XSeries-forum

https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/ca ... -police-UK
Beggars belief.

Suggested fines for 1mph over the limit. I would have thought the accuracy of a speedo would make us drive even slower than the limit shown therefore making journeys even longer, more tail backs etc. Their cameras would have to be super accurate. Best way would be to record your speed so if you are pulled you have the evidence to fight the fine.

I don’t know why they call it a ‘discretionary buffer’!  The international standard for vehicle speedos is within a 10% ‘over’ error margin at 30mph and a zero underread error.

One of the reasons being differences caused by tyre wear so unless the entire standard is going to change, and every current vehicle on the road is modified to meet the new standard a limit of 1mph will result in some court cases.  Tyre wear will reduce actual speed over time but what happens if you fit a new tyre with slightly more tread (other than a broken transmission on a BMW that is!)?

Given the additional errors reading speedos due to sitting position there are too many variables to make this practical.

I can understand what they are getting at but I can’t realistically see the Courts accepting it and altering the Law.

When I was involved in Speedwatch, our limit was 10% +2mph.  Anything less was ignored because Traffic Management had to take into account not only the speedo accuracy but also for errors in our radar (even though it was calibrated) system.

Reading the above comment is interesting in that it is an international standard. I spent alot of time driving in America and alot of states there have a zero tolerance. you get pulled for going over even slightly on the highways there.

I think the main problem with enforcing these tight speed limits is I find when in 20 mph restricted zones is that we concentrate more on our speedos than looking out of the windscreen.

The Daily Express headline arguably infers that all Police want this to be a reality. The report allegedly stems from one view expressed by one senior officer & thus arguably NOT the views of every UK officer.

Some may argue it is not practical to enforce &/or in the public interest make such a change.

To be fair, it’s not really any different to the existing situation, apart from the actual speed you can drive. For example, I can confidently drive at 45mph (actual, not indicted) through a 40 speed camera without having to worry about getting pinged, but if I drive 1mph over that, I’d be guaranteed to get caught. If they changed the prosecution guidelines to remove the 10%+2 rule, then I’d still get done at 1mph over the limit - it’s just that the limit would effectively shift.

So we’d move from a de facto speed limit to an actual speed limit, but the ‘tolerance’ wouldn’t change.

All that ignores the issue with measurement accuracy which basically means this would never be practical. They need the prosecution guidelines to be well in excess of the posted limit, otherwise the courts would be swamped with chancers trying to dodge tickets that were on the edge of the margin of error.

I can’t believe that one chief constable suggested it, yet the national media are spinning it like it’s actually going to happen. Actually, I can! )

If you read it in the Express ....forget it.  Harbingers of DOOM news and terrible headlines.  I agree with other postings where the 1 mile over is that of being over the tolerance which the system provides.  All you need and I suggest that's what has happened is a journalist unfamiliar with the system and thus grabbed and published a headline.