driving on m6

[maingate]

Simply bad driving on motorways nowadays, government needs to make a decision either turn motorways into freeways to allow passing in any lane or enforce the existing rules.

Our local police (Northamptonshire) have launched a new campaign asking people to send in dash cam videos for them to prosecute bad behaviour, but really they should be policing the roads themselves, but they simply don’t do so. Therefore roads have just become chaos.

Smart motorways have plenty of cameras and should be used for prosecutions. They have average speed cameras in roadworks but I have never heard of anyone being prosecuted for speeding.

If it was up to me I would have cameras at all traffic lights as running red lights is a common occurrence. It would bring in a lot of money but more importantly reduce accidents. A computerised system could be self financing and provide job opportunities for civilian staff. Also using mobile phones is common and many forces do not follow up on dashcam footage (apart from when provided by cyclists).

 

[Thistle]

If it was a taxi I wonder what nationality the driver was and whether he even held a UK driving licence, in many parts of the world with zero road traffic rules minimal adherence to any form of road safety or vehicle maintenance and almost kamikaze behaviour I imagine stopping anywhere whenever is the norm!

Certainly here in the UK by far the worse standards of driving I witness are often from so called professional taxi drivers!

On the subject of professional drivers does anyone watch tread the globe? Marianne is regularly boasting she is a professional driver whatever that means!

 

[Robmac]

Smart motorways have plenty of cameras and should be used for prosecutions. They have average speed cameras in roadworks but I have never heard of anyone being prosecuted for speeding.

If it was up to me I would have cameras at all traffic lights as running red lights is a common occurrence. It would bring in a lot of money but more importantly reduce accidents. A computerised system could be self financing and provide job opportunities for civilian staff. Also using mobile phones is common and many forces do not follow up on dashcam footage (apart from when provided by cyclists).

I'm astounded by the amount of drivers I still see using mobile 'phones Jim.

It should be treated the same as drink driving, instant ban for 12 months and I would add that you would need to pass a test again. Another instance of no deterrent in my opinion.

 

[wildebus]

Smart motorways have plenty of cameras and should be used for prosecutions. They have average speed cameras in roadworks but I have never heard of anyone being prosecuted for speeding.

Really? No one prosecuted for speeding in roadworks with average speed cameras? I doubt that very much.

(I was done twice in the space of less than an hour for driving at around 50MPH in roadworks with average speed cameras. In my defence, there were NO roadworks actively taking place, no workers on the road and it was a Saturday, plus the cones were to one side. But the average speed cameras were still active for no reason whatsoever.)

If it was up to me I would have cameras at all traffic lights as running red lights is a common occurrence. It would bring in a lot of money but more importantly reduce accidents. A computerised system could be self financing and provide job opportunities for civilian staff. Also using mobile phones is common and many forces do not follow up on dashcam footage (apart from when provided by cyclists).

 

[Robmac]

Really? No one prosecuted for speeding in roadworks with average speed cameras? I doubt that very much.

(I was done twice in the space of less than an hour for driving at around 50MPH in roadworks with average speed cameras. In my defence, there were NO roadworks actively taking place, no workers on the road and it was a Saturday, plus the cones were to one side. But the average speed cameras were still active for no reason whatsoever.)

Out of interest did you actually get prosecuted twice - was it on the same road as I would have thought it could be deemed as the same offence?

If so, did you get offered 2 Speed Awareness courses?

 

[maingate]

Really? No one prosecuted for speeding in roadworks with average speed cameras? I doubt that very much.

(I was done twice in the space of less than an hour for driving at around 50MPH in roadworks with average speed cameras. In my defence, there were NO roadworks actively taking place, no workers on the road and it was a Saturday, plus the cones were to one side. But the average speed cameras were still active for no reason whatsoever.)

Well now I have heard of one person fined for careless driving.

 

[wildebus]

Well now I have heard of one person fined for careless driving.

who is that?

PS. Careless driving is a specific offence. Speeding is a specific offence. they are separate offences.

 

[wildebus]

Out of interest did you actually get prosecuted twice - was it on the same road as I would have thought it could be deemed as the same offence?

If so, did you get offered 2 Speed Awareness courses?

two seperate sets of roadworks so difference offences (and NO work actually being done on either road and no workers, so a sign saying "reduced speed limits to protect the workforce" was farcical).
You can only do one speed awareness course at a time so if you were offered two, you could only take one anyway. As it happens I was just offered the one, so got the 3 points for the other.

 

[Robmac]

two seperate sets of roadworks so difference offences (and NO work actually being done on either road and no workers, so a sign saying "reduced speed limits to protect the workforce" was farcical).
You can only do one speed awareness course at a time so if you were offered two, you could only take one anyway. As it happens I was just offered the one, so got the 3 points for the other.

Yes I believe you can only do one in 3 years.

I did 3 in 4 years. When I was offered the latter 2 each time I 'phoned them to tell them I was not eligible but they said don't worry about it just do the course - so I did.

 

[mark61]

You are meant to be driving, not playing Risk on your phones.

I better not drive today, might be my turn for a ticket.

They ain't dishing them out for bicycles yet, so I'm safe on that.

 

[1 Cup]

Bib Bib

 

[mistericeman]

two seperate sets of roadworks so difference offences (and NO work actually being done on either road and no workers, so a sign saying "reduced speed limits to protect the workforce" was farcical).
You can only do one speed awareness course at a time so if you were offered two, you could only take one anyway. As it happens I was just offered the one, so got the 3 points for the other.

Workers working or not won't affect the TRO (traffic regulation order ) that will have been in place for the period of the roadworks ...
When roadworks are implemented there will be a TRO implemented for a defined time slot (not unusual for roadworks to over run BUT the TRO to have expired ...and I know of folks that have fought speeding fines on the basis that the TRO has expired and won )

 

[wildebus]

Workers working or not won't affect the TRO (traffic regulation order ) that will have been in place for the period of the roadworks ...
When roadworks are implemented there will be a TRO implemented for a defined time slot (not unusual for roadworks to over run BUT the TRO to have expired ...and I know of folks that have fought speeding fines on the basis that the TRO has expired and won )

it is daft though.
No point in fighting it as that would just cost more money than it is worth to do that even if you did manage to win.
What was amusing to me was the reason I was even on that journey was to drive down to London to pick up a new car as I had decided the current one was a bit slow guess it wasn't actually slow enough

 

[mistericeman]

it is daft though.
No point in fighting it as that would just cost more money than it is worth to do that even if you did manage to win.
What was amusing to me was the reason I was even on that journey was to drive down to London to pick up a new car as I had decided the current one was a bit slow guess it wasn't actually slow enough

Possibly the 'daft' bit was deciding not to stick to the posted speed limit ...

I agree it's frustrating to have to stick to a limit in roadworks when there is obviously no one working ...
BUT it's just the vagaries of the way the TRO system works ...no flexibility at all ..

Mind wait till you see the stuff that goes on trackside with a track possession order for works on the railway .
All tied up with health and safety of the workers .

 

[maingate]

Yes I believe you can only do one in 3 years.

I did 3 in 4 years. When I was offered the latter 2 each time I 'phoned them to tell them I was not eligible but they said don't worry about it just do the course - so I did.

You sound like me and the Wife a few years ago. I thought they may start inviting us to their Xmas Party.

Once we found out their favourite areas for siting the mobile cameras, we never had any more problems.

 

[1 Cup]

So seen a few taxi / private hire nutters lost as what to do ! Has the government's coures just graduated ?. Lol

 

[guerdeval]

it is daft though.
No point in fighting it as that would just cost more money than it is worth to do that even if you did manage to win.
What was amusing to me was the reason I was even on that journey was to drive down to London to pick up a new car as I had decided the current one was a bit slow guess it wasn't actually slow enough

You can attend a speed awareness course anywhere in the UK and the cost does vary ever so slightly ,I had a clean licence so chose to pay the fine rather than being lectured to by some opinionated ex copper topping up his generous pension so 3 points for me for 33 in a 30.

 

[wildebus]

You can attend a speed awareness course anywhere in the UK

England and Wales at least. Don't know about Northern Ireland (I'd be surprised TBH).
In Scotland at the time of my 'incident', speed awareness courses were not really a thing. Not offered if speeding in Scotland and none were run, so I did mine in England at a hotel around 300 yards from the Border and mostly attended by Scots who transgressed in England.

I happened to be having a chat last week about this topic to a friend who tends to collect speeding offences a little too often and he said these courses are maybe now maybe offfered a bit more in Scotland since all the Police forces in Scotland combined to a single "Police Scotland"?

and the cost does vary ever so slightly ,I had a clean licence so chose to pay the fine rather than being lectured to by some opinionated ex copper topping up his generous pension so 3 points for me for 33 in a 30.

The person who did mine was actually not opinionated in any way and lived in the real world same as those attending. In fact it was an interesting session.

 

[mariesnowgoose]

Really? No one prosecuted for speeding in roadworks with average speed cameras? I doubt that very much.

(I was done twice in the space of less than an hour for driving at around 50MPH in roadworks with average speed cameras. In my defence, there were NO roadworks actively taking place, no workers on the road and it was a Saturday, plus the cones were to one side. But the average speed cameras were still active for no reason whatsoever.)

I was done (good few years back) by the camera on some A1 roadworks heading south to the NEC Birmingham with a friend, so reckon me and wildebus will definitely not be the only ones, Jim

 

[mariesnowgoose]

You can attend a speed awareness course anywhere in the UK and the cost does vary ever so slightly ,I had a clean licence so chose to pay the fine rather than being lectured to by some opinionated ex copper topping up his generous pension so 3 points for me for 33 in a 30.

The person who did mine was actually not opinionated in any way and lived in the real world same as those attending. In fact it was an interesting session.

The only speed awareness course I've ever had to do I found the bloke "lecturing" us did a great job.

I actually enjoyed it and learned quite a lot! He certainly wasn't "opinionated" or judgemental, so I concur with wildebus.

Seems you have an opinion on the subject, but not ever attended a course...?!