Re: Caught at last

It’s usually 10% + 2mph because speedometers are not that accurate, so an allowance is made for over reading

Re: Caught at last

Yep but you have to extrapolate that over 5 years so it's going to cost you £71 over those 5 years PLUS of course the £100 or so you paid for the fine. That's vs £90 for a speed awareness course and no points on your license.

Re: Caught at last

I think that was suggested by just one authority Annie, and it was chucked out.....

Re: Caught at last

I've wondered about this often.

Here's what I figure.

Firstly, most cars have their speedometers set to be 2-3 mph faster than you are actually going. So if your speedo says you are doing 73mph, you are really only doing 70mph.

Secondly, when police calibrate their speed detector equipment at the start of each day they SURELY are making sure that it records ACTUAL SPEED.

So if it shows a car travelling at 70mph, then that car REALLY IS doing 70mph actual speed no matter what the car speedo says.

Thirdly, the police generally allow cars to go at the speed limit plus 10% plus 2mph.

So in a 30mph zone, you can be doing 30+3+2 = 35mph.

On a motorway you can do 70 + 7 + 2 = 79mph.


Putting all this together means that when looking at your speedometer you can go much faster than the speed limit.

For example, on a motorway, if the police won't stop you at ACTUAL speeds of up to 79mph then you can drive with your speedo showing 82mph (assuming it shows 3mph over actual).

This explains why, when you are on the motorway in those long stretches of 50mph limit roadworks, there are people whizzing past you all the time. You may think they are going to get speeding tickets but they won't.

If you are sitting there at what appears to be 50mph on your speedo you are actually only doing 47-48mph.

In a 50mph limit (and if police allow 10% + 2mph) then you can do 57mph before they will give you a ticket. That means on your speedo you can do what appears to be 59-60mph.


Things have changed somewhat though in the last year or so because speeding has been outsourced/subcontracted to private firms who have now created a multi-million pound business with speed awareness courses.

These private firms ARE NOT the police and WILL stop you at speeds just over the speed limit. Therein lies the problem now. I believe they would ticket you at speeds of 33mph and up in a 30mph zone.

Re: Caught at last

Seventy one quid over five years won't break the bank Realist, there are many other ways I'll be wasting more than that..... And just the difference of a tenner between the fine and the cost of the course.....My time is precious, I can use the four hours for some 'Me Time'....

Re: Caught at last

Bottom line, as ever it's all about money generation. Easy money at that.

If laws were changed to stop speeding tickets charging monetary fines then the police and private firms would not bother much to catch people speeding.

Let's say for example, a speeding ticket resulted in a number of hours community service and no financial fine. I'd say they just wouldn't be that interested in catching people and most of the fixed cameras and vans would disappear very quickly.

Re: Caught at last

Yep true but the problem comes with subsequent tickets. You could get 6 points for speeding on a motorway or for driving whilst using a phone or some other misdemeanour.

if you already have 3 points then you start to end up in a precarious position where any subsequent ticket will result in a driving ban.

Surely better not to have the license points if they can be avoided.

Re: Caught at last

Trouble is, accidents on the roads are not generally caused by the driver who does 40mph in a 30mph, or even a driver doing 80mph on a motorway....

It's the young driver who thinks he can control his BMW while driving 70mph in a 30mph zone.....And before anybody disputes that, I can offer the facts of quite a few serious accidents with many fatalities that occurred in the last couple of years round here by young drivers.

Re: Caught at last

My sat nav uses gps and shows the actual speed, so if I’m doing 70 mph on the sat nav it’s reading 67 or 8 on the speedo

Re: Caught at last

I generally drive within the prescribed limits Realist, and after earning a living driving the length and breadth of the country without attracting previous fines and points, I reckon I'll be finished with driving before I pick up enough points to disqualify me.......