Just Take A Look At This!

[bluenose1940]

I started a thread called 'Dascams' recently where I mentioned an incident that I had reported to the police.

I'm wondering if I shouldn't have wasted my time after reading this.

http://www.motoring.co.uk/car-news/thousands-of-drivers-with-12-points-retain-licence_66691?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=motoring-150715-c

Shocking is all I can say. I have a cousin who worked on the ambulances in Birmingham many years ago and, on the staff notice board was a clear warning to everyone, I can't remember the exact wording but it meant what it said "Lose your licence - lose your job"

How times change eh!

[milleplod]

No doubt there are some (many?) still driving despite having
accumulated 12+ points who probably should be banned - but for every one
of those, there'll be an awful lot more who have, quite rightly, had
discretion applied to their circumstances by the Courts. The press tend
to pick up on the more 'dramatic' cases (think 'Dangerous and drunken
driver beats 36 point ban' sort of thing), which is fair enough, and
does need publicising if only to broadcast the fact that some Courts
get totally taken in by bleating defence solicitors claiming that their
client is now a good boy/has got a job/his girlfriend's pregnant again
sort of thing. What you never read about is the, quite possibly, few
hundred more who 'beat' a 12-point ban for slightly less headline-grabbing
reasons - think along the lines of someone who is, say, 2 weeks short of
3 points dropping off his licence...should he really be
banned, is it proportionate, is justice properly served by a ban? And
there's an awful lot of people who've picked up points for 'minor'
speeding, not anything stupid, just a few mph over a limit 4 times in 3
years.

Some would say that the recidivist speeder deserves a ban. Rigid enforcement
of speed limits seems to annoy people (quite rightly in my opinion), so
perhaps we should extend that irritation to the rigid application of
discretionary bans from driving (after all, if we don't, then they're
not discretionary!).

Pete

[The-Acre]

The system is really unfair for many. My wife got three points for doing 35 in a thirty limit, easily done but a warning for the first time would be so much fairer. On a positive note, there have been a few cases where insurance companies have paid witnesses for the info on their dash cams.

[milleplod]

The system in respect of speeding fines and points needs updating - it was conceived many moons ago when speeding was enforced by people, not machines, and convictions were relatively low in number. My feeling is that a two-tier system of 'ticket' punishment should be introduced. It wouldn't need new legislation, just an adjustment to existing stuff. 'Minor' offences, say up to 7/8 mph over a given limit, should only attract 1 or 2 penalty points, 'moderate' ones 3 to 5 points, and stupid speeds, as now, dealt with by the Court system.

Of course, BRAKE and the usual suspects would bleat about any perceived 'softening' of enforcement policy, and, as our masters tend to bow down to most minority pressure groups, it'll never happen!

Pete