THE subject of speeding motorists is attracting a lot of attention with issues over enforcement cameras and the emotive pleas of bereaved families following fatal incidents involving high speed collisions.
I submit they are two entirely different problems, each requiring different remedies.
Exceeding speed limits should attract penalties according to the severity of the offence, as proposed recently. Perhaps the penalties should be:
Up to 10mph over a limit -- £40 fine + 2 penalty points; 11-20mph over a limit -- £60 fine + 4 penalty points; more than 20mph over a limit -- £80 fine + 8 penalty points.
Similarly, those guilty of causing injury or death due to dangerous or careless driving with or without excessive speed should also attract sentences commensurate with the severity of the offence.
Speeds of 70mph in a 30mph limit that lead to death of others by a banned or unlicensed driver in a stolen car without insurance should be a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison. The reasoning behind this is simple: all the factors were not accidental, lack of attention or not knowing the law. All the actions were deliberate, and the sentence should be equally deliberate.
Norman Chadwick
Timberhurst
Bury
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