Speeding in Sussex and the South East.

Sussex police have been criticised this year for allowing foreign vehicles to exceed the speed limit without any penalty. Around 1 in 7 speeding foreign vehicles receive a fine, but the police have been unable to confirm if any of the fines were paid. The police have blamed these failings and massive loss of revenue (over £80,000) on lack of cooperation between countries and the fact that foreign plates do not show up on the DVLA database, making locating the owner of the vehicle much more difficult and time consuming. There is a similar issue with parking tickets being issued to foreign vehicles. However the story is very different for UK drivers who can expect a fine in the post for definite. Speeding foreign vehicles pose a dangerous threat to other road users and the problem will continue as long as this lack of effort and cooperation continues.

Earlier this year Sussex police were made to apologise and refund fines to around 200 people when they were found to be using unauthorised camera equipment. While obviously this is not permitted, the fact is that the device found these 200 people to be speeding, but they have avoided punishment because of bureaucracy. Again the focus doesn’t seem to be on the issue of road safety.

East Sussex County Council, like many councils across the south east have plans and schemes in place to tackle the issue of speeding and road safety. East Sussex promote community speed watch schemes and they fund laser speed guns. They provide mobile and static speed indication devices which warn drivers when they are exceeding the speed limit. They have reduced the speed limit in many villages from 40 to 30 and they are also promoting road safety in schools. Regularly school children can be seen on the high street with laser speed guns and local police officers learning about road safety and checking the speed of the local residents. Speeding is still a problem in many areas, and will schools programmes help the issue in the future?

Speed Cameras: People become accustomed to where cameras are situated and so drive slowly only where they know they may be caught. This has led to many cameras being put out of action (for example on the M20 in Kent) in favour of mobile devices. However many drivers rarely see these mobile devices – so are they really making a difference?

Novel Tactics: February 2010 saw the beginning of a new tactic to tackle speeding in Kent. Brenchly Parish councillors will confront reckless drivers after they have been stopped by police. But will such humiliating tactics improve the problem of speeding in the area and will similar methods be used elsewhere?

US style murder charges in the UK today?

The proposed changes will introduce a three-tier system like that commonly seen by the British public on various American court dramas and sitcoms. There will be first-degree murder (mandatory life sentence), second degree murder (discretionary sentence) and manslaughter (with a maximum sentence of life).
The current law in the UK has been criticised for being unclear and lacking clarity in some cases and it is suggested that a three tier system will create a more easily understandable system as the seriousness of each case will be taken into account. However former Met Police Commissioner Lord Blair spoke on BBC Radio 4 and voiced his concern regarding explaining the differences between each tier to the public. The British public know the current system and many may not see any reason for change, holding opinions along the lines of ‘all murder is murder’ so why take into account the seriousness?
But how will these changes be brought in? The Law Commission recommended reform of homicide law six years ago and as yet no fundamental changes have been made to the system. It is unlikely that an overnight change of the law will happen and the government are planning a step by step change process. Will this lead to further confusion before we see the light at the end of the tunnel? And how long will it be before we can see the fruits of these proposals and learn whether change to the US system was the correct move for UK law? Only time will tell. These proposals have now been backed by two DPP’s; Barbara Mills QC and today by Keir Starmer QC.
Andrew Parker reckons that there will not be sufficient time or backing in parliament for this necessary and long overdue reform.