Top cop calls for zero tolerance on speeding

You could not escape noticing in the news this week that Chief Constable Anthony Bangham, of West Mercia Police has called for the advisory leeway on speeding offences to be scrapped and drivers prosecuted for driving 1mph over the speed limit.

Chief Constable Bangham is the roads policing lead for the National Police Chiefs’ Council, many chief constables will take their lead from him. There is however, some dissension in the ranks as Chief Inspector Ian Hanson, chairman of the Greater Manchester Police Federation, said: “I find it absolutely staggering that the effective policy lead for policing should show himself to be so out of touch.”

There is however, some doubt that Chief Constable Bangham's calls for scapping the recommended leeway is even possible.

The current recommendation suggests that drivers who do not exceed 10% +2 mph over the given speed limit on any road, should not be prosecuted,  therefore on a 70 mph road a driver may not be prosecuted up to a speed of 79 mph. 

The reasons for the buffer are because of the potential for inaccuracies in Speed Cameras and Speedometers. If you have a Sat-Nav,  you will notice a disparity between your speedometer and your Sat-Nav,  this is because,  most, if not all speedometers are calibrated to under-read your spead,  if the speedometer is showing 70mph then ypu will usually be dping around 68 mph. Sat-Navs use GPS therefore they are, in the main, 100% accurate.

It has also been stated by some, that Chief Constable Bangham's recommendations could actually endanger road users, with drivers constantly looking at their speedo rather than the road.