prison for speed

[ianb]

Right, so two bikers were given prison sentences for riding at 150mph (on a motorway) last week, or month. Is this right?
Bear in mind that it would probably take you 10 burglaries before you reached the giddy heights of prison. *despairs*
I think these guys got about a month each, not a lot, but it's more to do with the principle.
And, should Britain change motorway speed limits to be like those in Germany, ie. none?

[njw]

laws are there for a reason, and they were travelling at 150mph... thats a bit unneccesary... they should be punished, severely...

however, the only way they are a danger to society is when they are on their bikes, so instead of sending them to prison, they should have severly fined them and banned them from driving...

[ianb]

Originally Posted by Knee-Cow

laws are there for a reason, and they were travelling at 150mph... thats a bit unneccesary... they should be punished, severely...

There was a driver caught driving at 156mph on the motorway between Perth and Edinburgh who only got banned.
Although, I do agree that there's no way you could possibly need to go at that speed.
The Germans have been allowing any speed on their motorways for ages, maybe since they started, I'm not sure. But I'm not sure what their safety record is like. Probably awful.

[njw]

the germans only allow any speeds on some (well yeah, most) of their autobahns, there are a number of motorways which have speed restrictions, particularly when they pass through or near cities...

the german autobahns do however have a very good safety record... must just be better drivers than the british...

[ianb]

Originally Posted by Knee-Cow

must just be better drivers than the british...

aye, that's pretty likely.

[humndislocation]

Well we have speed limits on our motorways, and that hasn't prevented the several bad crashes there have been on the Perth-Dundee road in the past few weeks alone.

The results are bad enough crashing into someone at 70mph, would you really want a situation where the person you crash into could be going at 150mph?

[*Lynz*]

speed kills. go figure. those adverts are there for a reason and so is the law on speeding. i know people who have been in car crashes and people who have lost friends and family thru this kinda shit so i think it's completely necessary that people be punished. Remember that traffic is the biggest single killer of all young teenagers so it needs to be buckled down on.

[*Lynz*]

P.s. Just because this speeding incident occured on a motorway doesn't mean there was any less risk of crashes occuring and people dying. And no the speed limit should not be changed. Rant over.

[ianb]

Don't you think the law is a bit disproportionate, thought.
eg.
judge: "oh, so this is your 15th violent robbery this month, very good, 20 hours community service"
defendant: "eh winnae dae it again"
judge: "well, I'll let you off this time"

some people get away with murder every day, motorists are always being clamped down on.
I don't think it's wrong to drive fast, you just have to know when and where, ie. not outside a school, or on a high street.

my point was that 2 people were jailed for speeding, and causing no harm (this time), while scummy bastards are out mugging pensioners and stuff, and never getting caught. Even if they do get caught, they just get a slap on the wrist. Fair?

[*Lynz*]

Yeah i can understand where you're coming from and i think it's ludicrous that people are getting away with muggings and other such crimes. I mean obviously it is and people should totally be punished severly for things like that but just because some arsehole judge lets them off (and he shouldn't) doesn't mean that people should also be let off with speeding offences just cos "this time" they didn't do any harm. Next time they could kill someone. And how can you say it's ok to drive fast so long as it's not on a high street or outside a school? Accidents can occur anywhere, just cos a quiet country road seems quiet doesn't mean you should just let rip in your car cos another car could appear from nowhere thus resulting in an accident. It just pisses me off when people don't think about how serious speeding is. It might not seem like a big deal a lot of the time but how many people do you think there is that thought the exact same but then ended up dead or seriously injured as a result of not taking it seriously enough?! Look i'm not getting onto you personally because you're entitled to your opinion but i just think a lot of people gotta wake up when it comes to traffic laws. They are there for good reason.

[ianb]

Originally Posted by *Lynz*

Accidents can occur anywhere, just cos a quiet country road seems quiet doesn't mean you should just let rip in your car cos another car could appear from nowhere thus resulting in an accident.

I didn't say anything about a country road. They're probably the worst of all (trust me). I mean a long, empty dual carriageway or motorway with good vision, and road surface. The problem on places like that is that people don't seem to realise that they need to slow down for bends, and that's the reason accidents happen on roads like that. Just like Dundee-Arbroath is now 40mph as far as Monifieth. It should be faster, but there are some surprising bends that people didn't take any notice of causing lots of crashes, and a lot of deaths. That wasn't down to speeding, but speed was the problem(if that makes sense). That's more about bad driving and a lack of perception.