Double points

[jake-the-peg]

Is the proposal to give 6 points to people caught doing above 45 in a 30 zone a good idea? http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_ style/driving/article2836449.ece 57 or above on a 40mph road, or above 97 on a 70mph would be the same

[danchip]

slightly off topic but in response to reverandfunk's post about the police not going to a cannabis factory, you may find they are waiting and watching in order to get to the bigger players and not just the minnions growing it

[Reverandfunk]

yeah but 8 months????

When the wind blows in the right direction the cats get stoned

[Skreecheeboy]

Proper grass isn't for chavs and tramps, they can smoke that platic stuff you get, leave the green for the aristocracy.

[Skreecheeboy]

Like me that is!

[kwicky]

I wonder if in the not too distant future GATSO type cameras will be confined to the museum. To penalise someone for a momentarily lack of concentration and where over 10% of drivers have been caught doing this I foresee more use will be made of the 'average speed' between two points. This is fairer and also safer and there should not be a sudden application of the brake pedal.

This current proposal is fair because to exceed a speed limit by such a large anount suggests to me the driver should not be on the road at all.

[Gromit]

jake-the-peg

Point taken jake-the-peg. But if 1.3 million on 9 points are now driving more carefully for fear of losing their license, then to make 6 points a possiblity will surely make the people on 6 points be more careful as well.

[New Judge]

A NIP is a �Notice of Intended Prosecution�, China Doll.

This is a document that the registered keeper of the vehicle is sent if his vehicle is caught by a speed camera.

Jake�s argument (if I�m correct) is that the principle of �totting up� is to deter consistent bad driving and that offenders are reminded (by means of the penalty points) that they need to mend their ways or face the consequences.

In the circumstances he describes (�banned in a day�) the offender has no opportunity to moderate his behaviour between the two offences taking place.

The flaw in the argument is that under the rules a NIP has to be sent so as to arrive within 14 days. So, moving from his extreme (two cameras ten yards apart) to the other, you could commit two speeding offences 13 days apart and argue that you had not been given the opportunity to mend your ways because you were not made aware of the first potential prosecution.

The Highway Code makes two references to the rationale behind the penalty points system:

�...is intended to deter drivers from following unsafe driving practices�

�...acts as a warning to drivers that they risk disqualification if further offences are committed�

So whilst the �warning� aspect of the principle is accepted, I do not agree that it is exclusive and must be allowed at all costs. In my view the purpose of the totting up rules is to punish drivers who commit a series of traffic offences which, each taken alone would not result in a ban. In short, to punish persistent bad driving. If this persistency occurs in a single day or even a single journey then so be it. Case law provides for the circumstances where cameras are closely sited together and is used to determine whether multiple offences have been committed.

[jake-the-peg]

Your view is one thing it seems from your quotes that the highway code view is another - that rather seems to take my side doesn't it?

I don't agree that the 13 day argument is a flaw, I consider it to be an inherent part of the argument.

The purpose of points is to serve as a warning

At the moment the system is rather getting away with it because 4 seperate offences so close is:
a) improbable and
b) unlikely to be received sympathetically

I predict that if this comes in we'll see more "banned in a day" cases under the totting up and it'll move up the agenda.

We'll have to wait and see I guess

[brionon]

Let the Motorists kill themselves and each other but killing pedestrians should mean Prison and licence lost forever.