Speeding fines are set to rise by up to 40% under plans set out in the new Strategic Framework for Road Safety, according to a report in the Telegraph.
The Telegraph says the DfT is ready to raise the fixed penalty for motorists caught breaking the limit from £60, the level set in 2000, to as high as £100.
According to the Telegraph, similar increases are planned for other offences such as using a hand held mobile phone while driving and failing to wear a seat belt. Penalties such as driving without insurance are also set to soar.
Other measures announced by Mr Hammond include giving police the power to issue fixed penalty notices for careless driving offences such as tailgating, undertaking or cutting up another motorist.
Police will be able to use video evidence to back the fines. Initially this will be provided by cameras operated by officers in patrol cars, but in the long term could be provided by roadside cameras, once they have been approved by the Home Office.
Mr Hammond said: "We need to rebalance road safety enforcement away from a narrow focus on camera-enforced speed policing, to address the wider range of behaviours that create risk on the roads.”
Maria Eagle, Labour’s transport spokesman, attacked the new measures, saying: "The Government’s reckless decision to axe road safety funding, cut the front line police officers needed to enforce traffic offences, and axe targets risks more deaths and injuries on Britain’s roads.”
Click here to read the full Telegraph report.
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