Opinion : Make the penalty fit the crime (or speeding offence)

It’s very unlikely that you will see me driving my trusty historic motor on a motorway.

Indeed on the few occasions that yours truly dared to venture on to the three lane highways of death your humble servant has been petrified at the antics of other drivers who seem to have a cavalier attitude to the rules of the road especially when they can drive at 70 MPH.

What can be more annoying and downright dangerous than tootling along keeping to the speed limit in the left hand lane only to have maniacs whizzing past at what must be over 100 MPH?

With virtually no speed cameras our stretch of the M40 it’s far safer to use the A40 if one should ever want to venture to such far flung places as Stokenchurch or Beaconsfield.

Let’s face it the fines for speeding can’t be much of a deterrent with so many travelling at hair raising speeds on the Motorways.

It seems the powers that be in London are also concerned at the speeding indeed I could not help but notice an article on the website of a national newspaper headlined ‘Maximum motorway speeding fine set to rocket to £10,000‘.

Getting a speeding ticket for £10,000 will certainly make people think twice. But will it make any difference? I guess that all depends if the motorists are caught in the first place.

A £10k ticket is a bit draconian though and with a flat rate the poor are likely to be hit hard while the rich just brush the fine off with impunity.

If I was in charge I would link the level of fine to the value of the car you are driving when it was new. That way the rich who drive expensive cars would pay more while the poor with the less expensive cars would pay less.

It’s a shame they don’t bring in fines for parking a car on the pavement.

People can be fined for leaving their wheelie bins out on the pavement when it’s not collection day but look how many residents of the town ignore that little rule?

From memory I think it’s about a £25 fine for leaving a bin out so how about putting that up to £5,000? Every bin should be clearly marked with the owners house number on and the traffic wardens could be drafted in to issue the fines just like ticketing a car.

Nuisance bonfires should also carry a large fine especially when it’s a sunny day and an inconsiderate neighbour decides to light up and fill the atmosphere with smelly smoke.

What do you think?

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