To: et.letters@telegraph.co.uk
Re: Police caught in their own speed trap, come out laughing
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 
Subindex

Dear Sir,

Your article in today's Telegraph, "Ton-up police caught in speed trap", underlines the point I was making in my recent letter to you, and which you have published in today's Feedback (Speeding, a cavalier's offence - until you kill someone).

Three police officers travelling at 110 mph (almost double the speed limit of 60 mph!) were caught in their own speed trap. You have to laugh, of course, as I'm sure the three officers also did, getting away with a 28 day driving ban and a fine of just £350. IF they had killed someone as a result of their dangerous driving it would have been a completely different matter: they would have lost their jobs and been sent to prison. 

As I point out in my previous letter, it is too late being severe AFTER the event. If we want to cut down on road deaths and mutilation we must deter people from driving too fast in the first place. 

We need a motoring culture in which no one, certainly not a police officer,  would dare break the speed limit. Those three officers should have lost their driving licences for one year, at the very least, and have been warned that if they were caught speeding again they would loose their jobs! That may sound severe, but not when you consider the number of lives it would save by deterring others from speeding at all.