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I'm afraid that I neglected to respond to the article "'Excessive' speeders face jail sentence" (16 April 2000) at the time of publication, but would like to do so now.

It concerned a review of road traffic offences currently being carried out by the Home Office in the hope of reducing the estimated 2,000 deaths caused every year on Britain's roads by excessive speed. It is suggested that increasing the maximum sentence from a fine to jail for offenders caught driving at more than 30 mph above the speed limit would prove a more effective deterrent against speeding.

I totally disagree. On the contrary, it would convey the message that provided they do not over do it - i.e. travel at more than 30 mph above the limit - drivers may continue to speed with a reasonably clear conscience and relative impunity.

If the government wants to significantly reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on your roads, it needs to promote a  radical change in motoring culture, in which speed limits are accepted for what they were originally meant to be, i.e. the MAXIMUM SPEED at which a motorist is permit to travel.

There were once technical reasons why speed limits could not be stringently enforced, but  this is no longer the case; a car's speed can now be determined very easily and accurately.

If a driver knows there is little or no risk of prosecution provided he keeps to within 5, 10, 15, 20 mph of the actual limit, then he will consider 35, 40, 45, 50 mph to be the limit, and dive accordingly.

Also, it shouldn't be a matter of "punishing" drivers who break the speed limit, so much as "sending them off" - like in football; how long they are sent off for depending on how seriously or often they offend. Strictness can be flexibly adjusted to deter infringement.

Before it starts strictly enforcing speed limits the government would need to put a lot of effort and money into explaining and advertising its intentions. Perhaps it should even think of holding a referendum on the matter and asking people whether they want drivers to keep strictly to the prescribed speed limits or not.