According to the BBC ministers are looking at a scheme to increase the penalty points for drivers caught speeding. So travelling at 15mph above the 30mph limit could result in 6 points and £100 fine.
This seems a far cry from where Blunkett in one of his incarnations was talking about a graduated scheme where the penalty might be less for minor infringements.
The fact is, that this form of stealth taxation on drivers is now so prevalent, that having points on your licence has virtually lost any stigma - and is only relevant (to the generally law abiding) in so far as they mount up to a ban. That on some routes you see far more speed cameras than the Belisha beacons of zebra crossings.
Surely it would make sense if one got a point and a £25 fine for every 5 miles an hour over the limit you were clocked at. With the first 5 mph free. Oh and get rid of 80% of the ‘speed' traps.
Reasonably fair simple and easy to understand - so there is no way Nu-Lab will adopt that idea.
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As far as I'm concerned stealth taxing these sorts of problems is New Labour's stock response, which avoids having to analyse them properly let alone developing serious solutions. It works on the premise that if the individual is fundamentally a responsible person then the solution is to tax their mistakes because they’ll cough up, in contrast if the individual is irresponsible then the response is to appease them.
Driving above or below an arbitrary limit does not actually equate to good or bad, safe or unsafe driving. The awareness and skill of the driver, the conditions in which they are driving, and the behaviour of others using the roads, be they motorists, cyclists or pedestrians are the real factors. But then why treat it seriously when they can simply turn it into a revenue generation exercise. The current policy isn’t going to save us from uninsured drivers, in death trap vehicles, driving like maniacs, under the influence of drink and drugs; but it will get £100 out of a generally law abiding citizen who is breaking the speed limit but not necessarily driving dangerously.
I can’t say I disagree with you there. It’s their standard response.
Social engineering by punishment - either by making illegal, or punitive taxation, or both. And engineering against anything they disapprove of, or take it into their heads is ‘bad’ in some way, with little consideration as to the actual facts.
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