Making headlines in Sweden is the sentence imposed in a St. Gallen court that resulted in a £178,000 fine being handed out to a millionaire who clocked 137km/h in an area where the limit was 100km/h. It is notable given the fact the penalty is over twice as much as the previously highest fine.
Although most countries have fixed tariffs for penalties such as speeding violations, areas such as Scandinavia believe that when fining a victim their income should be taken into account to assure the fine is a relatively severe punishment.
The idea is that a set tariff may unfairly punish someone with a low income that cannot afford it, while at the same time a wealthy person will react to a set tariff as a simple slap on the wrist. Thus, with an adjustable income tariff all people are punished equally for breaking the law.
However, since Switzerland is attempting to become the hotspot for hedge funders, this raises the question of if wealthy people will simply hire a chauffeur to beat the speeding ticket for them and how adjusting the tariff will work if tax authorities do not give financial information to the police.
A new independent panel aims to prevent motorists from getting fined by private car parking companies unfairly.
Sadiq Khan, the transport minister, stated that self-regulation is not working correctly in the UK and that the government should step in. At the moment the private car parking industry is hardly regulated and there is not an independent adjudicator.
Drivers complain on a consistent basis that the private car companies use unscrupulous tactics and threaten county court judgements without any accountability.
Tracey Tremlett, a driver who received a ticket while visiting a restaurant stated that she was told that she was parked illegally for 60,235 minutes and threatened with a judgement. She also stated that even though she knew she was not in the wrong since she had only visited the restaurant twice she was scared to read the notice in the post.
At the moment the UK has around 26,000 permanent car parks with most complaints stemming from people who were parked on these sites. However, the new calls for reform tackle the entire private parking industry.
Sources from the AA stated that the industry is allowed to run ‘amok.’ Paul Walters of the AA stated that the problem is growing at a rapid rate as the industry attempts to extort higher amounts of money from the public.
Even the chief executive of the British Parking Association, Patrick Troy, stated that there needs to be a better system in place because there are not any laws that force car park operators to follow a code of practice.
Drivers who are faced fine for small motoring offences will now have a £15 surcharge tax added onto their fine that will be contributed to aid groups for victims of violent crime and domestic violence.
The new tax was hinted at in a Parliamentary answer before Christmas. As a result of its approval anyone who receives a fixed penalty ticket will have the surcharge automatically tacked on.
The extra penalty will be assessed on simple motoring offences such as running a stop sign, speeding, parking tickets, and even if a vehicle is driven with dirty windows.
Ministers stated that they hope to affix the new tax on every type of fixed penalty in the future. At the moment, only those who are found guilty in court will face the new surcharge.
Justice Minister Claire Ward stated in the Parliamentary reply that it is now government policy that offenders will need to help victim’s services as part of their penalty for breaking the law. Thus, new provisions have been made that add the surcharge onto criminal convictions, penalty notices, and minor road traffic offences.
Ward also stated that in the future the ministers intend to add the surcharge to other fines as soon as it becomes possible. She also stated that the proceeds will be used to provide funding for many organizations that help victims of crime.
The new surcharge will increase the rates of many basic fines such as the cost of a penalty notice for disorder from £80 to £95 and the cost of speeding fines from £60 to £75.
As the New Year arrives motorists are being warned not to jump in their vehicles too quickly after waking up from a night of drinking.
The IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) is issuing reminders to drivers that during the festive season they need to take caution on the roads as snow storms are once again expected in many areas across the UK.
The Institute said that it is likely that the weather conditions will be a bad mix with the amount of drivers who will be driving into shopping centres and towns for New Year’s Day sales.
The IAM added that the fact that many of these drivers may not realize they are still under the influence from celebrations the night before only makes matters worse.
Although most people are aware of the dangers of drink-driving while engaging in nighttime activities, most people do not realize the danger in driving to soon the next morning.
In fact, according to the IAM it can take as long as 12 hours for three glasses of wine or four pints to get out of a person’s system, which means that if their last drink was at 1am they should not be behind the wheel until lunch the next day.
Chief examiner for the charity Peter Rodger stated that the current weather forecast combined with morning after drink driving can possibly cause many problems.
The IAM advised using extreme caution while driving and taking the time to plan out your trip and listen to all travel bulletins before heading out.
Driving and using mobile phones is increasing despite the fact that penalties have been increased over the last few years.
A new survey that was released yesterday showed that out of 14,000 vehicles, 2.8% of the drivers were illegally found to be using a handheld mobile, compared to the slightly lower figure of 2.6% in 2006.
The London study found that even though driving with a handheld mobile decreased the amount of drivers down to 1.4% initially, it rose over the course of last year and 2009 past its initial rankings.
Scotland’s police have also reported that the number of drivers using a mobile has risen as well, with offences souring to about 13,000 in March and the total for 2008 had also almost been reached before summer had even arrived.
The Lothian and Borders Police also reported an increase in incidents marking a huge increase in the amount of cases they have had since last year.
A spokesman for the police agency stated that the Lothian and Borders Police are committed to keeping the roads safe and thus treat all offences seriously including mobile phone distractions which can increase the chances of a motorist having an accident.
The spokesman also noted that the violation for driving with a handset is three points on a licence and a £60 fine.
An additional survey by the Association of British Insurers listed mobile handset use while driving as one of the largest menaces that is currently on the road.
Bruce Burgess got a little egg on his face today after he was given 180 hours of community service and a suspended sentence for lying regarding a speeding issue to the police. The punch line is the fact that Burgess is a polygraph expert who offers website tests that are supposed to help establish innocence.
Burgess is from Surrey and was caught by a CCTV speeding over the 30mph limit on August 31st of 2009 but instead of admitting that he was speeding he told police that he was not driving the vehicle when it went through the intersection. Later, he pled guilty to lying and received sentencing at a Portsmouth crown court.
As a result of his action he now has a disqualified license, a £250 fine for speeding, three points on his license, and costs that total up to £1,250.
An officer with the Hampshire safety camera partnership, Mick Gear, stated that although it turned into a criminal matter, Burgess offence simply started out as a speeding ticket. He continued to say that it would have been easy to deal with the speeding offence instead of facing a possible prison sentence so his advice to others is not to try it.
Burgess has worked with many famous TV programs over the years including Jerry Springer, Jeremy Kyle, and Trisha. He also provides his services to private customers and states that he has helped prove many people innocent over the years of untrue allegations that were made against them.
Neil Purves, a hairdresser from Scotland was able to reach the highest speed ever recorded on Scottish roads, clocking up 166mph, but will now spend nine months in jail for his reckless accomplishment.
Police were alerted to his high speed when they heard a ‘high pitched’ engine noise approaching them, and then pursued him. An officer who had 28 years of patrolling the highways, said that he was shocked to see the excessive speeds that Purves was travelling at.
Alastair Learmouth, for the prosecution, told the Peebles Sheriff Court that 166mph is thought to be the fastest speed ever recorded on a Scotland public road.
Purves did not deny that he was speeding, and according to his lawyer, Graham Walker, is simply a reasonable young man who is remorseful of his actions. After being charged with speeding, the Cockburnspath man then sold his bike.
According to Walker, at the time that Purves attempted his high speed travel there were no other vehicles on the Dolphinton road. So the risk to the public was low, although he stated Purves was placing himself in considerable danger.
Sheriff John Horsburgh said that given the high speed, a custodial sentence as appropriate, but he did reduce the jail time from a year to nine months.
Due to the postal strikes, up to tens of thousands of motorists may evade CCTV fines for speeding, due to the fact that drivers cannot be convicted of speeding unless they receive notification of the offence in a two week time period.
After the postal workers went on strike last week around 20,000 notices of CCTV prosecution were stuck in the backlog, meaning that quite a few lucky motorists are off the hook this time. If another three day strike occurs as planned on Thursday a few more thousands will also be delayed.
Those who are lucky enough to have their notices delayed will avoid paying a £60 fine, and the addition of three points on their license. For a driver who already has nine points this can mean avoiding a six month license suspension.
The news is not so good for authorities, who estimate that they receive about £6m a week from speeding CCTV fines, and that the delayed notices will cost them about £1.2m in revenues a day.
Christ Sweetman, a road traffic lawyer, said that a driver cannot be prosecuted if they receive a notice over 14 days after the offence allegedly occurred, due to the fact that it becomes ‘out of time’ in court.
According to the Government, next year clamping firms on private property will have tougher rules after a meeting in London in which ministers, motoring groups, and parking firms will convene to discuss fines associated with parking on private land.
Last month the councils of Maidenhead and Windsor voted to consider how to stop clampers that are considered to be ‘overzealous.’
Alan Campbell, the crime reduction minister said that during 2010 drivers that fall prey to clampers on repeated occasions will be charged a more ‘reasonable’ amount, and be given a fairer amount of time to pay up, before their vehicle is towed.
Campbell also promised that next year a new fair appeals process will be initiated that requires claming companies to sign up for a new code of practice, otherwise they will not receive a license. What is more, if they do not follow the code they can risk losing their licensing privileges.
In Scotland private clamping is outlawed, but in Northern Ireland cars that do not have licenses may still be clamped. Throughout the rest of the UK public roads and car parks parking restrictions are already under regulation through the law.
In 2005 a self regulating system was formed that included a code of conduct, but most clamping firms did not sign up to follow it.
The AA believes that clampers do not follow the code due to the fact that often they impose extremely high fines for offences that are only deemed to be minor, and overcharge for towed cars.
Motorists will now have to carry their insurance cover note with them while driving, to prove they are covered under insurance if asked by police.
However, the news comes directly after a meeting between the leaders of the Communication Workers Union, to decide when their national postal strike will occur in Britain. This will be the first national postal strike to take place since 2007.
For drivers, the timing could be extremely inconvenient, especially if insured drivers are punished for not carrying their insurance forms due to delays in postal service, as a result of the strike.
Due to the 2007 postal strike, about 200 million items of post ended up in a heap, and took several weeks to finally reach their appropriate recipients.
Local strikes since June have already caused 30 million parcels and letters to backlog.
Police officers can use the Motor and Insurance Bureau database to check if drivers are insured, but the AA is fearful that if there are delays in updating the database, motorists could wrongly have their cars impounded.
A source from the AA said that, at times it can take two to three days until a person’s details are placed in the database.
Making headlines in Sweden is the sentence imposed in a St. Gallen court that resulted in a £178,000 fine being handed out to a millionaire who clocked 137km/h in an area where the limit was 100km/h. It is notable given the fact the penalty is over twice as much as the previously highest fine.
A new independent panel aims to prevent motorists from getting fined by private car parking companies unfairly.
Drivers who are faced fine for small motoring offences will now have a £15 surcharge tax added onto their fine that will be contributed to aid groups for victims of violent crime and domestic violence.
As the New Year arrives motorists are being warned not to jump in their vehicles too quickly after waking up from a night of drinking.
Driving and using mobile phones is increasing despite the fact that penalties have been increased over the last few years.
Bruce Burgess got a little egg on his face today after he was given 180 hours of community service and a suspended sentence for lying regarding a speeding issue to the police. The punch line is the fact that Burgess is a polygraph expert who offers website tests that are supposed to help establish innocence.
Neil Purves, a hairdresser from Scotland was able to reach the highest speed ever recorded on Scottish roads, clocking up 166mph, but will now spend nine months in jail for his reckless accomplishment.
Due to the postal strikes, up to tens of thousands of motorists may evade CCTV fines for speeding, due to the fact that drivers cannot be convicted of speeding unless they receive notification of the offence in a two week time period.
Motorists will now have to carry their insurance cover note with them while driving, to prove they are covered under insurance if asked by police.