Slower Derbyshire

Please find enclosed responses to the questions raised in the discussion note Graduated fixed penalties for speeding offences¹. I have also included additional comments.

Q1. Do you agree with the Government's view that there is a case for fixed penalties for speeding to be more graduated, with higher penalties for more serious categories of speeding, and lower penalties for less serious cases?

A1. Yes.

Q2. If you do not agree with a graduated system, do you support the present structure of penalties, or would you wish to see an alternative approach?

A2. N/A.

Q3. The table below illustrates a possible structure for graduated penalties. Ministers would welcome comments on it, without prejudice to statutory consultation on future proposals, and comments which you may wish to submit on that statutory consultation.

A3. The limits for excessive speeding should be slightly different to those presented. The rule for excessive speed should be a simple "50% over the limit or 20mph whichever is the lesser"². This would give the following table:

This would make it be easier for drivers to remember. It would also require drivers for most speed limits to be under the larger 10mph marks on the speedometer.

The monetary fine should be "£10 per 1mph over the limit". The driver is then truly penalised according to the gravity of the offence. The fine would typically be in the region of £50-£200 (5mph-20mph over the limit).

The motorway speed limit could safely be raised to 80mph so long as there is greater enforcement than at present (see Enforcement below)³.

Q4. It has been suggested that fixed penalties should be higher for repeat speeding offences. Do you have views on this?

A4. Yes.

Note that other punishments that may be suitable for repeat offenders are:

1. Fitting their cars with tracking devices for a period of time. This would discourage speeding whilst the tracking device is fitted and hopefully instill better driving behaviour.
2. Permit banned drivers to use mopeds/motorbikes upto 125cc. This would teach them the difference between the comfort/safety of a car and being a vulnerable road user.

Q5. Should other factors be taken into account, such as the location where the speeding occurred, or other factors?

A5. Yes. Speeding in low speed zones [20-40mph] should be considered more dangerous. This is the environment that a driver is most likely to encounter non-vehicular users.

Drivers that are caught speeding in an emergency situation (e.g. taking a family member or neighbour to hospital) should be treated "leniently". The driver must be able to prove that an emergency situation truly existed. Drivers that falsely invoke this reason should suffer a harsher penalty than that which the original offence incurred.

Legislation

The legislation should at the same time permit the use of 20mph/30mph repeater signs on all such roads. This is one of the most cost effective ways of slowing drivers down. It would also mean that drivers would no longer have the excuse that they "didn't know what the speed limit was".

Drivers that have been banned from driving should be required to retake the modern driving test after the ban.

Current Situation

The current ethos on the roads is "speed is king". It is fair to say that most drivers (especially in low speed zones [20-40mph]) speed with impunity. They treat the speed limit as a minimum rather than the maximum it is! Because of this ethos drivers regularly overtake non-vehicular users irrespective of whether it is safe or not to do so (e.g. on blind bends). Frequently the overtaking driver fails to leave sufficient space between his car and the non-vehicular user.

On rural roads drivers appear to assume that just because the speed limit is (generally) 60mph then that is a safe speed to drive at even when it obviously too fast (e.g. a twisting road)!

99.9% of the time drivers get away with unsafe/dangerous driving practices but it is that 0.1% instance that leads to a tragic outcome. "Sorry" is too late in that instance.

All road users should be able to use the roads free of fear and anxiety.

Enforcement

Tinkering with the system to produce a "fairer" system is almost pointless if the police are effectively prevented from enforcing the current/future limits⁴. The government should relax the current safety camera partnership guidelines⁵ so that the police are permitted to enforce the "excessive" limits (6 points) on any road at any time (especially using covert speed cameras such as mobile vans on any road or unmarked cars on motorways). This would have the beneficial effect of slowing down all drivers as they will not know whether the lower or higher limits are being enforced. This should at the very least be piloted by a number of police forces. The results would almost certainly be a spectacular decrease in deaths and injuries on the roads which is the whole point of speed limits!