Road police chief proposes zero-tolerance speeding policy

The current 10% buffer should be scrapped and speed awareness courses used less, says Britain’s road policing chief

Britain’s road policing chief has proposed that the 10% buffer on speeding, which allows the police to give some leeway when enforcing the speed limit, should be scrapped.

Speaking at the Police Federation road policing conference, Anthony Bangham, the head of the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) on road policing said: “the law is set at the limit for a reason.

“They should not come whingeing to us about getting caught. If booked at 35, 34 or 33 in a 30mph zone, that cannot be unfair because they are breaking the law,” he said, according to The Guardian. 

Bangham suggested that the move would improve road safety.

“On average, 5 people are killed on our roads every day. Our role is to help make our roads safer, and we will seek compliance with the law to help prevent the tragedies that happen too often,” he said.

The NPCC alleged that transport minister Jesse Norman agrees that reform to road policing is needed, although didn’t clarify if the minister agreed with Bangham’s proposed policy change. A Department for Transport spokesman told The Guardian that speed limit enforcement is a police matter.

Bangham’s proposal has drawn harsh criticism from various groups including the AA and MPs.

IAM Roadsmart’s head of policy, Neil Grieg, said: “Drivers want more enforcement, particularly of drink and drug driving, careless driving and mobile phone use, and to see more traffic police out there doing it. The limit is the limit but a lack of consistency on speeding has allowed urban myths about thresholds and revenue-raising to take hold in the minds of far too many drivers.

"Simply adjusting the electronic setting on a few cameras is unlikely to eradicate road deaths caused by human error, fatigue or impairment caused by drink, drugs or distraction. IAM Roadsmart also supports speed awareness courses, because the evidence to date suggests that most people who take them are less likely to reoffend.”

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