News: Safety charity urges crackdown on speeders after driver caught doing 149mph

A ROAD safety charity is urging the government to get tougher with speeding motorists after research revealed that a driver on the M25 was clocked travelling at 149mph by a fixed speed camera. He was the fastest driver recorded by a speed camera in England and Wales between April 2013 and May 2014.

The figure was revealed following freedom of information requests to 39 police authorities by the Institute of Advanced Motorists.

Other record speeders caught on camera in the same period included one travelling at 96mph in a 30mph limit near Gateshead, another doing 119mph on a 50mph road in Hertfordshire and a third driving at 127mph on a 60mph road in Wendover.

The IAM said the figures demonstrated the importance of keeping speed cameras at well-known black spots but it criticised current guidelines to magistrates on sentencing for excessive speeders (see panel below).

Simon Best, the chief executive of the IAM, said: “Current guidelines are out of sync with modern roads, modern vehicles and society’s view of the value of lives lost in crashes. The government must crack down on speeders.”

The guidelines to magistrates on sentencing for speeding include:

• 70mph road: For driving between 101 and 110mph ‒ fine plus 6 points or disqualified for 7-56 days.
• 50mph road:  For driving between 76 and 85mph ‒ fine plus 6 points or disqualified for 7-56 days.
• 30mph road:  For driving between 51 and 60mph ‒ fine plus 6 points or disqualified for 7-56 days.