Simon, as I said, I'm as guilty as anyone so I'm not preaching. But the fact is, you said yourself you didn't see the sign going into the 50 even though it was obvious. And the limit had been dropped because of accidents at the roundabout. Someone in one of those accidents might have been an innocent passenger, pedestrian, cyclist? Doesn't have to be kids 'playing' on a dual carriage way does it? My point is still the same.... I speed, I take the risks, if I get caught I get the points and fine. If I kill someone's kid, I'll have to live with that for the rest of my like... but if that kid's father is anything like me, the rest of my life won't be that long anyway!
Hope your not one of the anti cycling brigade as that could be the only method of transport you can use for a few weeks. I was banned for two weeks for doing 83 in a 60, pretty much in the same circumstances as yourself. Don't worry about a lawyer unless your certain your job/ livelihood will be effected by a possible ban as to be honest magistrates are pretty much tied to guide lines. One of the ways they determine if it's a fine or ban is on your financial situation, I was in the position that the biggest fine they could give me according to their guide lines would not have proved an inconvenience at all so they gave me a ban to make it inconvenient. What I'm saying is when/if you get summonsed how you fill out your financial statement will go a long way to determining the outcome. Oh I had a totally clean licence before the ban, the two weeks hsen't effected my insurance and tbh the only hardship I had was having to get my brother in law to come and collect me and drive my car home as I was so sure I'd get points that I drove to court.
Sorry - probably overreacted and yes I have kids as well. I had left the roundabout 1/2 a mile behind me and was on a long straight safe road on a sunny afternoon. The sign is right on the exit of the roundabout and at the time I can only imagine I was concentrating on staying in lane, getting round the exit and not being hit by blind car drivers. If you ask me the sign should be on the straight and not half way round a bend on a roundabout exit.
No I cycle quite a lot with the family and cycle to work quite a bit. I do have to do some travelling but could probably cope with a 2 week ban and base myself in the office.
I spent about 4 years cycling in central London where your number one aim is not to be killed. Did Hyde Park Corner most days, but tried to avoid the worst of the rush hour. My strategy was to treat it a bit as if you are on a race track. You have to be very decisive, ride fast (you don't want buses up your bum) and make very clear signals. But it's not easy continually looking behind you all the time. At traffic lights, to stay out of trouble (i.e., everyone roaring off when you just become a slow-moving chicane) it is better to go through on red, if the junction isn't at all dangerous and there is no one coming across you. There are definitely many junctions where you just wait your turn like any motorist. But for many others, you're doing everyone a favour by getting out of the way.
Might be worth looking at PePiPoo: Helping the motorist to get justice From what I understand, there are rules that need to be obeyed by the revenue collectors about distances they HAVE to be from changes in speed limit. If your van-man was within that distance you have good cause to argue it. Odds-on he knows his cash-collection rules but you never know until you check.
It's only a form of revenue collection if you chose it to be, you have control over the throttle and decide whether to brake the law or not. Or do you think motorcyclists should be allowed to break the speed limits?
What possible problem is there with "one rule for me, one for the rest of you"? It's simple to remember and it covers everything. :wink:
I really dont see what the fuss is over. So you didnt notice the speed had reduced.... so, we all do that from time to time. I understand to a point as the local authority in my neck of the woods has a habit of changing speed limits or at best just removing signs. No big deal? It is if you have been using the road for 25+ years you tend to be on auto pilot. I think this is what advance riding is about.... Observations. Push comes to shove just take it like a man. It really pisses me ofthe lengths that people go to when they should just say " I made a mistake"
Where clear safety considerations are concerned, well, that's one thing. Where it's fairly clear to anyone with an open mind that a camera or mobile camera has been placed to collect revenue, then it all becomes a game. You play the game of not getting caught, the revenue collectors play the game of catching you. If anyone "cheats" in the game, one side or the other is going to feel that there's been an injustice. Cheating is getting off on a spurious technicality (by the speeder) or catching the speeder unfairly, perhaps by stealth (that's the revenue collectors). It has little to do with "man-up and take your medicine" and everything to do with "hey, I know the rules and they cheated". If I get caught, fair and square, speeding, I get done and I know why. Done deal. If a camera is hidden from view (occasionally mobile operators do this although they'll deny it), or if there is no signage visible in an unfamiliar area, that's against the rules and you'll hear all about it from me.
My accountant, an ex tax collector, told me the same thing. "It's a game we play", he said. "Their job is to get you to pay as much as possible, my job is to get you to pay as little as possible. It's not much to do with honesty or fairness. It's a game." I had been religiously filling in my own tax returns according to the guide they send out. Accountant made all sorts of deductions. "You can't do that!" I said, "It's against the rules". Then he patiently explained the above to me, and helped me understand that the rules were made of rubber and could be bent in both directions and by both parties - and were, all the time. The application of any law is fairly similar - esp traffic law - which is why cops will let you off with a warning when they could fine you, or why they hide speed traps in places where they think a maximum number of people will fall into the trap. It's also why you choose to ignore national speed-limits on open roads in places where you think you are unlikely to get caught. At the end of the day, it's all Game Theory.
I said it was my own fault in my OP. The annoying part is that it had nothing to do with health and safety and solely revenue generation. I could have done double the speed and still been safe.
