Osbourne short of money??

[Nik_Endeavour]

BBC News - Fixed Penalty Notice motoring fines may rise to £90

 

[BaldGuy]

Typical robbing country that we live in......

 

[coupe deville]

A money raising cunning stunt

 

[corned]

I don't see the problem.

Why is it robbery?

If this is a problem to you, the easy fix is not to speed/park where you shouldn't/etc in the first place. Simples!

If you can't do the time...

 

[MOCAŠ]

They've been £60 for ages, about time they went up, really.

And who's Osbourne?

 

[Harrythedog]

No problem with this but are all other fines going to rise by 50%?

 

[Deleted member 65149]

Sounds reasonable to me too - providing that the police are the only ones able to issue FPNs and they have been fully trained in both the rules of the road and common sense.

But even those rules are open to interpretation. For instance, one of the offences mentioned as being considered for FPNs was "passing a vehicle on the nearside". Now the Highway Code (Rule 163) says

"Overtake only when it is safe and legal to do so. You should .....

• only overtake on the left if the vehicle in front is signalling to turn right, and there is room to do so
• stay in your lane if traffic is moving slowly in queues. If the queue on your right is moving more slowly than you are, you may pass on the left"

So wrt the first bullet, what about the majority of cars that don't appear to be fitted with indicators? If one of them is in the outside lane of a multi-lane road and gives every impression of intending to turn right, other than indicating, mainly because it's travelling at below the speed limit, can you legally undertake it? By the letter of the law it could be argued that you can't, but all common sense says you can, with extra care. So would you get issued a FPN for doing so?


And what about the second bullet: what is the definition of "moving slowly"? How about the M25 at a fairly busy time (ie most of the day!) with all lanes busy. The outside lane has a line of traffic moving at around 65mph. You're in the middle of 3 lanes doing 70mph and with less traffic in front of you. Do you consider the outside lane to be "moving slowly in queues" and remain at 70, thereby overtaking the traffic on your right, or should you slow down in case you're spotted and receive a FPN by an overzealous boy in blue?


In both cases I'd be doing the overtaking on the left, but would I win my argument if it came to it?

 

[whitenemesis]

First bullet - only if there was a right turn up ahead?

Second bullet - Only if the queue was being caused by a junction/restriction?

But I'm with you and would be passing on the left ...

 

[grober]

An opportunity to have your say here. https://consultation.dft.gov.uk/dft/2012-25/consult_view
Whether anyone's listening is anybody's guess of course.

 

[bedwards1966]

It's all very well saying that it hasn't gone up for some time - neither have most incomes, only expenditure.

If we're seeing a 50% increase, we should see something for it. Either no points on your licence with just a fine, or guaranteed a speed awareness course - again without points.
The robbing government would do better to remove points for minor/speeding offences and just stick with a fine. We wouldn't risk losing our licence or seeing insurance premiums rise, and if we don't lose our licence there is more potential for the government to get more fines if we're still on the road.

 

[bedwards1966]

An opportunity to have your say here. https://consultation.dft.gov.uk/dft/2012-25/consult_view
Whether anyone's listening is anybody's guess of course.

I know the answer. But I don't like it.

 

[MOCAŠ]

It's all very well saying that it hasn't gone up for some time - neither have most incomes, only expenditure.

If we're seeing a 50% increase, we should see something for it. Either no points on your licence with just a fine, or guaranteed a speed awareness course - again without points.
The robbing government would do better to remove points for minor/speeding offences and just stick with a fine. We wouldn't risk losing our licence or seeing insurance premiums rise, and if we don't lose our licence there is more potential for the government to get more fines if we're still on the road.

I refer you to corned's post (#4).

 

[whitenemesis]

It's all very well saying that it hasn't gone up for some time - neither have most incomes, only expenditure.

If we're seeing a 50% increase, we should see something for it. Either no points on your licence with just a fine, or guaranteed a speed awareness course - again without points.
The robbing government would do better to remove points for minor/speeding offences and just stick with a fine. We wouldn't risk losing our licence or seeing insurance premiums rise, and if we don't lose our licence there is more potential for the government to get more fines if we're still on the road.

It a PENALTY!!! It's supposed to penalise you. It's not a bargaining tool. Break the law, pay the price! IMHO it should triple/quadruple in cost, then perhaps some motorists would take greater heed?

 

[Deleted member 65149]

First bullet - only if there was a right turn up ahead?

How far ahead though? You know how some people feel a need to get into the RH lane about a mile before their turning!!

Second bullet - Only if the queue was being caused by a junction/restriction?

Does a moving restriction count (eg a slow car or concertina effect caused by cars too close and the one at the front braking)?

So many things open to so much interpretation. This driving lark is hard work isn't it

 

[bedwards1966]

Oh, I always love the replies from those who are 'holier than thou'.
It's very easy to make mistakes, it's easy to get caught speeding - speed creeps up on you, especially in a Mercedes.
How many on here can honestly say that they have never broken the speed limit accidentally? Never pulled onto a road and guessed (wrongly) what the limit was? Never missed a sign and got it wrong? Never done anything daft?
It's especially easy to get caught as the police do try hard, e.g waiting to get people 2mph over the limit by hiding just where it goes from a 60 to a 30 etc.
If so, I take my hat off to you (well I would if I was wearing one) as your clearly a better man than I, and also everyone I know. But to us mere humans, it's easy to do wrong, and putting up the price of a mistake under the guise of road safety when it's a simple way of earning more money is something which I feel to be very unfair.
Don't accept the claims that they'll lose money, it would require over 50% less FPN's to lose them money, that won't happen.

 

[CKLclive]

+1
if they had not got this country in so much s*** in the first place then they would
not think about raising fine costs as in another thread on here this country is now a rip off and its getting worse

 

[markjay]

They've been £60 for ages, about time they went up, really.

And who's Osbourne?

Just someone that wants to go further up before he is 60.

 

[Colin_b]

It a PENALTY!!! It's supposed to penalise you. It's not a bargaining tool. Break the law, pay the price! IMHO it should triple/quadruple in cost, then perhaps some motorists would take greater heed?

Which would be fine if all penalties were increasing by 50%.

But, as usual it is just driving related, reinforcing the view that the motivation is financial, rather than enforcement or safety.

 

[whitenemesis]

As "mere humans" many, if not all, have crept over the speed limit at some point.
But as the penalty increases the 'desire' to adhere to the limits increases. If it were at such a level that would seriously 'hurt' perhaps that attention would be more complete?

 

[whitenemesis]

Which would be fine if all penalties were increasing by 50%.

But, as usual it is just driving related, reinforcing the view that the motivation is financial, rather than enforcement or safety.

Just how does one 'enforce' the law effectively, unless the penalty for breaking it is substantial?