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Speeding

Rod

Rod

Old Oak
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Location
Winchester, Hampshire
How long before a letter drops through the letter box?
I think I might have been "clocked" yesterday driving down the A34 towards Junction 9 M3.
It goes from 70 to 60 then 50 at the long approach to the roundabout. I was doing less than 60 but more than 50.
Annoyingly it's a well known "Safety Camera" location and I normally take great care there but the view was blocked by a lorry.
I slow to 50 then accelerate to catch up with the rest of the traffic if the coast is clear - didn't see the white van until a bit too late!
Safety Camera location is a bit of a joke as I've never heard of an accident there - normally there's a 3mile queue of slow moving traffic!

Rod
 
You, sir, are clearly a menace to society, and I hope they throw away the key.....after you've been taken to the flogging tree and flayed within an inch of your life.

Can I have your tools?

:lol: :lol:
 
The longer it takes the more likely they are preparing to throw the book at you. I'd sell the car now if I were you.
 
Not long, Rod. You'll get a tediously long-winded laboriously written two page letter with threats. They will kill your dog and sell your children into slavery etc etc etc. Unless you've already been on one in the not too distant past then there is a good chance you will get offered to waste your time .....ooops, sorry, spend your time on a speed awareness course. And pay £85 for the privilege. Another licence to print money.

On the course, as I understand it, you will get asked lots of questions such as 'Do you know what the stopping distance is at 30 mph'...the answer of which completely ignores modern cars, brakes and tyres. Answering 'Depends whether I am texting at the time' is not considered good form.

I go on mine on Dec 12th or is it the 13th...mmmm...better check and I really must remember to wind my neck in.

It's the wrong speed for the wrong road conditions at the wrong time. Pity they don't spend more time policing the motorways.
 
Just checked my letters, Rod. The first one arrived after about a week. That's the one that is very aggressive. In my case, it was a courtesy car from the garage and so they would have first to have contacted the garage. So assuming it was your car I think you should hear pretty quickly.
 
I can't comment on this - it's been a while since I got me a speeding offence. 8-)

Some of us are good boys you see - tut tut. ;)
 
Interesting some of the responses in this thread.

Why is it that some people think speed limits are not for them? What makes some folk so special that they don't have to follow the rules?
 
firedfromthecircus":2tlpy9hf said:
Interesting some of the responses in this thread.

Why is it that some people think speed limits are not for them? What makes some folk so special that they don't have to follow the rules?
Click to expand...

who said that ?

OP just wondered how long it takes for the letter
 
I think it also depends on the police force sending the letter, my one from South Wale Police was very prompt presumably all automated. The previous one from the police covering herefordshire (i forget the name) took a bit longer but still less than two weeks. Both times had the pleasure of the speed awareness course.

I was caught after following a lorry on an A road towards Hereford, going the limit for him for his vehicle but a lot slower than 60. As we got to a hill the road turned into a crawler lane so i was bale to nip past him whereupon the road immediately turned into a 50 and there was a van just there clocked me doing 54.

Second time on Newport road in Cardiff having just come off the motorway, one sign i subsequently discovered at using google street view to check at the exit where it dropped to a 30. Didn't see it and having lived there about a decade ago i could swear it was a 40 and had the speed limiter on in order to not speed on the four lanes of traffic. clocked by a camera on the traffic lights doing 38. I genuinely thought i was adhering to the limit but there you go.

No-one thinks they are above the law but it sometimes seems these are just a means to bring in income, for example the Hereford van; we were in a forest on a hill, no residential streets no nothing. just frustrating because after that i got a car with a speed limiter that i engage whenever i go into a 50 or below to make sure i don't drift over the limit and can actually watch the road for hazards rather than toking out for cameras and staring at the speedo and then miss the drop from 70 to 30 one sign when you are looking for traffic on your right as you are merging and no repeater signs anywhere. Of course having done the speed awareness course (twice) i now know i should have seen the lamp posts and assumed it was a 30. Oh well...
 
I got flashed twice in a day 400 miles apart, fortunately the fines over here are quite small, but increase with speed. What worried me though was I had no idea how fast I was going so was relieved when the fines were really low. :D
 
I increasingly feel that there are a lot of drivers who consider the speed limit a target, a minimum speed, that must be reached as soon as possible and the actual limit is 10% higher than that displayed on the warning signs.
But maybe by speedo is just not accurate.
 
Andyp":3h0ljuo8 said:
I increasingly feel that there are a lot of drivers who consider the speed limit a target, a minimum speed, that must be reached as soon as possible and the actual limit is 10% higher than that displayed on the warning signs.
But maybe by speedo is just not accurate.
Click to expand...

It depends. 80-90 mph on an empty motorway, dry roads, summer Sunday morning, 4am ? Why not.

30mph in town, on a busy day with wet roads....you're within the speed limit but it still could be an excessive speed.

It's the wrong speed for the wrong road conditions and weather at the wrong time.
 
Not that I know anything about receiving speeding fines, but I believe they have to notify you within 2 weeks something to do with police procedure, probably receiving a caution.
I did have this explained to me once by a customer who was a policeman but can't remember the details though I seem to remember the two week time scale.
 
RogerS":2km3pd0o said:
Andyp":2km3pd0o said:
I increasingly feel that there are a lot of drivers who consider the speed limit a target, a minimum speed, that must be reached as soon as possible and the actual limit is 10% higher than that displayed on the warning signs.
But maybe by speedo is just not accurate.
Click to expand...

It depends. 80-90 mph on an empty motorway, dry roads, summer Sunday morning, 4am ? Why not.

30mph in town, on a busy day with wet roads....you're within the speed limit but it still could be an excessive speed.

It's the wrong speed for the wrong road conditions and weather at the wrong time.
Click to expand...
The problem is that you are assuming that everyone will interpret driving conditions correctly. What about when it has been raining but has stopped when is it dry enough? You have to work to the lowest common denominator.

There are rules, they are easy to stick to. If you want to speed you are assuming the risk of being caught and the associated penalty, same as any 'crime'. As far as I'm concerned, the more people caught the better. Id have cameras everywhere. Its a stupidity tax, and there are plenty of people willing to pay it.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
 
RogerS":39vt7x0q said:
It's the wrong speed for the wrong road conditions and weather at the wrong time.
Click to expand...

Part of the conditions of the license that allows you the privilege of driving is that you are expected to chose an appropriate speed for the conditions up to the legal maximum. It is not up to a driver to chose an appropriate speed above the legal maximum. That's why it's a maximum! Yet too many people seem to feel they have no obligation to follow those rules. Same for mobile phone use, drink/drug driving etc.
 
firedfromthecircus":3ux7fxcm said:
RogerS":3ux7fxcm said:
Part of the conditions of the license that allows you the privilege of driving is that you are expected to chose an appropriate speed for the conditions up to the legal maximum. It is not up to a driver to chose an appropriate speed above the legal maximum. That's why it's a maximum! Yet too many people seem to feel they have no obligation to follow those rules. Same for mobile phone use, drink/drug driving etc.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

yet "youth" get away driving without licence, or suspended license, no insurance .. and the fines are less than they would have to pay to be licensed and insured ! ... the system is what it is .. but it isn't right and it doesn't work !

I don't speed .. full stop .. can't afford the points or fines or insurance premiums.
Plus .. driving the porsche at 60 in the "slow" lane gives me 44MPG :D

I passed my advanced driving/riding tests, with a copper testing me ,... and had to ride like an idiot and break the speed limits to pass ! ..
Copper/tester .. said "if you get caught, you won't see me in your mirror any more" ! :lol:

not that that would be admitted to, by anyone else who hasn't BTDT ! :lol:
 
stu":6wegsj70 said:
RogerS":6wegsj70 said:
Andyp":6wegsj70 said:
I increasingly feel that there are a lot of drivers who consider the speed limit a target, a minimum speed, that must be reached as soon as possible and the actual limit is 10% higher than that displayed on the warning signs.
But maybe by speedo is just not accurate.
Click to expand...

It depends. 80-90 mph on an empty motorway, dry roads, summer Sunday morning, 4am ? Why not.

30mph in town, on a busy day with wet roads....you're within the speed limit but it still could be an excessive speed.

It's the wrong speed for the wrong road conditions and weather at the wrong time.
Click to expand...
The problem is that you are assuming that everyone will interpret driving conditions correctly. What about when it has been raining but has stopped when is it dry enough? You have to work to the lowest common denominator.

There are rules, they are easy to stick to. If you want to speed you are assuming the risk of being caught and the associated penalty, same as any 'crime'. As far as I'm concerned, the more people caught the better. Id have cameras everywhere. Its a stupidity tax, and there are plenty of people willing to pay it.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

But that's precisely the point. We both agree that it is not the speed per se but the wrong speed for the time, the road and weather conditions. So simply sticking arbitrary speed limit signs doesn't educate drivers in driving according to the conditions.

It's a bit like those daft positive discrimination 'initiatives' that do nothing to achieve their goal. For example, take the BBC's attitude to comedy shows. They have mandated that there should always be one female comedian. This assumes that there are enough female comedians out there (which there are not). Or positive discrimination in the workplace...'we must have x% of these ethnic minorities and y% LGBT'...regardless as to whether or not the individuals are suitably qualified or have the right experience for the position. It gets even worse where someone form one of these groups is, say, promoted over a white caucasian who is better qualified etc. All that that does is reinforce prejudices and stereotyping thus defeating what it (badly) set out to do. People should be chosen on their merit and not because they come from a particular ethnic group to make up some politically correct employment figure.

It happens in politics. Jeepers, women have a tough enough time as it is trying to break through the glass ceiling but when you get someone as inept as Ms Truss being appointed Justice Minister, it is painful to watch as she bumbles her way through crisis after crisis. She sets a bench mark for incompetent and does nothing to further the idea of giving women a fair crack of the whip.

So, no, we don't want more speed cameras but more traffic police.
 
RogerS":2gnf448v said:
stu":2gnf448v said:
RogerS":2gnf448v said:
Andyp said:
I increasingly feel that there are a lot of drivers who consider the speed limit a target, a minimum speed, that must be reached as soon as possible and the actual limit is 10% higher than that displayed on the warning signs.
But maybe by speedo is just not accurate.
Click to expand...

It depends. 80-90 mph on an empty motorway, dry roads, summer Sunday morning, 4am ? Why not.

30mph in town, on a busy day with wet roads....you're within the speed limit but it still could be an excessive speed.

It's the wrong speed for the wrong road conditions and weather at the wrong time.
Click to expand...
The problem is that you are assuming that everyone will interpret driving conditions correctly. What about when it has been raining but has stopped when is it dry enough? You have to work to the lowest common denominator.

There are rules, they are easy to stick to. If you want to speed you are assuming the risk of being caught and the associated penalty, same as any 'crime'. As far as I'm concerned, the more people caught the better. Id have cameras everywhere. Its a stupidity tax, and there are plenty of people willing to pay it.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

But that's precisely the point. We both agree that it is not the speed per se but the wrong speed for the time, the road and weather conditions. So simply sticking arbitrary speed limit signs doesn't educate drivers in driving according to the conditions.

It's a bit like those daft positive discrimination 'initiatives' that do nothing to achieve their goal. For example, take the BBC's attitude to comedy shows. They have mandated that there should always be one female comedian. This assumes that there are enough female comedians out there (which there are not). Or positive discrimination in the workplace...'we must have x% of these ethnic minorities and y% LGBT'...regardless as to whether or not the individuals are suitably qualified or have the right experience for the position. It gets even worse where someone form one of these groups is, say, promoted over a white caucasian who is better qualified etc. All that that does is reinforce prejudices and stereotyping thus defeating what it (badly) set out to do. People should be chosen on their merit and not because they come from a particular ethnic group to make up some politically correct employment figure.

It happens in politics. Jeepers, women have a tough enough time as it is trying to break through the glass ceiling but when you get someone as inept as Ms Truss being appointed Justice Minister, it is painful to watch as she bumbles her way through crisis after crisis. She sets a bench mark for incompetent and does nothing to further the idea of giving women a fair crack of the whip.

So, no, we don't want more speed cameras but more traffic police.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure i did agree with you! You have to have a limit, no matter what it is someone will believe they should be able to go faster. 70mph seems reasonable to me. I've done a lot of driving over the last few years, we dont need more speed on the roads.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
 
Doug":88vxivvb said:
Not that I know anything about receiving speeding fines, but I believe they have to notify you within 2 weeks something to do with police procedure, probably receiving a caution.
I did have this explained to me once by a customer who was a policeman but can't remember the details though I seem to remember the two week time scale.
Click to expand...


I've just been through this courtesy of the Dorset police. 38 mph in a 30mph zone (3 points & £100)

Within a couple of weeks I got the first letter which asked me to identify the driver (me) and send the form back.
Then in two weeks I got the notification of the fine and the number of points awarded.
I did not get an option to attend a speed awareness course which I understand can be offered.
I paid online via debit card and then had to put the payment reference on the form and send it with my plastic licence (paper counterparts are now invalid) to a different office. I don't know how quickly it came back as I was on 3 weeks holiday at the time.

hth

Bob
 
Police have 14 days to issue a notice of intended prosecution. Note that it may arrive with you slightly after 14 days, its 14 days to send it, not 14 days for the driver/owner to receive it.

Bob there are a couple of forces which haven't signed up to speed awareness courses, Dorset's one and I think so is Hampshire.

Mark
 
and I've just googled dorset and seems you can get one there too, I think my info is a little out of date :oops:

Mark
 
The place I used to work designed hi tech toys for military, security and the police.
I think the latter have 42 forces each of whom can decide what toys they have and sometime want different variants. It was a devils own job sorting out the common factors in the requirements to make prototypes. And none of them would commit to any production quantities to help us identify market size.
The upshot was they they rarely got the kit they wanted as we found them too hard to work with.

Bob
 
I quite often commute around the top part of the M25 (M11 to A1) and they have variable speed indicators and cameras that follow the lane setting - most days if the signs say 40/50/60 then the cameras are firing, even if the drivers appear to be only slightly faster than the stated maximum speed.

I've got a 56 plate BMW E61 and Satnav speed confirms that the speedo is reading approx 5% high. I vaguely remember reading on another forum that this is deliberate, and if you wanted to change it to be accurate, you basically used software to change the 'speed fine avoidance' setting (the abbreviation made sense in german)
 
Rod..did you ever get to hear from them ?

My 'indoctrination' is this coming Tuesday. Interesting article in yesterday's paper advocating exactly what I have been saying...namely speed cameras are seen as a blunt instrument and that there should be more traffic police picking up on middle-lane hogs and tail-gaters.
 
No I haven't heard anything and the 14days was up last Tuesday.
Still keeping my fingers crossed but looks like I wasn't traveling fast enough.
I go through that piece of road quite often but stick rigidly to the limits with often cars and lorries tail gating me when I slow down!

Enjoy your session.

Rod
 
Well, I went to the Naughty Boys and Girls course and what a waste of time. OK..there were a couple of interesting points but nothing to justify dragging the whole thing out for four hours.

For a day, I drove at the speed limit and found that my driving was pretty dire as I was fixated on keeping an eye on the speedometer. At the back of my mind, I'm hearing the instructor talking about potential hazards, children running out etc. Then I looked at the road that I was driving down. Empty. No parked cars. Just exactly where are these hazards ? So I'm no back to driving a I have always done which is to continually adjust my speed for the weather, road, time of day, proximity of hazards. In other words, my eyes are where they should be. Watching the damn road.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating driving at 60 mph in a 30 limit. But there are many times and places where 40 mph is perfectly safe.
 
Well I suppose it stopped you getting some points on your licence?
Because I did a fair amount of driving for my job, we were sent on a "Defensive Driving" course every few years, as well as having an annual peripheral vision test. Part of it was driving in the presence of an ex police driving instructor.
The main thing I remember from it is "the two second rule".

Rod
 
RogerS":1hvk1fa0 said:
Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating driving at 60 mph in a 30 limit. But there are many times and places where 40 mph is perfectly safe.
Click to expand...

If the speed limit is 30 then that's not your choice to make!

I hope you are caught again soon and get a suitable punishment.
 
RogerS":2b7wkwup said:
For a day, I drove at the speed limit and found that my driving was pretty dire as I was fixated on keeping an eye on the speedometer.
Click to expand...


since I "grew up" :lol: .. I just stick to the posted limits .. 100% of the time !
I can't afford the points or any fines and increased insurance premiums !, and it also uses less fuel (I tend to stick to 60 on the motorway in the porka
So, I can now pretty much tell by the engine note when I am doing the correct speed. Only occasionally have to glance at the speedo ..

(EDIT .. Gone ! )
 
I drove up to Yorkshire at the weekend, driving according to the speed limits [emoji56] as most of the route is now on smart motorways with gantry cameras every few hundred yards. That or along sections under construction with Constant Speed cameras.
One thing I also noticed was a learner driver, driving very slowly, with L plates and Instructor details on the M1 - I thought Learner Drivers were not allowed on motorways?

Rod
 
Definitely no P plates and it was a driving school car.
The car had been driven from the M69 to the M1 - driven so badly it couldn't have been the instructor driving - at least I hope not!

Rod
 
Rod":3phh7zev said:
Definitely no P plates and it was a driving school car.
The car had been driven from the M69 to the M1 - driven so badly it couldn't have been the instructor driving - at least I hope not!

Rod
Click to expand...

No, it's done in the driving instructors car, usually just after passing the diving test.
Well, that was the case for our 2 eldest a few years ago.
Sort of like a final lesson, that covers a few advanced things that aren't covered with normal lessons.

Then they get the pass plus signed off,
and it's "supposed" to also make their insurance cheaper :lol:
 
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