for using Mobile phones is not going to have any effect because the chances of being caught are now so very slim.
What about drunk drivers (drink or drugs)? Cameras don’t catch these offenders!
If I was still serving as a Police Officer, I would feel emarrased at what’s happening right now and I really feel for serving officers who are forced to carry out their duties without proper back-up. Sadly, it’s now all about making money from motorists – what a sad society we are living in!!! 🙁
More than anything this sounds like an opportunity by the government to shore up finances by ‘taxing’ speeding motorists. Speeding is not the only factor when it comes to saving lives. There are other ways to deter than to fine the hell out of an individual.
Unless something has changed radically in the last few months, the prime cause factor in the majority of accidents is inattentativeness or carelessness. Exceeding the speed limit is very rarely the prime factor. Excessive speed for the road conditions is more a factor but this is usually a speed below the legal limit. Akin to dangerous driving.
With all the static speed cameras, I’m sure more people get fined as a result of these than mobile police officers. There aren’t many of them. Very few of the speed cameras, usually refered to by the powers that be as ‘safety cameras’ , are installed at accident black spots. Most are sited where motorists tend to exceed the legal limit because the road is safe to travel at that speed at that time. Cash cow I think is the term often used for these. So true.
And yes I have investigated traffic accidents during my time in the police service. Now retired, thank god.
Surveillance of the individual is being tightened around the public’s neck and in particular the motorist. It is already a fact that your phone and sat-nav can disclose your location at any given time, day or night. This extends to whether you are moving at the time. We have already heard that our TV in some cases can continue to monitor conversations although it is technically switched off. Where is it all going to end.
This latest round of penalty hikes and fines has little to do with the main aim of safety more to do with revenue, I would like to know where it all goes and on what. We, the motorist already pay heavily for the privilege of driving through a multiple layered system of taxation, but the message seems at the end of all that ” Don’t you dare use it” or we will devise another form of extracting revenue.
Are all speeding motorists employed,what will happen to people seeking asylum in U.K. Breaking our laws,illegal immigrants etc.So many people driving around with no insurance ,MOT,road TAX.why isn’t any thing done about this.This stupid idea is directed solely on the working class people.p.s the law about driving in the middle lane on the motorway is it been monitored how many people charged.Sorry this doesn’t make easy money.
Speeding within built up areas should be of a higher priority enforcement than the open road, also including the use of mobile phones. These seem to be of little importance to the law.
So what about the pensioner who does 40 in a 30 limit? He is unemployed, therefore he doesn’t get a fine but may be jailed, free food, a warm bed etc etc.
Just what the doctor ordered!!!
NEVER – have I seen a group of bloggers talking so much sense in a rational non aggressive way. AND the fact that some of these folk are retired traffic offers – etc. speaks volumes. What an excellent well rounded website this has become!
Guess what I heard… you can actually avoid these fines by not speeding in the first place.. i know right thats amazing. If you can’t pay the fine don’t do the crime
As an expat living in Thailand I only visit the UK once a year for a couple of weeks and it is a nerve-racking experience.
The abundance of speed cameras makes driving extremely dangerous as I find myself spending so much time checking for changing speed limits on unfamiliar roads I know that I am not concentrating as much as I should on my actual driving.
I make a point now of hiring a car with a speed limiter so that I can dial in the new limits as i see them, once again taking my concentration from the road. The alternative is to risk a speeding fine for an accidental minor infringement and any resulting points on my licence may even make it impossible for me to hire a car for future trips due to rental company policies.
In my opinion speed cameras, placed as they frequently are on quite safe open stretches of road, are a danger to motorists and their only purpose is to raise revenue.
Just another money making exercise by the vindictive against the motorist. Local authorities are like sheep introducing 20 Limited around towns. How ridiculous. What not start by removing free parking in all Civic Offices for staff or charge the staff the same parking rates as hospitals in the are they are located in. Let’s dump the national 70 speed limit and let’s live a little again, beurocrats be damed.
Presumably the rules about speed limit apply equally to the local authority as they do the motorist.
Locally where I live, (West Sussex) the local authority pays scant regard to speed limits. Often the speed limits signs are missing, hidden behind foliage, faded or very dirty.
The local authority is also supposed to erect speed limit repeater signs at prescribed intervals, if the speed limit is 20, 40 or 50mph (or 60mph on dual carriageways). There are also supposed to erect speed limit repeater signs on 30mph roads where there is poor or no street lighting.
With such poor (or zero) signage such as this, how on earth is the motorist expected to be aware of what the speed limit actually is?
I have written to a whole paper and photographed the speed limit signs in my locality which has been sent to West Sussex Highways. The reply that I got was that the maintenance of speed limit signs was ‘low priority’. What have then done about them? Absolutely nothing.
Sadly Peter Gibbons your information is now out of date.
Since April last year, councils are only legally required to place ONE speed limit sign and those useful repeater signs are consigned to history as they are no longer required by legislation..
Now. you may well ask why when the government is so totally obsessed with speed limits would they do this?
This must have come from industry lobbyists of the speed camera industry, Speed Awareness Course providers and all those with their snouts in the trough.
If you want more ‘speeders’ just keep downgrading speed limits, it is that simple and that is what is happening.
The emphasis should be on HOW people are driving, rather than their speed.
The DfT issue guidelines on setting speed limits, but these are totally ignored by councils, hence we have a mish-mash of speed limits, totally un-related to the actual road environment. Because they are now set on the whims and fancies of local councillors, who are only interested in pleasing local voters, thus taking priority over maintaining an efficient NATIONAL road system.
We have local and a general election coming soon, but something most people do everyday (travel) never gets mentioned, so when that election leaflet drops through your door, send it back and ask them what they are going to do! Our APATHY is the governments best weapon!