Maximum fine for motorway speeding to leap to £10,000

 

Adam Lusher
Tuesday 10 June 2014 01:11 BST
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The maximum fine for speeding on the motorway is to be quadrupled to £10,000, under new Government plans.

Under the planned reforms, maximum fines for speeding on dual carriageways and for using a mobile phone while driving will also quadruple, going from £1,000 to £4,000.

The planned punishments were immediately condemned as “disproportionate and draconian” by Rupert Lipton, the director of the National Motorists Action Group.

He claimed that fear of being hit with the maximum fine would stop innocent drivers from challenging unfair speeding tickets.

“If you wish to challenge you can currently face six points and a £1,000 fine on non-motorway roads or £2,500 on the motorway. Raising it four-fold is clearly an over-reaction.

“The threat and the fear of a disproportionate fine would deter many from trying to seek justice.”
Mr Lipton was backed by Edmund King, the president of the Automobile Association, who said: “We would not condone excessive speeding in any way, but fines have to be proportionate. One has to question whether increasing the fines four-fold is proportionate. It probably is not.

“If we had more cops in cars on the motorway that would be a much more effective deterrent.”
But Jeremy Wright, the justice minister, said: “Financial penalties can be an effective way of punishing criminals and deterring them from further offending.

“These changes will provide magistrates with greater powers to deal with the day-to-day offences that impact their local communities.”

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