I am a very liberal person, and do not normally support the Tories. I will however admit that the suggestions they raise make sense and have won my support:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=516714&in_page_id=1770
Skilled drivers could offset speeding offences with 'positive points', think tank suggests
Advanced drivers could store up points on their licence and use them to offset speeding convictions
Drivers could store up "positive points" on their licence to offset speeding convictions, a right-wing think tank has suggested.
Only people who have been on advanced driver training would be eligible to store up the credit.
But they would be able to use it as a kind of bank to draw on to avoid having penalty points imposed for minor speeding offences.
The same approach could be used for other minor driving crimes, according to controversial proposals drawn up by Conservative Way Forward.
The group, chaired by former Tory transport minister Chris Chope, also suggest that speed cameras and "unnecessary" traffic lights could be scrapped.
And it demanded the end of 40 to 50mph speed limits for lorries, and the end of cycle lanes in urban areas.
The report was written by Malcolm Heymer, a former transportation manager at the London Borough of Havering.
He suggests that drivers could earn "positive points" during their career, which would encourage them to keep up their driving skills.
Mr Heymer also calls for police to only prosecute speeders who are stopped after committing the offence.
Other proposals include: raising the motorway speed limit to 80mph, more use of part-time traffic lights and fining highways authorities for keeping roads closed too long after accidents.
The report's overall aim is to keep traffic moving, which sets if against the current Tory view that the environment and climate change must also be considered.
Mr Chope said: "Journey times come bottom of the priority list against road works, accident investigations, spending cuts and the ever more extreme demands for further restrictions in the name of safety or the environment – many of which are counter-productive.
"Stop the war against drivers' shows how the interests of mobility can be embedded in our transport culture."
But Robert Gifford, who sits on the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, said: "The problem with raising the limit on motorways is that it would increase the difference in speed between the fastest and slowest vehicles.
"While positive points would encourage people to keep up their skills, the danger is that they would try to trade these for points they might pick up for speeding."
He added: "Given that we know that drivers who break the speed limit are more likely to be involved in a crash, this proposal is not a good one for safety.
"These proposals also ignore the fact that speed cameras and traffic calming does save lives. What they and some people call obstructions is another person's safety."
And while I have my own topic
, just in case you haven't noticed, until recently I had stopped posting on this website, but since passing my test a month ago, and now driving daily since monday, I have started following this website more again.
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