Speeding!

[Gregory2Smith1]

got nicked a couple of years back by the gendarmerie doing 165 KMH (about a ton)

got 90 euros on the spot fine,but as my licence is british no points

 

[Scarface]

Funnily enough, just today I got a letter stating that I was snapped going 39mph in a 30 zone. This will be my first offence in 20 years of driving. I take it points and a fine are inevitable.

At my course they said anyone doing 10% over the limit plus 9 would be offered the course. So for a 30 limit anything up to 42.

 

[Badger]

It always amazes me just how many people get caught by speed cameras, they are in bright yellow boxes usually proceeded by numerous warning signs. Do people just assume they aren't working or they only catch people going really fast? It's not like the days when they were allowed to hide them behind signs and paint them grey so people couldn't see them.

 

[Garage_Doors]

Cover is not automatically voided, why give out false info?

If its not it should be, why would they not void cover if you blatantly lied to them?

 

[Garage_Doors]

Got 6 points... from speeding... I didnt realise i had to declare points to my insurance as i thought the DVLA passed these on.

Are you serious, or just used as an excuse to cheapen your insurance?

 

[southstandandy]

A lady in my office was caught speeding before Christmas - paid the fine and had the points added to her license but DIDN'T inform her insurance company. Then last week she was involved in an accident writing off a 2 year old Focus and the insurance company refused to pay up as she had not declared her speeding fine. Pretty daft as she has now taken out a £10k loan to buy another one.

 

[Muzzy]

It always amazes me just how many people get caught by speed cameras, they are in bright yellow boxes usually proceeded by numerous warning signs. Do people just assume they aren't working or they only catch people going really fast? It's not like the days when they were allowed to hide them behind signs and paint them grey so people couldn't see them.

This is born from a severe lack of concentration... I have no idea what the figures are but I imagine that many are caught even knowing that the cameras are there...

Personally, I don't believe that fixed cameras really work.... Most drivers just slow down to a ridiculous speed, eg 20 mph and then just put their foot down again!

New visitors to a town/city are likely to be caught out if they are unsure where they are going or just looking out for direction signs, a hotel or something along those lines I would guess?

 

[Guy Fawkes]

Problem is, where do you draw the line. Lets ban ALL vehicles on the road and there'll be NO road deaths. If it means 1 life saved, it's worth it no?.......

Whats so important that it justifies speeding even if it results in a death if something bad happens? - Getting home a couple of minutes earlier to watch more TV? or to have your dinner those few seconds earlier? or to have a little longer wasting time surfing the internet? Speeding by the average motorist is not due to an emergency (like rushing someone to hospital) How can it be justified?

Why would you need to ban it if people stick to the speed limits, etc? If people don't want to get fined, simply don't speed but with a lot of people, its a conscious choice to speed because they don't think that it is very likely that something will go wrong and that the consequences of that don't really matter, as many say before, speed doesn't cause many accidents however they forget it make the outcome of any accident far worse.

Say you were driving at 30mph and got a puncture, its far easier to regain control and deal with the outcome than if you were driving at 100mph and the same happened. Its not just about how fast you can stop or being more aware of potential accidents ahead.

 

[Decode]

Sussex police have all sorts of tactics lately on the M23/A23. Got caught early this year doing 96mph on the way to a game, forget which! Which was a bit of a wake up call, the thought of a court date hanging over me, but they gave me the fixed penalty of 3 points and a fine.

I've generally noticed people driving a lot more carefully on this road nowadays, esp the nearer you get to Brighton.

I thought the guidelines were between 70 - 80 on a motorway was a ticking off?

 

[NMH]

Respect to you for achieving that on what I guess was a VFR750?

Have beaten that on a couple of occassions, but you are right, the world starts to go backwards very quickly at 135+!

It was my 1984 V750 Interceptor, indeed. Were they called something else in the UK, I'm not sure?
I rode without a helmet, because I didn't like wearing them and the feeling of freedom wasn't so great with my head in a bubble.
At that high speed, when I raised my head above the shield the skin on my cheeks flapped around like it wasn't attached!

Also, the slight gradiants in the road surface become like a roller-coaster ride, and everything around and nearby is just a blur

 

[Deleted member 2719]

Funnily enough, just today I got a letter stating that I was snapped going 39mph in a 30 zone. This will be my first offence in 20 years of driving. I take it points and a fine are inevitable.

Where did you get snapped? was the copper disguised as a lamp post, and was it in an area where you have to stick both feet on the brake just to keep it to 30?

I think these camera cops have actually surpassed traffic wardens for arses.

I am so looking forward to my speed awareness course.

 

[getz]

I got pulled over by a cop with a speed gun at 10.45 pm near the Norfolk bridge, Shoreham. Was told I was doing 40mph in a new 30mph area. He eyed my BHA number plate and told me he played over 200 games for the Albion. He was on the bench supposedly for the 8-2 debacle against Bristol Rovers. You would have thought he would shown me some mercy. No, he gave me the option of taking three points or a speed awareness course.

 

[Mutts Nuts]

On the news today speeding has risen by 30,000 in the last 2 years in Sussex!!

Highest recorded speed of 152mph on the A27! That is disgusting IMO!

Have you been caught speeding during this period? Has this idea of doing an awareness course instead of receiving points made you less concerned about your speed on our roads?

Are you aware that if you get caught and receive points on your licence that you MUST inform your insurance company for any motoring offence that puts points on your licence, if not and you make any claim, they will not pay out and they will void any cover?

Amazingly, with the mileage I cover per year (approx 60,000 that I do have a clean licence)!

Confess,

How many points have you got on your licence?

9.......

 

[Sleaford Seagull]

I have had a clean licence for over 10 years, and then in the past few months, 2 pulls for speeding on my motorcycle.
One from an unmarked police bike, (tatty leathers, battered panniers... more like disguised!), who caught me exceeding 40mph up Snakey hill, and most recently, from a semi concealed hand held gun, in a place they have never been before, got me for 40 in a 30 through Hassocks.

My guess is that Sussex police have been given new targets to raise cash at a time of increased austerity and cuts for the police service.
So my licence will not be clean for much longer.

For the past 2 weeks, I have been religeously driving within the limits.
a) Yes, I have felt my attention drifting while bimbling along an empty dual carriageway at 40mph.
b) I have noticed that I have missed events, (a pheasant), on the road while I was checking my speed.
So I kind of agree that artificially low limits have their own dangers.

Personally, I don't think speed is responsible for even a tiny fraction of road accidents.
However, it is much more easily measured than other, perhaps more dangerous road behaviours.
It is also easy to demonise speeders, because the severity of crash damage rises disproportionally to the speed. i.e. "It stands to reason... dunnit!"

It is worth pointing out that our speed limits were set in a time when most vehicles had drum brakes, and massed twice as much as they do today.
They bear no relation to the physical capabilities of the machines we use, but are used to compensate for the failings some of the dimmest and useless humans in our midst who if properly tested, would not be allowed access to dangerous machinery. They are a prime example of the continuing nannying of the population, as well as being a fine cash cow.

152 on the A27 ehh?
I guess you could get up to those sort of speeds, Northbound, South of Lewes, if you kept a close eye on the Garage entrance/exit to the left.
It would be quite scary though, to reach those kind of speeds on a public road.

You speak a lot of sense, a lot of high performance cars/bikes can stop quicker from 120 than many older cars can from 70, and the crash is damage is relative to the car. I recently spent £1300 on a Brembo brake kit for my Civic Type-R and it can stop quicker from 140 than my first car could from 70/80. Speed is only dangerous when the car and driver cannot handle it and it is used in the wrong places at the wrong time.

 

[Spiros]

Sussex police have all sorts of tactics lately on the M23/A23. Got caught early this year doing 96mph on the way to a game, forget which! Which was a bit of a wake up call, the thought of a court date hanging over me, but they gave me the fixed penalty of 3 points and a fine.

I've generally noticed people driving a lot more carefully on this road nowadays, esp the nearer you get to Brighton.

I thought the guidelines were between 70 - 80 on a motorway was a ticking off?

Several times I've seen a pale brown-ish 61 reg (I think) VW Golf parked in a layby on the A23 with 'Police Stop' flashing in it's back window in front of the latest speed merchant.

To the guy who's been done 3 times for doing 36 in a 30mph zone, just 2 questions:
1. Didn't you get the message the first, or even second time that what you're doing will earn you a fine?
2. You know it's 30 for a reason, don't you?

Passed my test in 1983. No points. Once got pulled over on the Kingsway in about 1985 for 'doing 31mph in a 30mph zone' by a copper who actually followed two faster cars past me before pulling me over. Not been pulled over since. Boring I know but it does keep the cost of motoring down.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

You speak a lot of sense, a lot of high performance cars/bikes can stop quicker from 120 than many older cars can from 70, and the crash is damage is relative to the car. I recently spent £1300 on a Brembo brake kit for my Civic Type-R and it can stop quicker from 140 than my first car could from 70/80. Speed is only dangerous when the car and driver cannot handle it and it is used in the wrong places at the wrong time.

That may be the case for your car stopping, but what about the other cars travelling at speed around you? Do you think they will all stop at the same rate.

If you have something happen on the road in front of you whilst travelling at 120mph meaning you have to come to an emergency stop, a car behind you may be travelling at 120mph too but it stops at the same rate as your old car and then hits you from behind causing you serious injury. Do you think that the extent of your injuries (if you survive that is) will be less or more than if those vehicles had been travelling at 70mph to start with.

 

[gazingdown]

Simple, ease off if there's a crap car behind you also doing 120mph (arguable the following car, if able to attain those speeds may well have similarly effective brakes).

Anyway, the same goes for an emergency stop at ANY speed. It's down to the following car to keep a safe distance.

Actually driving at 120mph will mean it's unlikely that anyone would be anywhere near behind you

 

[GingerBeerMan]

Out of interest does anyone know if people with a ROI driving license driving in England are allowed, and do they get points if caught speeding?

 

[tedlit]

As a (much younger) idiot, I managed 135mph on the A249 in a Nissan Bluebird. About three weeks later I got caught by a Talivan doing 68 in a 60 (road works) on the M2... thus the only three points I've ever received. As this was in an ancient Peugeot 305 diesel estate, I was ecstatic as I had no idea it could go that fast!

 

[Dr Q]

Got pinged on the A27 near Fontwell doing 80mph on the Dual Carriageway last July visiting my parents. Got offered a Speed Awareness course and took one up here in Yorkshire which was cheaper than one in Sussex. It was very interesting and not patronising, and has certainkly made me think more about speeding, stopping distances and general driving conditions/environments.

Before that, 3 points back in 2003 for speeding.