Penalised for 1 mph

ON SUNDaY, I had to drive 150 miles, so decided that whenever I approached a town or village with a roadside monitor that informs you of your speed as you near the 30 mph signs, I made sure I was doing exactly 30 mph on my speedometer.

However, despite this, none of the roadside displays said I was doing 30 mph — the readings varied between 26 mph and 33 mph.

How will the Chief Constable who wishes to penalise drivers for going 1 mph over the limit cope with this?

Can you be fined for allegedly doing 33 mph when the roadside monitor you just passed said you were doing 26 mph and your speedo said that you were doing 30 mph?

R. CROSS, Maidstone, Kent. I aM in favour of catching those who flout the speed limit — such as the boy racer who tore through my housing estate in his hot hatch at 50 mph. Of course, there was no speed gun in sight. I always aim to keep to the limit, but I expect that the majority of motorists like me have occasionally found they have slipped up to 32 mph or 33 mph in a 30 mph area, or 74 mph or 75 mph on a motorway.

I have a question for the Chief Constable who proposes abandoning the buffer zone: which is safer, focusing on the road with occasional glances at the speedo and adjusting your speed when needed, or focusing on the speedo for fear of going 1 mph above the limit and taking your attention away from the road? IAN MILLGATE, Abingdon, Oxon.