'Excessive' speeders face jail sentence
By David Bamber, Home Affairs Correspondent

DRIVERS caught going more than 30mph over the speed limit will risk being sent to jail, under radical Government proposals to cut the number of road deaths.

 The Home Office is carrying out a review of road traffic offences. Reducing the estimated 2,000 road deaths caused every year by excessive speed is its priority. The maximum penalty for speeding is currently a fine, coupled with penalty points on a licence, which can eventually result in the loss of licence. Police rarely arrest speeding motorists they stop. Road campaigners say giving the police powers to arrest speeders who drive at 30mph above the limit and giving the courts the power to send them to prison would prove a more effective deterrent.

 A Home Office and Department of Transport, Environment and the Regions consultation document on road penalties says: "The Home Office review of penalties for road traffic offences will determine the best way to make penalties for speeding more effective and, in particular, will consider how to punish those who drive far in excess of the speed limit, including the possibility of creating a new offence." 

Under the plans, jail would be the maximum penalty for anyone charged with going more than a set amount over the limit, likely to be 30mph. Andrew Howard, head of road safety at the AA, said the proposals would be welcomed if they concentrated on the few drivers who deliberately drove well above the speed limit. 

He said: "If this is aimed at drivers who do stupid things like going at 150mph on the motorway then few people would argue with the possibility of jail. It seems a sensible option. There would be obvious difficulties in other situations such as a driver going along a country road where the speed limit is 60mph and missing a sign which reduced the limit to 30mph. 

"In practice, the penalty would only apply to the very few cases where drivers have obviously gone wildly over the limit." The Home Office said last night: "This is an ongoing review and there will be full public consultation before any proposals are translated into law."