ROAD safety experts have raised concerns over proposals to punish speeding drivers with tiered fixed penalties.

Under proposals announced earlier this year motorists could be awarded penalty points with the number depending on the severity of the offence.

Those travelling at 90mph in a 70mph limit could get three points, compared to two points for travelling at 35mph in a 30mph zone.

RoSPA head of road safety Kevin Clinton said giving two penalty points to speeders sends out the wrong message.

He said being just over the speed limit is a serious offence and questioned if this proposal could be linked to speed awareness courses.

The minutes of the high level meeting added that Steve Gooding, head of roads and vehicle directorate at the DfT, said this was part of a broader approach which emphasised that Government ‘is not just concerned with fining people but wants to improve behaviour and training’.

A representative from the Association of Chief Police Officers said the organisation supports the two penalty points plan as a ‘way of softening the edges of the camera partnership scheme’.

More needs to be done to educate drivers about speeding, suggested Rob Gifford, of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Transport Safety.

He said: ‘For instance, when speeding fine notices are sent out they should include information on why people are being prosecuted and why speeding is dangerous.’ The topic of safety camera partnerships was raised with Jamieson saying that despite speed cameras ‘being portrayed in the press as unpopular’ he ‘is convinced it is the right thing to do and stands by the policy’.

The Minister added that in his own constituency, Plymouth Devonport and its wards, 80% of residents support safety cameras.

Rod Kimber, a science and engineering director at the Transport Research Laboratory, agreed with Jamieson’s comments and said the Government was right to continue with its policy and claimed that evidence for safety cameras was strong.