How Many Miles Can You Go Over the Speed Limit
Most motorists, when discussing speeding, will have no dubiousness heard tales of the "ten% plus ii" rule. Only what is this rule, and what upshot (if any) does information technology actually have in practise?
What is the 'rule'?
The 'dominion' itself is quite straightforward: if the speed limit is (for example) 30mph, the rule states that you lot won't get a speeding ticket unless you are going ten% plus 2 mph faster than the limit. In this example, this would mean that yous would have to be travelling at 35mph or faster in order to receive a speeding ticket.
Still, most people volition accept heard tales of friends and colleagues who have been given tickets for exceeding the speed limit by much smaller margins – in some cases by only a couple of miles per hr. What happened to the dominion in these cases?
The truth is that the "10% plus 2" dominion isn't really a dominion at all: it is but a guideline. The 'rule' originates from speed enforcement guidance issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers[1] which sets out the strategy that police forces should apply when enforcing speed limits. At paragraph nine.vi of this document, a tabular array is provided which sets out the recommended outcomes for different levels of speeding:
| Limit | Device Tolerance | Fixed penalization when education is not appropriate | Speed awareness if appropriate From To | Summons in all other cases and above | |
| 20 mph | 22 mph | 24 mph | 24 mph | 31 mph | 35 mph |
| thirty mph | 32 mph | 35 mph | 35 mph | 42 mph | fifty mph |
| xl mph | 42 mph | 46 mph | 46 mph | 53 mph | 66 mph |
| 50 mph | 52 mph | 57 mph | 57 mph | 64 mph | 76 mph |
| lx mph | 62 mph | 68 mph | 68 mph | 75 mph | 86 mph |
| lxx mph | 73 mph | 79 mph | 79 mph | 86 mph | 96 mph |
The guidance recommends prosecuting drivers simply where their speed exceeds the thresholds fix out in the table. It besides sets out whether you lot are more likely to receive a fixed penalty, a speed awareness class, or a courtroom summons.
A closer analysis of the table volition reveal that the "plus 2 mph" relates to device tolerance, to take account of the fact that the speed guns used by the police are not always 100% authentic. However, paragraph 9.7 of the guidance reveals that, at speeds beneath 66mph, the tolerance level is +/- 2mph, whereas for speeds above 66mph the tolerance level is +/- 3%. This stardom is evident on the 70mph row on the tabular array, where the stock-still penalisation threshold is 79mph, rather than 78mph every bit would be the instance if the 3% device tolerance effigy was not used.
What issue does the guidance have in do?
The guidelines themselves country very clearly that they "practice non and cannot supercede a police officer's discretion",[2] and limited reference is made to circumstances in which an officer decides to depart from the guidelines set out in the table in a higher place. Therefore, you should not rely on the table equally a set of 'replacement speed limits', as yous may withal be prosecuted.
The main speeding offence is contained within s89 Road Traffic Regulation Human activity 1984, which conspicuously states:
"A person who drives a motor vehicle on a route at a speed exceeding a limit imposed by or under any enactment to which this department applies shall be guilty of an offence."
In courtroom, this is the standard to which drivers will exist held, and you volition notice that there is no reference here to any threshold other than the signposted speed limit. According to the statute, if you lot are even 1mph over the speed limit, you tin can legally be convicted for speeding if a police officeholder considers information technology appropriate in his discretion. No reference is made to the guidance in the statute whatsoever: information technology has cypher legal condition.
What is important, nevertheless, is the column of device tolerance figures in the table to a higher place. All the police force need to do to convict y'all for speeding is prove across reasonable doubt that you lot have exceeded the speed limit. Even so, given that the speed guns used past the police have a tolerance of +/- 2mph (or +/- iii% for speeds over 66mph), information technology is hundred-to-one that they would exist able to convince a court that a recorded speed of 31mph (for example) is a truly authentic reading: the driver in this example could actually have been driving at 29mph, which is clearly within the speed limit.
However, drivers should be enlightened that the Scottish police force take decided not to follow the guidance at all, and will prosecute drivers for exceeding the limit by even 1mph, regardless of whatsoever device tolerance.[3] There is likewise talk of a review of the guidance, which was first issued in 2011, to accept business relationship of developments in speed enforcement technology.
It is questionable whether the device tolerance figures outlined above utilize to the average speed cameras widely used across the state highway network to enforce speed limits in road works, which calculate a driver'due south speed based on the time information technology takes for their vehicle to travel betwixt two points set a measured altitude autonomously. The manufacturers of SPECS boilerplate speed cameras advise that their equipment merely has a margin of mistake of 0.ane% due to the fact that they measure out speed over a longer altitude than conventional stock-still speed cameras.[4] This clearly makes it easier for the constabulary to evidence that a commuter was speeding in the fifty-fifty the virtually marginal of cases. This may explicate why Bedfordshire police made the decision in 2022 to utilise a zero tolerance approach to speeding on the motorway.[5]
Conclusion
Whilst it is patently appropriate to stick to the speed limit, if you are caught speeding it is non the end of the world. With the expertise of a Route Police force Barrister on your side, you take the assist y'all need to get the all-time possible outcome in court. Back in March, we represented Mr C in Leeds Magistrates court. He had been caught travelling at 56mph in a 30mph zone, and faced the prospect of at least 56 days disqualification, co-ordinate to the sentencing guidelines. Nevertheless, having heard persuasive submissions from his Road Law Barrister, and having received testify in back up of these submissions, the Magistrates decided that 6 penalisation points would exist an appropriate sentence in this case. Mr C therefore left court with his license and livelihood intact.
If you are caught speeding, or are arrested for whatsoever other driving offence, and so delight do non hesitate to contact us today for your gratis consultation.
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The contents of this article should non be relied upon in isolation. Each case is fact specific and this article should non be treated as legal advice or every bit a substitute for legal advice.
[1] Run across https://www.cambs.law.united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland/roadsafety/docs/201305-uoba-joining-forces-safer-roads.pdf
[2] Para 9.vii
[3] http://www.driving.co.united kingdom/news/just-1mph-as well-fast-and-youre-nicked-new-null-tolerance-arroyo-to-speeding/
[4] http://world wide web.driving.co.uk/news/merely-1mph-too-fast-and-youre-nicked-new-null-tolerance-approach-to-speeding/
[5] http://world wide web.contained.co.u.k./life-style/motoring/motoring-news/speeding-fines-bedfordshire-force-to-adopt-zero-tolerance-approach-towards-motorists-travelling-a6721846.html
Source: https://www.roadlawbarristers.co.uk/speeding-what-is-the-10-plus-2-rule-and-what-does-it-mean/
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