Penalties for careless driving

[Frood42]

Signed up to Driving Standards Agency email shots a while ago.
You get a part of the Highway Code each week, nice little mind joggers.

Anyway, got this about penalties for careless driving changing and new police powers.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-penalties-for-careless-driving-come-into-force
https://www.gov.uk/penalty-points-endorsements/endorsement-codes-and-penalty-points

https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKDSA/subscriber/new?

 

[Davidc]

Still far too low and lenient. Generally by a factor of at least 10.

Good to see tailgating and poor lane discipline brought into the net though.

 

[BigonaBianchi]

It's a move in the right direction. Still not heavy enough though. Perhaps so called professional drivers like taxis, hgv, and bus drivers should get double penalties...they seem to be worse than most around here and should know better.

Hang 'em all !

 

[mr_cellophane]

Drove 150 miles back from Derby tonight. Only 6 or 7 cars stayed in the middle lane where the outside lane was clear. . Worst place was still the 4 lane section of the M25 between the M11 and A12.

 

[Arch]

Perhaps so called professional drivers like taxis, hgv, and bus drivers should get double penalties...they seem to be worse than most around here and should know better.

Digressing a bit, but on the subject of professional drivers....


Here in York, they are about to close one of the river bridges to private cars and vans during the day - it'll be open to buses, and taxis, and cyclists (and pedestrians of course). This is all part of a trial to make more of the centre of York even more pleasant to walk around (a large part of it is completely pedestrianised during the day).

I have my doubts about the scheme for various reasons, and one of them is speed. To pass over that bridge in traffic currently, vehicles are pretty much nose to tail, and crawling. Take out the cars and vans, and the remaining traffic will presumably be able to go at 30 (I've not heard of any lower limit being introduced). Since those remaining drivers will be bus and taxi drivers, not always known for their patience, I suspect there will be speeding.

So where cyclists can currently choose to filter slowly, or wait in line, mostly at an advantage over drivers, they will now be the slower parties, on a narrow road where drivers are unlikely and unable to give room when overtaking.

Of course, the promotional literature shows an artist's impression of the bridge, populated purely by strolling people and a couple of cyclists. Not a taxi in sight....

And anyway, as someone who walks over the bridge on a regular basis to and from the station, I'll tell you what makes it annoying, it's all the other bloody pedestrians, ambling along, taking up the whole pavement, and stopping dead without warning to take photos!

 

[Accy cyclist]

I tend to move into the middle lane when approaching a slip road,as i find that many vehicles just move onto the motorway without giving way to the traffic already on it. If i'm "caught" doing this will i be fined? I mostly drive in the"slow"lane,but when i move into the middle for about 40 seconds is that classed as holding up other traffic if i'm doing 65mph?

 

[Frood42]

I tend to move into the middle lane when approaching a slip road,as i find that many vehicles just move onto the motorway without giving way to the traffic already on it. If i'm "caught" doing this will i be fined? I mostly drive in the"slow"lane,but when i move into the middle for about 40 seconds is that classed as holding up other traffic if i'm doing 65mph?

Limit not a target, outside lane free, discretion would suggest no, but then I'm no police officer...
If you were doing 40 or 50 then maybe...
IMO

 

[ufkacbln]

I love the bleating that has already started about it being revenue raising and another "tax on motorists"

When will these thickos understand that they can avoid these "taxes" by driving legally and dcorrectly?

 

[Arch]

I love the bleating that has already started about it being revenue raising and another "tax on motorists"

When will these thickos understand that they can avoid these "taxes" by driving legally and dcorrectly?

Never. Because they are thickos.

What they really want to say I guess is that this is unfair because they can't drive just how they want to, regardless of anyone else. But they have just enough brain cells to know that that sounds selfish.

 

[KEEF]

A small helping of patience, good manners and common sense would improve driving standards 100%

 

[Arch]

A small helping of patience, good manners and common sense would improve driving standards 100%

And indeed, life generally!

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Digressing a bit, but on the subject of professional drivers....

I've said this before and I'll say it again:

It's a bugbear of mine that hgv drivers, taxi drivers, bus drivers etc are regularly referred to as professional drivers, as though they are members of some elevated group; they're not, they're commercial drivers, folk whose job involves driving for hire or reward but who do not have to pass anything more than a standard driving test of competence for the particular class of vehicle.

GC

 

[Arch]

I've said this before and I'll say it again:

It's a bugbear of mine that hgv drivers, taxi drivers, bus drivers etc are regularly referred to as professional drivers, as though they are members of some elevated group; they're not, they're commercial drivers, folk whose job involves driving for hire or reward but who do not have to pass anything more than a standard driving test of competence for the particular class of vehicle.

GC

Yes good point. It should perhaps be 'professional' drivers.... Although 'professional' simply means doing a thing for pay, so it's also perfectly correct.

 

[Archie_tect]

I tend to move into the middle lane when approaching a slip road,as i find that many vehicles just move onto the motorway without giving way to the traffic already on it. If i'm "caught" doing this will i be fined? I mostly drive in the"slow"lane,but when i move into the middle for about 40 seconds is that classed as holding up other traffic if i'm doing 65mph?

You only need to move into the middle lane to pass slower traffic otherwise you could find yourself boxed in the the middle lane by cars joining from the slip road who can't undertake you but want to go faster than you especially if you are travelling at 65 on your speedometer which will actually be 61 to 63. It is the responsibility of the other vehicles around you to match their speed to yours when joining from a slip road so if you find yourself forced into the middle lane with traffic bearing down on you from behind you have the option of speeding up slightly to find a suitable gap to move back safely if you feel concerned that the joining traffic hasn't seen you.

 

[sleaver]

Still far too low and lenient. Generally by a factor of at least 10.

Good to see tailgating and poor lane discipline brought into the net though.

Going down the M23 on the way home and it has made no difference. So much so that you would have thought people thought you would get fined if you wasn't in the middle lane. There was about a mile where everyone was in the middle or outside lane and the inside was completely empty except for me as I was coming off at the next junction. I literally had to slow down to about 60mph so that I didn't undertake everyone.