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£10,000 fines introduced for most extreme speeding cases

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Author: | Updated: 10 Jun 2014 15:08

Speeding fines have been increased by up to four-fold under new Government reforms.

Magistrates are now able to fine motorists up to £10,000 in the most extreme cases of motorway speeding while exceeding dual carriageway speed limits could land a £4,000 dent in a driver's pocket.

The maximum fine for those caught using a mobile phone has also been increased to £4,000 while the cap for driving carelessly or without insurance, previously £5,000, has been completely removed, allowing magistrates to issue unlimited fines.

police chase

Justice Minister Jeremy Wright said tougher fines would be a bigger detergent. “Financial penalties set at the right level can be an effective way of punishing criminals and deterring them from further offending,” he explained.

“Magistrates are the cornerstone of our justice system. These changes will provide them with greater powers to deal with day-to-day offences that impact their local communities.”

‘Overreaction’

AA President Edmund King reckoned that the previous £2,500 maximum fine was already a big enough deterrent for most motorists and that a greater police presence on motorways would be more effective at minimising instances of speeding.

"One has to question whether increasing the fines four-fold is proportionate, and it probably is not," he said.

Rupert Lipton, director of the National Motorists Action Group, branded the move an "overreaction" and "draconian", fearing that motorists would be put off from challenging fines if they believed that they were not guilty.

The Government has been keen to highlight that these reforms will only be apply to the most extreme cases – the driver clocked at 149mph on the M25 - and a company car driver caught doing 82mph the M1 is likely to face the same £100 fine and three penalty points as before.

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