Quote:
Originally Posted by OLD BOY
I'm sure that the thousands of motorists who have been 'done' for speeding do not consider themselves 'maniacs'.
My wife got caught out doing 33 mph in a 30 mile an hour zone. Does that constitute the driving of a 'maniac'?. It's dangerous driving rather than speeding we should be concentrating on.
The police have got their priorities out of synch with public opinion and this needs to be rectified.
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I'm sure they don't and it's perfectly obvious that some will be far more serious offenders than others. Part of the problem we have on our roads is people who believe they're good drivers and clearly aren't - check out any number of the police documentaries on our screens and you will see them in abundance denying they've done stuff which is clear for all to see on video. Had your wife been doing 60 in a 30 her treatment would have been far more severe than it was so the scale of punishments takes the severity of the offence into account doesn't it. I'd imagine since you feel so badly about it neither of you will do it again so job done I'd say, whether there was intent or it was accidental. Incidentally if her actual measured speed was 33 her speedo would have been showing more than that - 35/36 I'd imagine so how is it that she didn't notice that and/or the limit applicable to the road she was on and/or the camera/police car that trapped her for that matter. I bet she will be more careful now and that's what the fines are for and that's why serial offenders, as opposed to people like your wife quite probably, are treated more harshly - they didn't learn the lesson first time around.
Of course being caught doing 33 in a 30 doesn't necessarily make someone a maniac but it doesn't preclude the possibility either because that person may regularly commit more serious offences and not have been caught. I'd have thought that was obvious but there are maniacs on our roads and it is them I am referring to. Speeding is a major factor in dangerous driving as figures for the seriousness of injuries to pedestrians show - far more chance of being killed/maimed at 20mph than 30mph for example. Driving to the limit regardless of the conditions is also stupid yet you'll regularly see drivers doing 70 (and more) on busy motorways in the pouring rain, mist, dark, fog or whatever. I'm sorry but these people are idiots and deluding themselves that they're safe because they're not or are only just over the speed limit is pathetic. If someone killed your wife, God forbid, whilst doing a 30 in a 20 or 35 in a 30 I don't suppose you'd be too happy for the police to tell you they're too busy to prosecute because they're dealing with other things.
What would you say to the parents of a young child you were responsible for killing whilst driving above the speed limit, irrespective of the reasons for doing so? Nobody's saying that speed is the only factor or that obeying the limits guarantees safe driving - it doesn't. But we have to have limits and unless they're enforced people will do what they like on our roads.
Anyway there's a thread or two on speeding here where this has all been discussed before so I suggest you read it and post there if you wish to carry this on.