Very sneaky speed trap....

cyclopath2001

WHITE_P wrote: »

Points on your licence equals increased insurance premium equals more VAT, so they still gain.

There is no VAT on insurance premiums.

WHITE_P

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

There is no VAT on insurance premiums.

Oh yeah, so what is the government levy on my insurance policy, and why was it dearer, when my premium was higher, because its tax calculated as a percentage of the overall cost of the premium.

cyclopath2001

WHITE_P wrote: »

Oh yeah, so what is the government levy on my insurance policy

A government levy on 2% of the gross premium. But its not VAT, that's quite a different law.

Your insurance premium is related to how risky the insurance company thinks you are. Maybe if you explain your view on penalty points and speeding in general to them, they'll make an adjustment?

hedgeh0g

Hard working people ( insured/taxed/VRTed/NCTed/SCREWed ) should be allowed to travel at appropriate speeds on a clear stretch of road in good weather conditions to see their kids that are being over charged for crèches in badly planned housing estates with inadequate school planning for the future.

Seth Brundle

WHITE_P wrote: »

Oh yeah, so what is the government levy on my insurance policy, and why was it dearer, when my premium was higher, because its tax calculated as a percentage of the overall cost of the premium.

The 2% levy was introduced by the governemnt to bail AIB out of financial hole back in the 80s.
http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2002/01/18/story21370.asp

Hanley

WHITE_P wrote: »

Points on your licence equals increased insurance premium equals more VAT, so they still gain.

"The idea of linking the number of points to the percentage by which the speed limit was exceeded."
This might be fitting, as the bigger the offence the higher the penalty. However, the law doesn't seem to work that way when it comes to more serious offences in this country, so why should speeding be treated any differently. Look at the amount of killers / rapists / gun carrying scumbags that walk out of the courts everyday laughing at the law in this country.

I'm sorry, but using the excuse "other people get away with breaking the law so why can't I?" is an utterly ridiculous way to attempt to justify a more lenient to those who are caught breaking the speed limit by a large amount.

astraboy

I think he was advocating less of a punishment for those marginally over the limit. At the end of the day I don't think anyone has any issue with speed limits that are in line with the road they are on, ie, not stupidly low like a 60Kph dual carriage way. Also, saying a person breaking the speed limit is a person driving dangerously is ridiculous, its such a sweeping statement that it makes little sense when applied across the broad spectrum of types of roads and limits we have in Ireland. An example:

During the move over to metric limits, the speed limit on the road from Skibbereen to Bantry in West Cork was lowered from 60mph(in old money:)) to 80kph. The road was since upgraded and widened, and before this work there were many parts where 60mph was a reasonable speed. However now, a person driving the road safety at 100kph is breaking the law. Better, newer road surface etc, lower limit. Does'nt have much to do with safety really and more to do with road classification (primary, secondary etc) in a council office. My point is that the law is far from infallible and speeding and excessive speed are two different things.

I don't get pleasure from breaking the law, and while my previous posts may have made me look like a speed limit tashing boy racer, I can assure ye I am not, I do occasionally break the limit when safe to do so and road conditions allow, but I normally try and keep to it for 99% of my driving, and never exceed the 50/60Kph limits. The law can sometimes make lawbreakers instead of stopping them by silly application of limits too low for a well engineered road.

WHITE_P

astraboy wrote: »

I think he was advocating less of a punishment for those marginally over the limit. At the end of the day I don't think anyone has any issue with speed limits that are in line with the road they are on, ie, not stupidly low like a 60Kph dual carriage way. Also, saying a person breaking the speed limit is a person driving dangerously is ridiculous, its such a sweeping statement that it makes little sense when applied across the broad spectrum of types of roads and limits we have in Ireland. An example:

During the move over to metric limits, the speed limit on the road from Skibbereen to Bantry in West Cork was lowered from 60mph(in old money:)) to 80kph. The road was since upgraded and widened, and before this work there were many parts where 60mph was a reasonable speed. However now, a person driving the road safety at 100kph is breaking the law. Better, newer road surface etc, lower limit. Does'nt have much to do with safety really and more to do with road classification (primary, secondary etc) in a council office. My point is that the law is far from infallible and speeding and excessive speed are two different things.

I don't get pleasure from breaking the law, and while my previous posts may have made me look like a speed limit tashing boy racer, I can assure ye I am not, I do occasionally break the limit when safe to do so and road conditions allow, but I normally try and keep to it for 99% of my driving, and never exceed the 50/60Kph limits. The law can sometimes make lawbreakers instead of stopping them by silly application of limits too low for a well engineered road.

Well said.

WHITE_P

Hanley wrote: »

I'm sorry, but using the excuse "other people get away with breaking the law so why can't I?" is an utterly ridiculous way to attempt to justify a more lenient to those who are caught breaking the speed limit by a large amount.

I don't think you understand the point I'm trying to make, So here goes again. Why should speeding be treated any differently to other offence's of equal or higher consequence.

WHITE_P

I generally don't exceed the speed limits these days, as I'm generally never in that much of a hurry. If I'm travelling for work I'm getting paid to do so and I don't care how long it takes me to get where I have to go.

When I'm not travelling for work I usually have the wife and kids with me, and there's no better reason not to take unnecessary risks.

My concern about covert / ambush style speed traps is that they achieve little or nothing when it comes to road safety, and only further aggravate an already p!ssed off motoring public.

If you look at one of my previous posts you will see that having met several garda cars travelling in the opposite direction last Friday between Moate and Athlone (they were most likely returning from a court sitting elsewhere in the county), the traffic I was travelling along in, all maintained a speed within or only marginally over the speed limit all the way to Kinnegad, were I left the N6 / M4.

Now that's what I would call proactive policing and it obviously had an effect on all those drivers, myself included.

As for speed camera's I would be for them being located where their impact may actually save lives, for example outside the numerous schools that line our national roads, or known accident black spots. But typically we can expect to see them located on motorway's where they will be guaranteed to make a decent return (financially) for the company operating them and the Government.

As someone who annually does about 30 to 40 thousand miles, I see a lot of dangerous driving on our roads, where speed is not a factor. However neither the RSA or the government seem too bothered to try and tackle these issue's.