West Mercia Police Chief Constable Anthony Bangham has called for the 10% buffer on speed limits to be scrapped and for an increase in the use of fines and penalty points for those caught.

Commenting on the news, Joshua Harris, Director of Campaigns at road safety charity Brake, said, “Speed limits are exactly that, limits, set at the top speed that it is safe to drive on any particular road. Drivers who go beyond these limits are behaving recklessly and endangering the lives of themselves and others.”

Brake said that it wholeheartedly supports Chief Constable Anthony Bangham’s view that a zero-tolerance approach to speeding is required, sending a clear signal that breaking the law is not acceptable. “Speeding penalties must prove an effective deterrent and Brake supports Chief Constable Bangham’s call for the increased use of fines and penalty points. Public perception over the acceptability of speeding needs to change and this can only happen with clarity in the law and penalties which truly deter offending.”

Deputy Editor's comment

Do they want us to drive along staring at our speedometers?

As someone who’s been involved in road safety for over thirty years I totally disagree with Chief Constable Anthony Bangham and the comments from Brake’s Joshua Harris. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not condoning speeding, far from it, but to prosecute a driver for straying even 1 MPH over the limit is madness and in my opinion, does nothing to improve road safety. What do they want us to do, drive along with our eyes glued to our speedometers? We should be looking where we’re going.

The present arrangement, adopted by most police officers, of allowing a little latitude to take account of human frailty and the fact that we live in an imperfect world, have worked perfectly well ever since we abandoned the need for the man with a red flag. Let’s hope common sense prevails and that we will not all become slaves to the speedometer for fear of losing our licences and possibly our livelihoods.