By RAM Tracking on 6 Dec 2022

Getting a speeding ticket in a company vehicle

Whether it is commercial fleet vehicles or personal car owners, it is essential to drive responsibly, including driving within the speed limit.

Fleet managers have to ensure both efficiency and safer operations that involve monitoring drivers' driving behaviour.

Truck drivers are usually tempted to speed, especially when roads are clear or to reach the destination as soon as possible. However, they need to understand that speeding can taper the journey time by simply a couple of seconds. As a reminder the national speed limits are:

A speed limit of 30 miles per hour (48km/h) applies to all single and dual carriageways with street lights, unless there are signs showing otherwise.

• Single Carriageways
  • Cars, motorcars, car-derived vans and dual-purpose vehicles 60mph (96kpm).
  • When towing a trailer with any of the above it's 50mph (80kph).
  • (Mini) Buses and Coaches of any size 50mph (80Kph).
  • HGVs England & Wales 50mph (80kph) Scotland 40mph (64kph).
• Dual Carriageways
  • Cars, motorcars, car-derived vans and dual-purpose vehicles 70mph (112kpm).
  • When towing a trailer with any of the above it's 60mph (96kph).
  • (Mini) Buses and Coaches of any size 60mph (96kph).
  • HGVs England & Wales 60mph (96kph) Scotland 50mph (80kph).
• Motorways
  • Cars, motorcars, car-derived vans and dual-purpose vehicles 70mph (112kpm).
  • When towing a trailer with any of the above it's 60mph (96kph).
  • (Mini) Buses and Coaches of any size 70mph (96kph). More than 12 metres 60mph (96kph)
  • HGVs 60mph (96kph) If less than 7.5tonnes 70mph (112kpm) in England and Wales.

Penalty points for speeding

The minimum penalty for speeding is a £100 fine and 3 penalty points added to your licence.

If you’re caught by a speed camera:

• Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) within 14 days
• Section 172 notice which must be dealt with in 28 days to inform the police of the driver.

After you’ve sent the Section 172 notice back:

• Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN)
• Letter telling you to go to court

If you’re stopped by the police then you will get:

• A verbal warning
• Give or send you an FPN
• Order you to go to court - you’ll be sent a letter telling you what to do

Getting a Fixed Penalty Notice

If you get an FPN you can choose to plead guilty or not guilty.

Option 1: Pleading guilty

• £100 fine and 3 points added to your licence (unless you’re given the option to attend a speed awareness course.)
• 4-year blemish to your licence 
• You may be given the option of attending a speed awareness course if:
  • They decide it’s appropriate for your offence
  • Not been on a speed awareness course in the past 3 years

Option 2: Plead not guilty

• You’ll have to go to court if you plead not guilty.
• You can be fined more and get more penalty points if the court decides you’re guilty of speeding.
  • How far over the speed limit you were.
  • Percentage of your weekly income, up to a maximum of £1,000 (£2,500 if you were driving on a motorway).
  • You could also be disqualified from driving or have your licence suspended.
  • Less than 2 years of passing your driving test, your driving licence will be revoked (withdrawn) if you build up 6 or more penalty points.

According to the ATRI Speeding:  

• Reckless driving violations were found to increase the probability of future crash involvement by 325%
• Having a past crash on a driver’s record generated an 87% increased probability of a future crash.
• Speeding increases the chances of a crash or collision by 45%. 

Traditionally the way the police report incidents is at the scene which often overlooks data collated afterwards which includes the speed of the vehicles. This means that the reported 15% of accidents that are speeding-related is actually nearer 65% after the Metropolitan Police adjusted their findings to include this evidence.

Speeding can result in more complexities than just safety concerns.

• Drivers are penalised with speeding tickets and have to bear speeding fines for excessive speeding, making speeding tickets cost an additional expense for fleet companies.
• Incidents due to speeding will increase your overall insurance premiums, and you might have to compensate the other passengers if there's any harm or damage.
• Harsh driving behaviour like aggressive acceleration or braking increases the wear and tear of vehicles, affecting longevity and resulting in higher maintenance costs.
• Speeding affects the fuel efficiency of vehicles. If, for example, you increase speed from 55 to 75 mph, fuel consumption hikes up by around 20%. With rising fuel costs worldwide, fleet managers wouldn't want to bear additional fuel expenses–so driving steady is the key to an enhanced fuel economy.

How to combat drivers issues and save money

While fleet managers may provide education about the dangers of speeding and enforce traffic calming measures, what they truly need is a proactive solution that helps them keep track of unsafe driving practices. Our fleet tracking software allows fleet managers to closely monitor drivers' driving behaviour in real-time. Data from telematics, like speeding, harsh braking, cornering, etc., helps fleet admins identify which drivers are not driving responsibly and provide additional coaching.

Speeding alerts and reporting

Our vehicle tracking software notifies fleet managers about overspeeding in real-time. The tracker knows the national speed limit of all road types and will automatically inform drivers and fleet managers of speeding. Additionally, the software offers other details like distance and kilometres travelled, maximum speed limit, idle time, fuel consumption, etc. Reports can be run easily to see this too over a time period.

Driver behaviour reporting

Driver behaviour reports enable fleet managers to see a score for each driver over a period of time which allows you to understand their driving behaviours at a glance. This is based upon driving habits such as harsh braking and speeding and the distance that they travelled. The more poor behaviours that they display over a smaller distance travelled leads to a worse driver score. Our fleet tracking software compiles this data and you can see the drivers who have a worse overall score, which is something you can see at a glance, and you can coach these drivers to improve their driving habits.

Extra safety and monitoring

With the installation of dash cams, fleet managers can view the in-cab video footage to get unbiased validation of driving behaviour in real-time.

• Dash cams come with a radar speed detector which helps keep drivers at the correct speed limit of the road they are on.
• Knowing that drivers are being monitored helps to keep them from breaking the law
• If a driver is involved in an incident with a careless driver they can be exonerated through video evidence.

Summing Up

Speeding, even a little bit, can increase the chances of accidents, vehicle damages, speeding ticket fines, injuries, and sometimes even loss of lives. Our fleet tracker or dash camera can help detect and correct reckless driving habits, ensure safer on-road operations, and improve fleet productivity by around 10-20%. With increased efficiency comes an improved bottom line!