From now on, if you’re caught speeding, you could be hit with a fine equal to 150% of your weekly earnings, up to £2,500.
In the past, you were commonly fined £100 for speeding, but now things are much tougher. The further over the limit you go, the harsher your penalty will be, as seen on the table below.
| Speed Limit (mph) | Recorded Speed (mph) | ||
| 20
30 40 50 60 70 |
41+
51+ 66+ 76+ 91+ 101+ |
31-40
41-50 56-65 66-75 81-90 91-100 |
21-30
31-40 41-55 51-65 61-80 71-90 |
| Sentence | Band C Fine – 150% weekly income | Band B Fine – 100% weekly income | Band A Fine – 50% weekly income |
| Disqualify/Points | 7-56 days OR 6 points | 7-28 days OR 4-6 points | 3 points |
The Sentencing Council, who are responsible for the change, felt the past punishments did not reflect the potential harm that speeding can do. While the above table shows you the basic guidelines, magistrates have the ability to adjust what punishment is dealt based on ‘aggravating factors’ including previous convictions and weather conditions.
If you get caught driving at a speed that will land you with a Band B or C speeding fine, magistrates may come to the conclusion that your speeding is too serious for penalty points. In this case, you may be disqualified from driving for a period of time instead of being given penalty points.
In 2015, 166,695 people in England and Wales were sentenced for speeding with the average fine of £188. More than 1000 a week were caught on smart motorways, giving an estimated £1.1m to the government in fines. These new changes could result in even higher amounts of cash for the government.
Mobile Penalties Have Doubled Too
Anyone caught using a mobile phone behind the wheel faces six penalty points on their driving licence and a fixed penalty fine of £200.
This means that new drivers, who already face a driving ban if they accrue six penalty points in the first two years of their driving career, could find themselves banned after being caught just the once. The rest of us will lose our driving licence if we reach 12 penalty points.
You can find out more about speeding convictions in our Convicted Driver section.
What do you think of these changes? Do you think the harsher restrictions better reflect the harm caused by speeding? Let us know your thoughts on our Facebook page.