Sobering...

[Jim 1]

http://cars.uk.msn.com/features/photos. ... =155479937

 

I'm only 3 pages in, but people caught doing 120MPH have been handed jail sentences for 6 months and lengthy bans. I'm sure a lot of us have given the cars some welly on a quiet bit of open road, myself included.. didn't really expect that fines would be THAT severe. I'm sure it all comes down to who pulls you, the conditions at the time, and your attitude to the officer.. but it just shows how easy it is to end up in jail for something most of us wouldn't even give a second thought to doing!

[Tempest 0]

As already mentioned to some, I am eternally grateful to the chaps in a Jaguar some years ago, that slowly pulled up behind me on the 3-lane A46 just outside Coventry, when I was having a little bit of admittedly illegal fun in my Mk1 Rocco, I was doing 110 mph. I backed off to more sensible speeds thinking I´ll let the Jag pass, only to then discover the then very scary letters P-O-L-I-C-E written along the side of said Jag :shock:

 

The chaps looked at me, drove ahead of me till the M40, then turned off onto the M40, allowing me to mind my own business, without pulling me :shock: Eternally grateful! Result? You never forget such an incident, and I humbly believe that such tactics work much better than when the law is enforced with a sledge hammer, which usually results in much hatred in said forces of the law, and most likely repeat offences (if caught, of course).

 

I for one have not been breaking the speed limit since, as I have had my 1st life that day. Unlike cats, mankind only really has 1 life. :)

 

Tempest

[Mr Sands 0]

Too true Jim. The one that sticks in the mind is that thread from Pistonheads that someone put up a link to on here a year or two ago now. It was the one about the Scooby driver (I think) who had been enjoying a spirited drive, had forgotten the cardinal rule of "Can you stop in the distance that you can see to be clear?" and came around a bend on a hill going some, only to have no time to avoid a car that had skidded and ended up sideways in the road.

 

It had the worst possible consequences and the Scooby driver ended up doing a spell inside. Unlike many on Pistonheads, he came across as a level headed, ordinary bloke enjoying his Sunday motoring; true, he'd been going too quickly for that road and that bend but how many of us can claim not to do that, and probably fairly frequently?

 

I can certainly say that it made me think about how I was driving, given how that one moment of fairly habitual driving had ruined his life.

 

And Tempest, hear hear! I've often been grateful for the common sense policing by a couple of super Road Traffic Officers who pulled me one night for some fairly spirited driving on an A road. Only time I've ever been stopped; granted, I wasn't going quite so quickly as you but they would have been well within their rights to give me at least three points. A friendly warning about being a bit more sensible really went home and I stopped being an occasionally d*ckheaded driver from that point on. Sure, I enjoy giving the VR some beans but only within sensible tolerances and conditions now.

[leeeeshad 0]

I think the thread on piston heads you're thinking of is the one by 10 pence short iirc it was an integra, well worth a read and something to think about.

 

edit to add the link http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topi ... on%20Diary

[shaunVR6 0]

Makes you think twice doudble figures comes up so quickly in ANY car these days :shock:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Cars should be limited to 100mph. Sports cars can get their incredibly quickly and dull cars take a lot longer, just to maintain the order of things and keep the traffic moving. Motorways would self regulate because no one is going to bother racing beyond 80mph if the cars are limited to the same top speed. They can then focus the speeding campaigns just in urban areas, where it's more beneficial and appropriate.

[CazzaVR 0]

Makes you think twice doudble figures comes up so quickly in ANY car these days :shock:

 

Double figures come up pretty quickly when I go for a run or pop out on my bike... ;)

[Andy665 0]

I have done 30 - 50,000 miles a year for the last 20 years and only been done twice, annoyingly both times it was a Saturday morning, clear motorway, little traffic, good weather and doing 90mph - clean licence for 15 years

 

I need to be aware as I'm stuffed without a licence, if in doubt I keep to the limit (or close to)

 

I believe that there are plans for 2014 onwards that will see EU citizens prosecuted in any country in the way that nationals of that country would be.

 

Thank goodness we're not in Finland where you get fined according to your ability to pay - an ex CEO of Nokia was fined about £40k for doing 47mph in a 30mph limit

[Supercharged 2]

 

Thank goodness we're not in Finland where you get fined according to your ability to pay - an ex CEO of Nokia was fined about £40k for doing 47mph in a 30mph limit

 

I don't actually think that's a bad thing within reason - £500 to me is a lot of money but it's a night out for some people, really annoys me when you see people like footballers get these stupidly small fines when the court costs were probably higher.

[Jim 1]

Cars should be limited to 100mph.

 

I have often thought similar things. Why even give you the potential to break the law / kill yourself when the car could easily be limited.

[Tempest 0]

I believe that there are plans for 2014 onwards that will see EU citizens prosecuted in any country in the way that nationals of that country would be.

 

That is in effect already here and now within all EU countries.Been decided on last year October, came into force this year October (or thereabouts).

 

For example: Park in the wrong location in the UK in a car with a German license plate, and the ticket is sent to the German authorities. The German authorities then enforce this ticket the same they would, had the offense occurred in Germany.

 

Tempest

[Neokitz 0]

I know that Andrew Williams who did 133mph in a Renault 5 turbo. He was a mechanic and worked on my 5 turbo at his dads garage.. he said it was a monumental F*%k up!! on his behalf.. serves him right if im honest. . Surprising for him really as he was a purist with his cars and never went out drinking...the one time he did, he decided that the best way to be a cock was to take his mates out for a drunken speed test as that stretch of road from wrexham to chester is perfect for high speed runs.. its also perfect for high speed traffic officers to prey on those who think the coast is clear. It just isn't worth the risk of losing your license these days!!

[sprinterVR6 0]

spot on Mr Sands, it's allowing the distance you can actually see ahead, to be equal to or less then that in which you can come to a stand still. Barrel'n into a corner blind is something I've tried to remove from my driving. I'd like to think I don't do it at all anymore, but not sure it's 100% yet :shrug:

I'm a big beliver (or is that Belieber? :ignore: ) in enjoying your car's performance, but again, without sounding like a Headmaster, there's a time and a place :D

For example, I had the VR out all last week but just popping down to the local train station and back, never went above 40/50mph the whole week. Then reckoned she could do 'clearing her throat' :grin: after being sat up for few weeks. So got her up to correct temp on the motorway, waited till no cars in front r behind and slowly opened it up to low three figures. Had a blast, well chuffed and sensibly brought the car home and tucked her up for the night.

 

That said, luckly I didn't come across any punks looking for a quick race :brickwall:

[bcstudent 0]

Cars should be limited to 100mph.

 

I have often thought similar things. Why even give you the potential to break the law / kill yourself when the car could easily be limited.

 

I'm amazed to hear myself say it, but I agree.

 

My work van was never awesome - it's a Vauxhall Combo 1.3 CDTI with about 60bhp - but could drag it's arse up to about a ton given enough room. It was limited to 76mph about a year ago and at the time I was properly miffed about it. Looking back I think it was a good thing. I'm never in a hurry any more and I spend way less time getting mad at people holding me up because it's me doing the holding up now.

[The_Dude 0]

Well the guy 3 pages in who got six months in jail did have his kid on the back of a bike in the rain, so he deserves what he gets imo. No way I would ever endanger my (imaginary) son like that. Also it did seem that there were more than a fair share of coppers in that list! Good to see them getting bans too.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Cars should be limited to 100mph.

 

I have often thought similar things. Why even give you the potential to break the law / kill yourself when the car could easily be limited.

 

The irony of it all is England with all it's speed cameras has no formal restrictions. It's illegal to smoke in pubs, but you can buy cigarrettes. It's that kind of stupid mentality I don't like.

 

You are quite within your rights to buy a 267mph Veryron SuperSport and actually do that speed on the M1. The only thing stopping you is other road users and being caught, but it is possible.

 

The Germans limit their very powerful cars to 155mph and the JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) sports cars are often horsepower limited, and some have such short gearing that 120mph is the maximum you will see.

 

I really cannot see the problem with un[speed]regulated motorways. The cars can't go any faster than 100, so what harm can they do other than the usual idiotic things people do that come under the 'human nature' umbrella?

It would free up a lot of resource for heavier policing and penalties for inappropriate speeding in urban areas. Frankly, if people choose to operate mobile phones at 120mph and drive into a bridge pillar, serves them right. What I don't like to see is idiots doing 60+ through towns and villages. We need more police taking care of that and leaving the motorways to their own devices.

[kerrly 0]

I think the number of opportunities to go over the speed limit in a save environment have been reduced considerably in the last decade. The combination of far more cars on the road, far more speed cameras and a reduction in speed limits in some places has combined to make a sprited drive harder and harder to achieve.

 

I for one would be far happier if we actually had a court system with people who could understand the difference between doing 100mph on a empty well lit motorway at midnight and idiots doing 70mph 5 feet from each other at peak time. Dangerous driving is NOT always speed related, it is very possible to be much more dangerous at a low speed but a speed camera on CCTV wouldn't pick this up. A typical example i regularly see is single carriage way roads which are NSL (60mph) and yet you find people doing 35-40 on them with 3-6 cars backed up behind all 5 feet apart and no one will overtake. This just frustrates other drivers provoking them into making potentially more dangerous overtaking maneuvers that they would normally but if a crash occurs its the overtaking driver deemed to be at fault.

 

I appreciate that a speed limit is that, a limit not a target but flexible speeding fines, penalties and a more case by case basis examination of incidents would be better but realistically it will NEVER happen.

 

Oh an for reference the thread on PistonHeads that will make everyone think twice about daring to discuss how they went on a spirited drive that went wrong is a chap called 10 pence short - now that is a story that really hits home.

 

Dave

[dukest 0]

as far as i know the fines are dramatically higher for exceeding 30 mph above the speed limit. My friend was fined £500-600 with 5 points both times he got caught doing 90-something in 50 or 60 zones.

 

as the_dude says, the only people i saw in that list that actually went to jail were those who were drunk or plainly endangering others. most/all of the other jail sentences were suspended, even above 150mph. to an extent that does show to me that there is a recognition of blatant but not downright criminal disregard for the law vs recklessly endangering others due to the inappropriateness of the road/conditions.

 

personally I'm very much in the camp of speed appropriate to the conditions vs slavish adherence to blanket limits, although it is hard to argue against a 100mph limiter even when of that opinion.

[Andy665 0]

Its inappropriate speed that is the real problem - 30 above the limit in a 30 zone is infinitely more dangerous than 30 above the limit in a 70 zone.

 

If we went down the route of limiting top speed to 100 then there could be a logical argument to lower them to 70, after all that is the legal limit - I'd much rather see far higher standards of driver education.

 

Doing the miles I do its inconsiderate driving than winds me up much more than speeding, I also get more annoyed by speeding in urban areas than I do on the motorway / dual carriageways etc

 

I'd like to see a fundamenatal shift in how we police the roads, far more police on the roads, pulling people over for a "chat", clamping down hard on reckless driving with impounding of cars, bigger fines, bans etc, I'd also like to see a grading system that means you have to pass more advanced tests in order to drive more powerful cars - people could then have their "super" licences revoked but still allow people to drive lower powered vehicles

[poll250 0]

I'd also like to see a grading system that means you have to pass more advanced tests in order to drive more powerful cars - people could then have their "super" licences revoked but still allow people to drive lower powered vehicles

 

I rather like this idea. It works with motorbikes.

 

I guess it's quite crazy to think that if you've got the money, you could probably be out in a Zonda doing 220 down then A34 the day after you pass your test... (Although with the amount of lorry ruts in the A34 this may not be that feasable!).

[Kevin Bacon 5]

But some people would construe that as a license to speed. I.e. "What are you going to with all that extra power you are now allowed to use?". I'm surprised they never cottoned onto that with bikes. I did my test on a Kwak AR5 which can do 60 in 6 seconds ish and do well over 90mph, so why would anyone need anything bigger?

 

It's the paradox that is civil rights. You can buy a gun, but you can't use it for it's intended purpose. You can buy a 180mph superbike, but you can't use it for it's intended purpose. And so on....

 

If we went down the route of limiting top speed to 100 then there could be a logical argument to lower them to 70, after all that is the legal limit - I'd much rather see far higher standards of driver education.

 

But that would cause the accordion affect on a massive scale. You NEED faster cars and faster drivers to keep the traffic moving freely, otherwise you may aswell just lay scalextric contacts in the road and people will roll along at fixed speeds and distances. And if you do that, what's the point of the car at all? Just use the train.

 

Keep the legal limit to 70, but restrict the cars. Honestly, if your incentive for breaking the 70 limit is a whopping 30mph faster, why bother? People will just do what they do now and cruise and 80 and have the odd squirt up to 85-90 to over take. Job done. No more police pursuits chasing joy riders and burglars at 150+ mph.

 

However, that is a Utopia that'll never happen.

 

But at the moment, there are far too many people and cars in this country to do anything to improve matters.

[swiftkid 1]

Theres arguments to all solutions, "limit cars to 100"... well the speed limits 70 so why not limit it to 70, but then what happens if you go overtaking and the limiter kicks in, surely by breaking the law marginally it is safer... and it continues.

In my opinion, dangerous drivers are not those that speed, its those that speed excessively, drive at a speed not suitable for road conditions or those that are driving without taking care on the road. I don't drive on motorways very often but when i do i find that the biggest chance of me having an accident is when people slam on for speed camera's or when they see a car that looks like a police car and everyone all of a suddenly halts to 70mph bang on.