Motorists who exceed the speed limit by only a few miles per hour could find themselves in trouble after police announced a crackdown on speeders.
For years, authorities have allowed a small amount of leeway for drivers who might unwittingly exceed the limit by a small amount, but this could be set to change under the new approach.
Traditionally, police have allowed drivers a margin of error of 10 per cent plus 2mph of the speed limit, meaning that in a 50mph zone drivers could get away with 57mph before getting fined.
However, some police forces around the UK are now set to do away with the margin for error, meaning that more drivers could end up on the receiving end of fines and penalty points.
Scottish police have already announced they’re due to abandon the discretionary allowance and will now issue any driver exceeding the limit by even 1mph with a warning. If the driver is caught exceeding the limit again, they will received a £100 on-the-spot fine and have three points put on their licence, with tougher penalties for drivers exceeding it by a larger amount.
It’s thought that in England and Wales other forces could follow suit with this tougher approach.
Road safety campaigners are concerned that this will lead to many drivers spending more time looking at the speedo rather than the road ahead. The AA's Edmund King has commented saying
"We need drivers to concentrate on what is on the road in front of them, not always looking at the speedo.
“If a driver strays over the limit by 2mph, they shouldn’t be, but it’s better they do that and stay focused on what is going on around them."
We at the UKCampsite.co.uk are fully supportive of any reasonable measures made to reinforce road safety, but agree with some of the concerns raised. It's particularly worrying for those with older cars which have inconsistencies when it comes to speed accuracy, and of course those who are towing, who need to concentrate even more on the road rather than the speedometer.
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