Many of us have been guilty of it – creeping over the speed limit by a couple of miles an hour when our attention drifts away from the speedometer. But a new call from the All Parliamentary Group for Cyling and Walking (APPGCW) is demanding that if you go over the limit by just 1mph, you should be fined.
Currently, police unofficially take a more ‘tolerant’ approach to the speed limit, often only issuing points and a fine if you are 10% over the limit plus 2mph. This means you will find yourself being prosecuted if going 24mph in a 20mph, 35mph in a 30 or 79mph in a 70.
Speeding clamp down
The group made up of peers and MPs from across parliament argues that such tolerances encourages drivers to ignore speed limits, pointing to 2021 data that reveals most of us exceed 30mph speed limits.
“If drivers exceed posted speed limits, their capacity to avoid collisions reduces and the gravity of any collision increases … Moreover, if the working assumption is that one can speed (to an extent) with impunity, this fosters a belief that traffic law does not need to be taken seriously.”
• All Parliamentary Group for Cyling and Walking report.
Hard shoulder for hardship
The call for stricter speed enforcement is part of 10 recommendations made by the group in its recently released report. Others include dumping the ‘exceptional hardship’ loophole.
This sees drivers who have received 12 points or more – ergo facing a driving ban – seeking to avoid having their licence revoked for a set period by claiming they risk losing their livelihoods.
According to the latest data, this sees one in five escape a ban after citing mitigating circumstances such as hardship. The APPGCW is also calling for anyone who is banned from driving to be forced to resit their driving test, instead of being handed back their licence at the end of the ban period.
Make the right choice
While some may argue the main recommendation – enforcing the speed limit so strictly – is unnecessary, former Olympic cyclist Chris Boardman sees the issue differently after his own mother was killed by a careless driver while she was out cycling.
“We should remember that dangerous driving, law breaking, and endangering others is a choice,” Chris explains. “The recommendations … simply seek to support laws that people should already be obeying and, if implemented, these measures would only negatively affect those that break the law, especially repeat offenders.”
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Main image by vecstock