Thousands of drivers are being hit with £100 fines after councils began quietly rolling out 20mph zones.
Avon and Somerset Police sent out 23,338 Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) letters to people accused of breaking a 20mph speed limit, followed by South Wales with 8,372 and Cleveland (1,644).
Drivers face a lottery of postcodes in enforcement with police in Cumbria and Humberside as well as Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, and Thames Valley. Police did not send any.
One notice was issued by Bedfordshire, three in West Mercia, Staffordshire, and five in Dorset. Six were issued by Kent.
Safety campaigners point out that 20mph zones are the most dangerous for road accidents and deaths. However, motorists often feel they are too common and frequently snare drivers who might be causing harm.
Nips inform drivers they have been accused of speeding and gives them the option to accept the fine or challenge it in court. Action Vision Zero, a campaign group, obtained data that showed how many tickets were issued to each police officer and shared it with The Sunday Times.
Safety campaigners point out that 20mph zones are the most dangerous for road accidents and deaths. However, motorists often feel they are too common and frequently snare drivers who fail to pay attention.
Motoring campaigner Quentin Willson said the zones should be used in ‘certain areas where there is clear evidence of pedestrian vulnerability’ but the public needed to have faith they were being ‘applied proportionately based on empirical evidence’.
MailOnline was informed by him that “Blanket 20 MPH limits will discredit all other road safety initiatives, and alienate motoring customers,”
“We want the public to feel that they are treated fair, transparently, and that punishment doesn’t threaten their lives.
“The unintended result of this is an otherwise law-abiding motoring population that becomes alienated from road safety. It is far safer to be pursuing dangerous drivers.
Steve McNamara is the general secretary for the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association. He revealed that he has seen an 800% increase in Nips being issued to his 10,000 members during the past six months, compared with the same period six months ago.
He said that the vast majority of them – 80 percent – were designed for driving more than 20 mph.
MailOnline was informed by him that there’s been a shift in the speed limits across London. While we don’t condone speeding, many drivers that we represent have been able to drive their entire lives without being fined and had clean driving licenses. Now, they are accruing points and fines at alarming rates.
The unexpectedly lower speed limits for roads like Park Lane have caused drivers to be caught unawares. They are now limited to speeds of 20 mph instead of 40 mph.
“The Met now has a lower speed tolerance that triggers a prosecution and they work towards issuing one-million fines as an enforcement target, making this a bigger problem. This makes drivers feel unfairly targeted.
Steve McNamara is the general secretary for the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association. He revealed that he has seen an 800% increase in Nips being issued to his 10,000 members during the past six months, compared with the same period six months ago.
The Metropolitan Police is doubling the number of patrols in 20mph zones year on year as part of a target to eliminate all deaths and serious injuries from the transport network by 2041.
It says a pedestrian hit by a vehicle at 20mph is five times less likely to be fatally injured than at 30mph.
Across the country, the level of enforcement at 20mph is about half the rate of those caught speeding on 30mph and 40mph roads and motorways.
A fixed penalty notice of 24 mph is followed by a speed awareness warning for drivers who are caught driving between 24 mph and 31 mph.
Above 35mph offenders can be fined up to 700 per cent of their weekly income, to a maximum of £1,000.
About a third (or more) of Britain’s urban areas are planning to establish 20mph zones. These zones will become the standard for roads in Wales beginning September 2013.
Steve Gooding (director of the RAC Foundation) called on the local authorities for more efforts to explain why 20-mph zones require drivers to’slowdown a bit’ so that ‘eliminates the risk of a loved one dying in a car accident’.