More points for speeding

New speeding penalties have been proposed that will see people who are caught speeding getting as much as six points on their licence.

The proposals were first announced in January by the Home Secretary David Blunkett (see related article, right) but Transport secretary Alistair Darling has now confirmed that they are being put through a consultation process.

If accepted the new system would see riders that break the speed limit by only a small margin picking up just 2 penalty points and a £40 fine while those exceed the limit by a significant amount, 45mph in a 30 mph zone, would be looking at six points on their license and a £100 fine.

Currently riders receive a fixed penalty of three points and a £60 fine for any speeding offence.

The lower limits would not apply to people caught speeding in 20 zones as these are usually located around sensitive areas such as schools.

In a separate letter to the Guardian today, anti-speed campaigner Paige Mitchell has put the blame squarely on motorcyclists for the increase in the number of motorcycle accidents.

She says that riders continue to disregard the speed limits purely because they can easily evade current speed traps.

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