On the wrong road

I AM surprised that Chief Constable Anthony Bangham is calling for zero tolerance in relation to exceeding statutory speed limits (Mail).

As a police officer, I was told the 10 per cent leeway in the enforcement of the speed limit was because car makers could not guarantee a speedometer was 100 per cent accurate. Satnavs can show a difference of up to 2mph.

Prosecuting drivers for driving at 31mph in a 30mph limit will result in an avalanche of contested cases clogging up the courts.

Surely it would be far better that if you speed between 34mph and 36mph, you are sent on a speed awareness courses and for speeding over 37mph you are fined and get penalty points on your licence.

ANTHONY CASTELL, Bristol. CHIEF Constable Bangham suggests the police have ‘lost sight of their duty to enforce the law’.

I look forward to his force leading the way in investigating real crime and bringing criminals before the courts. They should stop being uniformed social workers choosing the easy route to success.

Speeding drivers should be fined while uninsured drivers and red-light jumpers must be banned from the road. But the police are soft on real crime such as cannabis use, which some officers say should be legalised as it’s too difficult to police.

Mr Bangham’s assertion that ‘there was no reason why police cannot reduce the number of road deaths to zero’ is naive. Reduced speed limits are not proven to save lives.

DES MORGAN, Swindon, Wilts.