At the end of the day, you have to take it on the chin, but I miss the passing of real plod in traffic cars and bikes, who had the discretion and wisdom and experience to know when 85mph on a motorway might merit a rollocking and 32 in a school zone at 9am on a monday was indeed worth a ticket, all the machines in the world do not catch careless and dangerous and drunken drivers,

If you are unlucky and got caught JT you may get a speed awareness course, another ACPO invention, but better than 3 points I think, my boss attended one for speeding on the M62 in West Yorks. about £90 and a saturday of "behavioural correction"  2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

Unfortunately for JT, I believe Lothian and Borders Police dont offer them, assuming it was their stretch of the M74.

ad210358 wrote:

MartynB wrote:

two things

Its just a guideline, I had a ticket for 33 in a 30,

In 2013, in Lancashire all residential areas, currently 30, will become 20mph zones and will not be signposted to say so.
Lancashire safety camera partnership will actively enforce the limit through their army of Talivans.
There is one road close to where I live currently designated 30, was 50mph but due to numerous accidents it was dropped. The accidents would have been high speeds, possibly 100+, the road is so wide and fast, trying to get down to 20 after a 4 mile blat over the moors will be a nightmare, more so, because it encourages speeders to overtake when you decelerrate.

I think there are points systems in place that trigger speed lowering and speed prevention measures, more "fataccs" and the points build up and the speeds get lowered. The fact that most accidents are through speed that is deliberately higher than allowed seems to be ignored and the authorities place a blanket lowering that affects the largely law abiding masses and does little to prevent Charlie Chav in his Saxo GTi trying to break the sound barrier, let alone the speed limit.

Lothian & Borders do not cover the M74, its Strathclydes area.

So do they provide courses then

Since the advent of digital as opposed to film based cameras most will trigger at the 10% without the +2 because it is far easier to process the images and it is not a major issue to evaluate them. This as has been said is only an ACPO guideline and if they find something on the image which would indicate a concern i.e. children etc. then they will still prosecute. Cameras around schools and other danger points will frequently be set even lower.

Apart from the fact that a police stop would allow some degree of judgement what is really missing is the fact that a camera does not assess the car or driver. Prog rock is cool!
2012 XS SD4 Indus Silver

I'm not aware of any Scottish police force that provide training?

Does anybody know otherwise?

Many thanks to all for contributions, yes if! I was speeding and proved by the camera I have no excuse and accept the consequences...... In the past I have been past similar camera vans at c.80 on the clock and not been done, so I wondered if the in built tolerance levels or a speedo overead might mean I avoid penalty. Will have to wait and see! No excuses but a comment, empty motorway, yet two camera vans within 20 miles on bridges, presumably chosen for a long range view to beam the speeder before he/she spots the van, Govt consulting on upping the limit to 80.....Clean licence for c.10 years, last 3 points for speeding on the M40. Hope I can do the course and avoid the points, where I live and not in Strathclyde. At least I caught a fine 14 lb Springer..... JT Upgraded to an ex demo, 7 mth old, Rimini Red/Ebony Napoli Auto HSE on 28th Jan 2011, added roof rails, mudflaps and side strips.
Gone - A great 57 Plate, Auto SE, Bought Feb 2009, Roof Rails and Mudflaps added on purchase. Blue colour, anything but drug dealer black.....

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but with driving at over 80 in a 70 you could be summoned to attend Magistrates Court and be liable for a 2-week ban and fine............ Start looking up contact details for Mr Loophole... 10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)

I got caught same place at 89mph a few years ago. £60 and 3 points, I think that will be the worse case.

Usually it's court only over 89MPH. Anything less is usually dealt with by £60 and three points penalty!

You would be extremely unlucky to go to court at 89 mph, again not saying it hasn't happened but the guidelines for a 70 limit are a summons at 96mph, where as a working male, middle aged, British taxpayer you will be royally screwed on a percentage of you residual income, and receive if you are extra unlucky a short ban.
Unlike the Albanian cash point fraudster you sat next to in the waiting room, who will be patted on the back, and sent to paint your Granny's house as a community service, where he will probably rape her, cut her throat, and take the tea caddy full of tenners and her pension book, but hey let's face it you all of us motorists are the real criminals  2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

I understand, and to some extent go along with, the need to ensure people drive at suitable speeds. My main issue is that, if you are tootling along at 30 (in a 30 zone) and you come to a slight downhill... all of a sudden, through no conscious action, you are doing 33 mph & zap... Fair cop, you may say. An alternative scenario is... you are paying attention to the road(s), pedestrians, other road users around you and driving appropriately, carefully, actively driving, not merely obeying the 30mph. My point is that I would mistrust someone driving at 29mph with eyes glued to the speedo, terrified of getting 3points, but would rather trust someone driving while LOOKING AT THE BLOODY ROAD.
So, again I say... yes speed limits but for god's sake, this fetish for MPH means we lose sight of what is good safe driving - ie actively engaged, taking in the conditions around you. Having to look at the bloody speedo every 10 yards is likely to lead to more accidents, by technically blameless drivers. After all, if it came to court you can show you were doing 29, but it can't be shown/proved that you weren't looking where you were going, cos you were glued to the sodding speedo. Thanks. ...

Be true to yourself. That way happiness lies...

 10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)