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Car wheel at speed copyright Simon MacMichael.jpgDrivers to be fined and given penalty points for range of careless driving offences starting from today
From today, motorists face a £100 fine and having 3 points put on their licence for a range of road safety related offences, including some related to driver distraction or emerging from a side road into the path of another vehicle. But road safety charity IAM says it’s driver education, not fines, that could have a bigger influence on road safety for all users.
In June, the government published its response to a consultation on the proposed amendments to the law first mooted a year earlier, and confirmed it was seeking to make some careless driving-related offences subject to £100 fixed penalty notices, or offer the driver in question remedial training.
One of the reasons behind the change in approach is that all too often, such offences are not prosecuted due to the cost, both financial and in terms of police time, in taken them all the way to court.
The new rules come into effect today. One that is receiving media attention is that motorists will face fines for staying in the middle lane on motorways, but several others touch upon issues of relevance to the safety of vulnerable road users such as cyclists or pedestrians.
Besides the introduction of fixed penalty notices for careless driving, there has also been an increase in the level of fines for some offences already subject to them.
Using a handheld mobile phone, whether for voice calls or to send texts, emails, or check apps or websites – all found by research to be more of a threat to road safety than driving over the permitted alcohol limit, particularly given the rise of smartphone ownership – will now be punishable by a fine of £100, up from £60; as was previously the case, driving licences will be endorsed with 3 points.
Potentially, the prospect of those penalty points could give teeth to the law, since it would be likely to result in higher insurance premiums for the motorist concerned if caught and hit them harder in the pocket, but only if the rules are properly enforced, something that was queried by IAM at the time the chang
In a press release today, IAM summarises some of the aspects of careless driving that will now be subject to a fine as including:
overtaking on the inside
driving inappropriately close to another vehicle
inadvertently driving through a red light
emerging from a side road into the path of another vehicle
tuning a car radio; when the driver was avoidably distracted by this action
selecting and lighting a cigarette or similar when the driver was avoidably distracted by that use.
Its chief executive, Simon Best, cautioned however that the approach to enforcement needed to be carefully targeted if the changes were to have maximum impact.
“If the police target the worst and most persistent offenders this could be good news for road safety,” he explained.
“If, however, it just becomes another numbers game with thousands of careless driving tickets issued then the impact will be limited.
“The IAM believes that driver retraining courses have a much bigger potential to actually improve poor driving than simply issuing a standard fine and should always be offered as the first stage of prosecution.”
Announcing the changes to the law in June, road safety minister Stephen Hammond said: "Careless drivers are a menace and their negligence puts innocent people's lives at risk.
"That is why we are making it easier for the police to tackle problem drivers by allowing them to immediately issue a fixed penalty notice rather than needing to take every offender to court.
"We are also increasing penalties for a range of driving offences to a level which reflects their seriousness and which will ensure that they are consistent with other similar penalty offences."
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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41 comments
IAM is a road safety charity? Lol. In bizarro world maybe.
As many people have said, this means little without more police on the roads to enforce it.
There is no 'slow lane' - or 'fast lane'. It's the inside lane and the over taking lane according to the Police - or used to be.
Instead of fining people for driving faults the government needs invest in Public Info Films to remind people how to drive on motorways, what indicators are for and why they are important and why tailgating is dangerous.
I sympathise with some middle lane hoggers. All the timid folk who used to inhabit the inside lane are now sandwiched between lorries which will not slow to let other lorries pass so block two lanes for miles on end - and the Audi brigade in the outside lane.
Why are Audi drivers so aggressive? There's a psychology doctorate in here somewhere. Looking at all the interior decor from the A3 to the A6 the answer could be the black and chrome boy racer fixtures which make every driver feel a little bit sporty and too quick to be held back by other road users.
Critchio's right. Complacency with a dose of entitlement is increasing. I see cars ignoring red lights on pelican crossings all the time and the 30mph speed limit is a joke to most drivers.
I have seen it many times, empty motorway and cars in the middle lane. Is it really sensible to fine people for this? Its ruddy annoying that's for sure but £60 annoying? Instead of these fines I would like to see better sentencing guidelines and retesting for motorists every few years
The measures won't make a blind bit of difference, period. The reduction in Roads Policing officers, the reducution in response and neighbourhood officers means the officers left are run ragged with high workloads. They have to prioritise their jobs. They are going to treat minor road offences as they do now.... do nothing and let them pass.
Road users (lorry, van, car drivers and even cyclists) have become complacent on our roads and think nothing of committing minor road offences because even if spotted by patrol officers they turn a blind eye because they have jobs stacked up.
Its lip service, nothing more and it won't help.
The A82 through Glencoe is notorious for being unfriendly to cyclists.
On the positive side there are roads much better suited to cycling in Scotland.
Yes - the A836 and B871 are super fun.
Keith Brown, Scottish Minister of Transport, launching the "Nice Way Code" "mutual respect" campaign. Note the car that is parked beyond the stop line, and which is violating Highway Code 191 by overtaking another vehicle at a pedestrian crossing. The gentleman in the passenger seat is Neil Greig, Director of Policy and Research at the Institue of Advanced Motorists.
@Colin, perhaps outside of London you begin to realise that up here in Scotland we've passed already last years total...
Ah, well you've got me there. It often feels that these pages becoming a venting ground for peoples fears. But as a cyclist you do face risk, but sometimes that risk is unbalanced by the fear people have from reading about dying. A bit like people who fear flying....
I did the Ride Across Britain last year. Your roads are terrible, and I think I felt at most risk when riding in Glencoe. So you have my sympathies.
The buses cared not a jot how close they were. Several were just inches from me. But the maddest thing I experienced was a douche who decided to overtake the on-coming traffic. He gave the car he was overtaking plenty of room, and acted like I wasn't even there, and so was also inches away, but coming at me 'head-on'.
When you're next driving along a quiet motorway and you spot some twonk in the middle lane, go across the two lanes to over take them in the far-side lane and then head back to the near side lane and lift off the accelerator. If this twonk hasn't taken the hint let him/her/it over take you and repeat the maneuver and see how many rings you can do around the hog until he/she/it finally wakes up and moves into the near side lane. Only attempt this on a very quiet motorway and not on a busy one (apply common sense).
Those individuals getting heated about middle lane hogging seem to be the obnoxious pedants who this law seems to be targeting. If you can't keep up with traffic stick with the lorries doing 50 mph in the near-side lane after all 70mph is the maximum not the required speed.
'It sort of strikes me as the sort of behaviour that many cyclists complain about i.e. people behaving as if they own the roads because they are the fastest on the roads.'
Quite the opposite. It's like the cyclists who RLJ moaning because those of us obey the rules are asking them not to give everyone else a bad name.
I'm surprised this law wasn't already a law. Also agree with other points here, if someone needs retraining on driving, perhaps they were passed too easily.
is this just some lipservice with the rash of cycle deaths recently, as it will hardly ever be enforced, apart from of course a Copper needing to "up his quota" standing at a junction seeing a rich guy in a Porsche messing with his phone and hey presto he can now get him there an then.
in all my years of riding ive never once seen a policecar/officer be at the same point at the same time as me on a bike when a car passed me by with less than 1inch to spare...so what the hell is the point....get more police on unmarked bikes and the existing laws will suffice....
What rash of cycle deaths? (did you know that cycle deaths in London are actually down in the last year to just 6?) I think that there are popular misconceptions about cycling deaths, especially on this website, because they have a habit of reporting all of them. More pedestrians and motorcyclist were killed last year (in London). This is the problem with media, is that it is difficult to filter out what it is telling you, and what the truth is.
As far as I can see this is just the government's road transport policy. In all likelihood, due to increased road use, and an influx in foreign drivers (immigration) this is an attempt to create culture of transportation. It's not about cycling at all, except that if it gets motorists behaving better it benefits us.
They would jump on any driver messing about with their phones. You seem to be just venting, and not really paying attention to specifics here.
You are less likely to see anyone misbehave with a policeman around as they will likely get pulled up and fined/cautioned/arrested. It is a reason to have more men on the beat, but that's actually expensive.
Interesting that when youvdrive in France lane discipline is always better on 2 lane autoroutes. When it becomes 3 lane it all seems to go to pot.
I still reckon getting everybody to re-take their driving theory test and have an eye test every few years would sharpen peoples road sense up.
When I passed my test 30 years ago there were no such things as ASLs. When I took my bike test a few years later I was amazed at how much of the highway code had changed.
(I also took my advanced test when I'd taken my normal test. Cost me nowt as the instructers were volunteers).
good news but they need to enforce it ffs.
about as much use as creating a law making it illegal to fart in the bath.
'fixed penalty notices - just another way of milking money out of the cash cow that is the motorist!'
is that lifted verbatim from the Daily Mail? Do fixed penalty notices also give you cancer?
Don't motorways seem to confuse lots of drivers?
All this talk of slow lanes, middle lanes and fast lanes ... Motorways can have 2, 3 or 4 lanes on each carriageway and may or may not have a hard-shoulder.
And don't confused drivers get angry and defensive - just like children in schools who will strike out and behave badly because they don't understand and nobody realises.
Maybe the real problem here is that you aren't taught how to drive on motorways as part of the process of learning to drive. I've always beleived that after the standard test there should be a motorway test and only after that could anyone receive a full licence.
fixed penalty notices - just another way of milking money out of the cash cow that is the motorist!
You don't get a FPN if you're not breaking the law.
Just respect the rules and other people.
"You CANT have it both ways.
Wanking on about hogging, then saying you want to overtake, then saying 75 is illegal.
fuck off."
I hope you're not that angry when at the wheel, but I should think that you probably are. Read the link above and try to be more calm. All that anger will get you killed one day.
all anyone (particularly Animal) needs to know:
www.howmotorwayswork.co.uk
What this website doesn't say is anything about speed limits. It suggests that people travelling at 70mph in the middle lane who have traffic behind them should pull in (in this case let us take it for red that the left-hand lane is not full, but is in constant use). But this would only be for people travelling 70+mph which is not part of the highway code.
Surely the people who should alter their behaviour (i.e. be fined) are the speeders. I'm not really sure about who the middle lane w@nkers are - except people identified by people travelling over 70+mph who force them to drive in the fast lane....
It sort of strikes me as the sort of behaviour that many cyclists complain about i.e. people behaving as if they own the roads because they are the fastest on the roads.
Loads of police out today on my 12mile commute to London. They were actually slowing down coming in the opposite direction to see if I would stop at reds. Good! It should work both ways.
& as for middle lane hogs... don't get me started
Signing off, cylist & BMW driver (worst combo, right
heehee)
I would rate Audi drivers the worse. If there is one vehicle that persistantly buzzes me it's an Audi, and usually being driven too fast.
Here again we see the motoring lobby making excuses for bad driving, if you hold a driving licence you have responsibilities. It is time that groups like IAM started to treat this seriously, they have blood on their hands. We have these laws for a reason, to protect the vulnerable and save lives, therefore these laws should be enforced.
Unless the motoring lobby can show the law is unfair or unreasonable, they should expect to act within them. If they feel that these laws are unfair or unreasonable, they should layout a clearly reasoned case for why the the law should be changed, not make spurious claims that it is a "tax" or "to raise revenue". No they are to save lives!
We have plenty enough Police, the problem is all the bureaucracy/paperwork that needs to be dealt with. Just harping on that we need more police will cost us more money unnecessarily.
50% of stops that could involve points being taken are let off, stop doing that, it encourages racism, sexism, and every other prejudice going. Why should someone get off of points because they basically are charismatic or have the gift of the gab?
And end the hardship clause already, no-one NEEDS a car.
You CANT have it both ways.
Wanking on about hogging, then saying you want to overtake, then saying 75 is illegal.
fuck off.
FFS!
I AM OVERTAKING!
500 effing lorries!
And SORRY if I won't go 100mph.
If YOU want to do that then sod off.
I thought the idea of a driving licence was to prove you were responsible enough to drive on the roads etc. Advanced courses should not be necessary,if this not the case the original test should therefore be improved. Also the 12 points and your out, should not be open to some people still being able to drive with 15 points, or the ridiculous 25 points I once heard about.
True story.
got a telling off and their advice at the time was that I should have stayed behind him for as long as it took, even if it was 100 miles.
I got told off by the police for under taking a car, it was midnight and only me and this other car on the road, after following him on the dual carriageway for over a mile (@50mph ) and him not moving over I went for the undertake (cautiously). The police were watching from a bridge.
We were both technically wrong, only me pulled tho.
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