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[The Sheriff]

The way I look at it is this: The speed limit is 30mph, you were doing 35, that's against the law. I break the law every day, sometimes by a far greater margin than you did. One day I will get caught and have to face the (financial) consequences. That's it. You were unlucky, but the only way to avoid it is to stay within the limit (and be tailgated and flashed on every journey you take).

[Diamond Black Geezer]

They have - I was between 30-42mph, so I'm fine for that - and as you say - I don't have to declare it (sometimes). And if I do, no points, too.

I've checked on the old friendly meerkat comparison website, and actually when I come to renew my insurance, it'll be on the V6, not the Weasel, even with the 'black mark' against my name of the naughty speeding don't be a child-killer course I'll be paying less than I am this year for insurance.

So I'll give them their pound of flesh, I'll sit in the room in Hull, listen to everything they say, which in fairness I'll agree with, because in spite of the evidence I do believe I'm not a bad driver...

I just wish there were cameras watching me when the woman stepped out in front of me a fortnight ago without looking (when I was doing 30, and literally a few yards from her) had I not been on the ball she'd be still hospitalised now. Or when a couple of months back a car stopped dead on the motorway, and I was immediately behind him. Totally unexpected (think there was debris in the lane) It'd been a long drive back from holiday, but I still stopped in time - because I was still alert enough to drive safely(I'd taken regular breaks, like the signs tell you)
Or when that HGV decided it wanted to be in my lane, and I managed to pull over/brake, swerved partially on the hard shoulder, otherwise he'd have crushed me.
Or the twenty times I have been dazzled by oncoming cars with main beam on. Twice this morning on the way to work, I've given up counting, now.
Or the three red lights that I've seen run, seconds after changing, in the last month or so. To the point one guy nearly got hit.

Just wish there'd been cameras watching all that driving, I really believe that for all the death and destruction, and horror that 'evil' car drivers cause on UK roads, there are ten times the number of accidents prevented daily, by observant drivers, than are caused by inattentive or speeding drivers.

[EMD]

Just bad luck really , im sure they do get the real idiots that need their licences ripping up 
I was overtook this week coming back on the A5 in a 40 zone , the idiot must have been doing 60 .. round the corner we see he was stopped by mr plod in the lay-by .. how we laughed 
He was in a mumsy bus 

[Diamond Black Geezer]

That's it, EMD I'm glad when you see the idiots being pulled over.

Like my missus says, would you rather be pulled doing 35 in a 30 and get the course thing... or get done doing 110 on a motorway dead at night? and subsequently get 6 points if you're lucky, or lose your licence completely. Fair point.

[aaronjb]

Don't worry DBG, my piss is boiling for you.

[Diamond Black Geezer]

Don't worry DBG, my piss is boiling for you.

 

MUCH appreciated! Thank you! First time I've smiled since i got in from work (1st day back in, after three days off ill)

[hercules]

The way I look at it is this: The speed limit is 30mph, you were doing 35, that's against the law. I break the law every day, sometimes by a far greater margin than you did. One day I will get caught and have to face the (financial) consequences. That's it. You were unlucky, but the only way to avoid it is to stay within the limit (and be tailgated and flashed on every journey you take).

just as I was told steve on the course,if the set limit is 30 and your doing 31 then you are speeding

[The Sheriff]

The way I look at it is this: The speed limit is 30mph, you were doing 35, that's against the law. I break the law every day, sometimes by a far greater margin than you did. One day I will get caught and have to face the (financial) consequences. That's it. You were unlucky, but the only way to avoid it is to stay within the limit (and be tailgated and flashed on every journey you take).

just as I was told steve on the course,if the set limit is 30 and your doing 31 then you are speeding

I'll get caught tomorrow, you just watch 

[Diamond Black Geezer]

I'm going to have so much fun contesting the difference between speeding and unsafe driving - which are of course not one and the same thing.

If doing 35mph is unsafe on that stretch of road, how can it be that three car lengths later it is determined that 40mph is safe? And how, for instance, on a local A road which was recently changed from a 60 to a 50 (because of one accident, down to someone being drunk and stupid and the subsequent knee-jerk reaction) how can it be that the previous week doing 59mph on that road was 'safe' - yet that following week, when the limit was changed to 50, that same speed would be considered 'unsafe'?

I put it to you, Mr Safety seminar lecture man - Do you perceive 'safety' as a moving sliding scale, or an absolute? I put it to you that 'more safety' is a misnomer, as when someone is accused of being 'more wrong' One is either in danger, or one is not. One is either right, or one is wrong.

I'm not saying all this is true, but I would be genuinely interested in actually testing, and debating, intelligently, and seriously, the definitions of 'safety'. Also (a subject in which I can speak with some experience) given that cars have become 'safer' (again - is this a misnomer?) does that not mean that accidentally running off the road in a 30 year old car, vs a brand new car is more dangerous. ergo - if one's brakes in one's 911GT3 RS can bring you to a standstill in 10 yards, vs one's Sierra, which can only do it in three times that distance, one can surely be travelling at three times the speed?

I may say 'Would we be better implementing different speed ratings for vehicles, dependant on their power and brake ability? Cars with more powerful brakes can go faster?'

'NO.' I hear the Mr No Speed man cry! 'Cars moving at different speeds is unsafe! Cars moving along at a steady rate, even at a higher speed (eg: motorways) is, by definition safer that cars moving at different speeds, albeit slower.

'What?' I should then inquire - 'cars going at a constant speed is safer? Like.... what I was doing when I was caught, along with no doubt the ten cars in front and immediately behind me?'

Oh I'm going to have so much fun. 

[Jimbob]

IIRC you can fail the courses and have to take the points.....

imho, shut up, listen, and respond as they expect....regardless of what you actually think.

[The Sheriff]

IIRC you can fail the courses and have to take the points.....

imho, shut up, listen, and respond as they expect....regardless of what you actually think.

Yup. If you agree to take the course, then you are admitting you did wrong. If you don't think you did wrong, then you can put your point across in court.

[78bex]

I`m totally in favour of complying with the relevant laws of land. But don`t tell me speed cameras are a good idea; cos they aren`t . It`s a sneaky friggin underhanded & miserable way to  piss-off usually law abiding folks. Are you more of a danger travellin in traffic at 35 mph, then 1 mph slower at 34 mph Nope.

It`s utter bollix, especially when you consider the number of times, as you recount; the  near misses we`ve all had from numpties just out to top themselves in front of yours truly. 

I seem to remember a while back, someone posting a link to the top 10 most lucrative speed cameras in the uk, I`ll have another look for it & this was from a few years ago

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2402629/How-10-speed-cameras-raked-12million-just-years-catching-200-000-motorists.html

Rant over 

[The Sheriff]

I think everyone agrees that the world is a very unfair place but, if you get nabbed, there's really not much you can do about it. I'm sure the powers that be have heard every excuse/rant there is, but it doesn't make a blind bit of difference.

[tigers_gonads]

IIRC you can fail the courses and have to take the points.....

imho, shut up, listen, and respond as they expect....regardless of what you actually think.

Yup. If you agree to take the course, then you are admitting you did wrong. If you don't think you did wrong, then you can put your point across in court.

^this^

I had the honour of a course about 15 years ago.
First half was some arrogant prick of a copper who stood there telling everybody how glad he was that we had been caught and proceeded to tell us that we was on par with Ian Brady, Maggie Thatcher and Hitler in the evil stakes for doing 35 in a 30 zone 
One woman jumped up, told him to stick the course where the sun doesn't shine and walked out 
The rest clenched out fists and ignored the knob.
The second half was done by a advanced driving instructor who run us through a couple of videos and spoke to us like adults, chucking in a few facts about stopping distances ect for good luck.
Needless to say, I remember everything the driving instructor told us and sweet f**k all about the first half 

It must of worked because i've had a clean licence ever since 
Or maybe that's down to the sat nav with camera positions on it and the snooper radar detector which may or may not come out on long drives 

At the end of the day, I don't think anybody would mind if these machines was positioned outside schools, hospital's and other places where there is a genuine risk of danger to life NOT somewhere hidden just around a corner and just in front of a 40 mph sign 

[The Sheriff]

Stopping distances are a load of old cobblers now, worked out when cars had shit brakes and four inch tyres, according to the boys on top gear. If I ever have to do a course, I'll be sure to tell them this.