I have been driving for 9 years and for the first time ever i was caught driving at 36mph in a 30 zone a few weeks ago, i have the option to either pay the £60 fine and 3 points , or pay the £60 fine and attend a driving awareness course, i am going for the course as its the same cost anyway. Who knows maybe I will learn something as the whole learning to drive has changed loads in these 9 years, just lucky i dont have to resit my tests arghh!!! that would be a nightmare. The annoying thing about mine is that it was an hidden camera in the back of a van although my own fault for speeding

Anyway when the fine comes you will probably get a choice of fine and points or fine and awareness course, maybe a good idea to take the course??

as unfair as you may think the fine is....its a learning curve in your very new life of driving....and i bet that at every set of traffic lights from now on you will be even more cautious....

The police (hate the word cops) are supposed to be a source to respect.....if grown ups don't even bother doing that then how can we expect kids too. Thats whats wrong with this country these days...lack of respect for authority....in schools....on the street.....its just wrong.

Years ago the local policeman was a figure of authority.....so where teachers and elders...its gone to pot and why...cos parents are not passing it on.

There is a lot wrong here in the UK. We are moving to Norway in couple of years just for a better life. Just have to save the pennies.

And the points all come off before you know it anyway. Providing you don't get too many.

If that's the case, then how come you continued to offend and endanger lives?

Take it on the chin and slow down at lights. You shouldnt be going fast enough to cause an accident when approaching lights anyway.

thats a bit harsh kim nobody is a perfect driver and nobody doesnt break the speed limit ime sure by going a few miles over the limit zoe isnt endangering lives!! she probabally uses the roads more than the average user like me and in unknown areas most cameras are in natural fast spots not outside schools or shoping areas and there positioning is designed for increasing council revenue rather than safety i bought a tom tom 4 years ago and i have all the speed and signal cameras on audio alarm i did 33k last year and got 0 points but i did do 35mph in a 30 zone and 80 on the motorway as we all do but i hit the middle pedal when the siren sounded my driving record on paper is awful i freely admit that but i have never caused an injury to anyone as ime sure zoe hasnt

Of course we all make mistakes. My point is that Zoe was saying that she's learnt a lot by being sent on the course and I question that, as she said she'd been sent on it a couple of times. My point being that if it was that good, she wouldn'd have re-offended after going on it the first time. What's harsh about that?

OK my hotel does those courses and people moan about how they were only going a bit over the limit. Well the limit is the limit!! and you know what? their info is thrown all over the car park so are they learning?........... NO!!

ok fair comment but when your doing thousands of miles a year in strange areas its easy to get caught out i actually did not re offend after my course but only because i changed my driving style to suit the road conditions and stop being caught lol it was the(endangering lives) comment in your post that i thought was harsh the courses are really good though it was all about hazard perception and blame apportioning scenario followed by 2 afternoons driver training with a police instructor he showed us police driving techniques and scanning the road ahead for observation i would do it again every 2 years and pay for the course it was that good

I agree....you hear all the time....I was only doing 32 in a 30....but the speed limit is 30 not 32......if they increased it to 40 they'd do 42....rules are rules and often are there for good reason...you don't like the punishment...dont do the crime !!

Absolutely, the negative is having a fine and/or points - the positive is changing your driving style so it doesn't happen again. I was caught by a mobile camera doing 50mph in a 40mph limit after 20 years of driving with a clean license...... It shocked me hugely and made me realise how complacent I had become about speed limits and how my speed had crept up so instead of doing slightly over the limit I was over by a big margin.

I now drive within the speed limit most of the time. The point is that being caught was a massively positive thing for me, and I have changed my behaviour because of it.

For the record I also find the 'all police are bent' comment offensive.

As someone else said Violet, suck it up, learn from it and move on. There's a reason why new drivers pay so much in insurance premiums - they are a much bigger accident risk because they have an awful lot to learn......

hard to comment as wasnt there. but unfortunetly policeman/female or figures of 'authority' are not always honest.

but unless you have real evidence i think its hard to dispute it as the court will most likely go with them tbh because they are 'supposed' to tell the truth. even if they are not.

Traffic Light Rules in the UK - Traffic Signs And Meanings (UK)

I can't see how you couldn't stop your car if you (truly) were driving at 25 mph, if the car behind couldn't do the same then he was obviously driving too fast and if he'd have rear-ended your car it would have been him at fault, not you!

If you think this treatment is bad then come and get pulled over by the Guardia Trafico police here in Spain

They need no reason to stop anyone, they can do spot checks on any road at any time of the day or night. If they fine you then they ask you to pay there and then, if you don't have the money on you then they drive you to the nearest cash-point to remove the money from your bank account AND if it's a speeding offence you get 4 points on your license as opposed to 3, so all in all I think you guys have it easy in the UK!

IMO, stop whinging about it, pay the fine and accept the 3 points in good grace, learn from it and don't re-offend.

Oh, and for the record (now that my soap box has been pulled out and dusted off LOL) I agree with Kim re endangering lives, speed limits are there for a reason, if you drive over the limit then you are endangering lives... everyone's seen the tv advert with the little girl haven't they?

I've just been reading through this thread and my advice would be to pay the fine and learn from the experience.

I think the comments regarding the police are mostly un-called for...how would we, as nail/beauty/hair professionals, feel if we were all tarred with the same brush as bad nail techs (or beauty therapists/hairdressers) just because some people have had a bad experience with one???

I would expect any new driver, 1 week after passing their test, to be exercising a fair amount of caution due to being so new on the road...we all know that learning to pass a driving test is different experience to driving a car, passing your test does not give you the experience that many drivers have gained over their years of driving.

I'm the same as sandi, a little unsure as to how you couldn't have stopped?

Over 5 years elapsed and I was rushing to get to get home to pick my daughter up from school. This is exactly what you learn on the course - something that is happening to you, can make you speed. What I learnt on the course is that it would be better to be a few minutes late for my daughter than risk an accident.

Oh if only I were perfect...