Speeding fines increase as Government demands harsher penalties

Published 25 January 2017

Speeding fines in England and Wales will rise by 50 per cent from 24 April 2017, following a Government review of sentencing rules for magistrates’ courts.

The new guidelines will allow magistrates to convict the most serious offenders with a fine starting from 150 per cent of their weekly income, an increase of 50 per cent over the previous guidelines.

This means drivers who are caught doing 41mph in a 20mph zone will be liable for the new band C fine, along with six points or disqualification for up to 56 days. Drivers caught doing more than 30mph in a 20mph zone will face a band B fine, starting with 100 per cent of their weekly income and up to six points on their licence, or disqualification for up to 28 days.

Drivers prosecuted for doing 9mph over a 20mph or 30mph limit will be liable to three points and a band A fine, starting from 50 per cent of their weekly income. The new guidelines for magistrates' courts are intended to provide a 'clear increase in penalty as the seriousness of offending increases', according to the Sentencing Council.

“Hopefully, hitting these offenders harder in the pocket will make them think twice before doing it again in the future," said RAC road safety spokesman Pete Williams.

"We welcome the change in sentencing guidelines for gross speeders. Anyone who breaks the limit excessively is a danger to every other road user and is unnecessarily putting lives at risk," added Williams.

Speeding offences subject to band C sentencing rules:

Speed limit	Recorded speed
20mph	41mph and above
30mph	51mph and above
40mph	66mph and above
50mph	76mph and above
60mph	91mph and above
70mph	101mph and above

Comments

angelcyn on 30 January 2017

Just looking at the banding above , the 20mph is interesting, we live on one, to my knowledge it has never been subject to speed checks and is treated with total contempt with that knowledge in mind, some indeed see it as a challenge and 70mph seems the target for certain motorcyclists.
No point in any speed limits especially the ones that are necessary if they are not enforced.

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grumpy1 on 30 January 2017

My grievance with penalties for speeding has always been that speeding is an absolute offence, which is contrary to the history and spirit of British law. In other words if one drives over the limit one is guilty and will be fined, end of story. There is no provision for extenuating circumstances to be explained, or for consideration of what the road situation was at the time. This leads to situations where a flagrant offender who offends deliberately without a care about the safety of other road users being treated the same as a normally law abiding citizen who errs on an unfamiliar road. Furthermore speed cameras make no distinction between a car speeding on a congested motorway during the rush hour and one doing the same speed on a totally empty motorway at 3.0 am.

I and my wife and daughter are all law abiding and very careful drivers, but we have all been fined and had our licences endorsed when driving only slightly above the limit, at times when not a single other vehicle or pedestrian was in sight.

In any case, I do not believe speed is the main factor in road collisions. Inattention, lack of concentration and playing with toys in the car are far more dangerous, which is why I am appalled at the infotainment touch screens now being fitted to most cars. These things are lethal and the willingness of the government to allow them to proliferate is beyond me.

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sixcylinder on 30 January 2017

Grumpt1 is correct, of all KSI accidents (killed or seriously injured), ~4% are attributable to exceeding the speed limit, ~43% are attributable to not paying attention.

Although more and more drivers are being find for exceeding speed limits, exceeding them accounts for a tiny proportion of the total KSI accidents

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robert chatterton on 31 January 2017

So, I drive at 101 mph on a deserted motorway and get fined £2500 or so. Meanwhile, a driver texting on a busy single carriage road is subject to a whopping (just increased) fine of £200. Am I missing something here ?

Bob Chat

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Tenchman7 on 1 February 2017

So Grumpy3: Can we all assume that the ACPO Guidelines of 10% over the speed limit plus 2 MPH has been dropped across England?
I always thought these figures to be quite generous myself.
More information needed i'm sure.

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William Bear on 1 February 2017

Evidence, as though it were needed, that fines for speeding have everything to do with fundraising and nothing to do with safety..................

How often do we see drivers trying to control their cars at the same time as conducting a conversation on a mobile 'phone, and the police; if you can ever find any; do nothing about it?

And why, when a stolen vehicle is seen being driving into a "Travellers" camp. do the Police tell the owner to claim on his Insurance rather than make any attempt to recover the vehicle?

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tommy t1968 on 12 February 2017

So if fines are based on income surely that makes the penalty system unfair so that one person will pay a bigger fine than someone else for exactly the same offence

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