Sheffield motorists' anger over idea to penalise for 1mph over speed limit

An idea to penalise motorists who break the speed limit by just 1mph could lead to more accidents as drivers will be constantly checking their speedometers.
Speed gun.Speed gun.
Speed gun.

That's the damning verdict of Sheffield Star readers after comments by a top cop sparked a huge debate on the paper's Facebook page.

West Mercia Police Chief Constable Anthony Bangham is said to have called for an end to the "buffer" over the limit, which suggests police forces should only issue penalties for drivers caught at 10 per cent plus 2mph over the limit - such as 35mph in a 30mph zone.

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National news: Should drivers be penalised for going 1mph over the speed limit?
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Mr Bangham, the National Police Chiefs Council lead on road policing, reportedly said the days of the 'soft' treatment of offenders must come to an end.

Dozens of Star readers expressed their concern over the idea.

Beverley Dwyer said: "It is easy to go over and the more your checking your speedometer the more your eyes are off the road which probably would mean more accidents."

Leanne Hawley added: "Even black boxes allow a little leeway for human error. Think about all the new drivers.

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"It will be a whole lot dangerous with new drivers looking at their speedometer all the time for the sake of 1mph."

Steve Thomas posted: "The reason there is a 10 per cent buffer is to allow for speedometer calibration differences so if you are travelling at 30mph as indicated on your car and it is slightly out.

"Where do you stand there? Do we now have to drive 2mph slower just in case?"

With a hint of sarcasm, Allan Smith said: "Sorry officer I didn’t see that car in front of me had stopped I was making sure I wasn’t going over 30."

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Derrick Priestley agreed that many drivers would be "constantly checking the speedometer, resulting in less time looking out for road hazards."

He added: "Maintaining a constant speed on a flat level road is not too difficult but if the road has even a slight downhill slope then speed can increase 1mph very easily."