Road Safety Bill [HL]

I declare my interest as a member of the Thames Valley Police Authority. In answer to the noble Baroness, I say once again that the Thames Valley Police and members of the safety camera partnership derive no money from the speeding fines. It is an absolute lie, perpetuated by the likes of Jeremy Clarkson and the Daily Mail. By repeating it here, the noble Baroness has done us a great disservice. As for the location that the noble Baroness mentioned, I shall make sure that it is checked. However, when you come off a motorway, you frequently come on to a road on which the speed limit is restricted to 30, 40 or 50 mph. You know that, and you should reduce your speed accordingly. If you drive off a motorway at 70 mph right to the edge and slam your brakes on, you are behaving irresponsibly and are the cause of great danger to other people. The point that I wanted to raise with the Minister has nothing to do with the Thames Valley Police. I sincerely hope that he will tell us that the Government have no intention of removing the three penalty points given for exceeding the speed limit. Speed limits are, for the most part, clearly defined. There is one exception, and we shall come later to an amendment on it. In an area with a 30 mph limit that has street lights, there is at present no need to provide any form of repeater signs. Somebody who is driving through such an area is supposed to know that the 30   mph limit applies throughout, but it can be a long stretch. I believe that a repeater sign in that 30 mph limit area is a good idea, so that people are reminded that they are in a built-up area. But I must stress that, if a driver hits someone at 35 miles per hour, that person has a fairly slim chance of surviving. If a person is hit at 40 miles per hour, their chances of surviving that accident are virtually nil. The responsibility for road safety rests heavily on the driver because it is the driver who is at the control of the vehicle. It is the driver’s responsibility to ensure that he or she behaves in a safe manner. We will go through the various amendments tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Hanningfield, but I do not see that whether it is day or night, whether it is raining or the sun is shining or whatever, has anything to do with keeping to the speed limit. The speed limit is delineated beside the road in most cases and our road safety depends on people observing speed limits. Many of the people who complain about being caught by speed limits are obviously annoyed, but they have speeded. Somebody else has not done that; they have. You cannot say, ““Somebody else went at 35 miles per hour and I am being penalised””. You have speeded, you have committed the offence and, for my money, you are the person who should pay the penalty. Normal practice in Thames Valley is that if you are travelling at up to 37 mph—it does vary a bit—and have no record, you are offered the opportunity of going on a speed reduction course as an alternative to getting penalty points, but not as an alternative to the fine and you have to pay for the course yourself. That opportunity is offered only once, not repeatedly. However, we have to get across to people, whatever papers they read, whatever they say and whatever gossip they listen to at cocktail parties, that speeding is dangerous. It is the major cause of traffic accidents and deaths.