In the old days it was embarrassing to have a motoring conviction. Now... (From Bucks Free Press)

In the old days it was embarrassing to have a motoring conviction. Now...

10:01am Friday 26th June 2009

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HE used to whizz around the universe in a Tardis, but now my good friend Colin Baker is reduced to travelling around High Wycombe on buses.

There is, of course, nothing wrong with the principle of bus travel.

However, what is wrong is that a man who relies on his car for work should be banned from using it for half a year because of the speed cameras that plague the UK’s roads.

Colin, who starred as Doctor Who in the BBC show in the 1980s, was recently disqualified for six months for four separate instances of exceeding the speed limit.

Three of the four were for breaking 70mph motorway limits while the other was for going 40 miles per hour in a 30mph zone – on an empty dual carriageway in a tunnel.

Two of these were from radar guns in Scotland on the same motorway on consecutive days, one was going downhill on an empty carriageway in Yorkshire and the tunnel one was in Docklands, London, at 6am.

I’m sure that I will get letters from readers saying that anyone speeding should be flogged.

And there will no doubt be people who believe the ban was reasonable because he shouldn’t have been exceeding the limit four times.

But I feel this is harsh beyond belief.

I don’t disagree with the principle of speed enforcement, but it’s all gone far too far.

The camera next to The Rye in High Wycombe, for instance is a good example of a useful, sensible piece of traffic calming.

It is located in clear view of all motorists and is designed to slow down drivers on what could potentially be a racetrack. Unlike many camera locations, it’s a flattish road and there is absolutely no way anyone could say they had been ‘trapped’ here.

However, I can’t begin to count the sites around the UK where the yellow perils suddenly appear on downhill stretches where it is a) actually quite difficult to keep below the limit and b) quite dangerous to suddenly brake in compliance.

I thought of Colin’s plight the other day after we’d had lunch and I’d waved him goodbye as he walked to High Wycombe Bus Station.

The next day, I had to drive to Wood Green in London and somewhat foolishly took the A406 instead of the M25.

In my youth, I used this road several times a week without any problems. But now it’s a nightmare. There are cameras at every twist and turn and a stranger to the road needs to keep his wits about him constantly to keep abreast with the speed limits on the various stretches.

Naturally, drivers should keep their wits about them at all time, but the pressure of camera compliance compels you to spend entire journeys scanning the side of the road for signs.

Motorists familiar with the road, however, don’t have the same issues and end up tailgating you and making your life a misery. I had several lorries up my backside for the duration of the trip and was a nervous wreck by the end of it.

I aim not to speed and have so far never been caught on camera, but it is so easy to earn a fine, points and eventually a ban.

In Colin Baker’s case, the six-month disqualification has actually cost him acting work. He is a family man and likes to go home to High Wycombe at the end of a show, which means he does an awful lot of miles every week – making him classic prey for the speed cameras.

I know this is a sensitive subject because speed cameras have probably saved lives, but they have also endangered them as well, as drivers brake suddenly to escape a penalty.

The approach to enforcement is far too rigid and criminalises a huge section of otherwise law-abiding people. Motorists are easy targets. Fish in a barrel some would say.

There has to be a more sensible way of making our roads safer.

The laws of the land should be respected, but this respect is eroded when falling foul of the law becomes so routine for so many normal people.

In the old days, it used to be embarrassing and shameful to have a motoring conviction. Now no one bats an eyelid.

These speeding convictions result in inconvenience and costs, but the shame element has disappeared – and that’s a crying shame for our system of law which is now in danger of becoming a laughing stock.

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