Tougher penalties for South Yorkshire's most serious speeders
South Yorkshire drivers who seriously flout the speed limit will face much tougher punishments from today
From today drivers in South Yorkshire could lose a week a half's wages for seriously breaking the speed limit.
New sentencing guidlines will see a rise of a half in the fine for the most serious offenders on the roads - with the upper limit going up from 100% of your weekly income to 150%.
It'll effects drivers doing over 100mph on the motorway - or more than 50mph in a 30mph zone.
Stephen Blount's brother was killed by a driver over twice the limit 11 years ago - he's welcoming the change:
“It was a 30 mph zone and he was driving at 65 mph when he hit us as we were walking across the road. If he had been doing 30mph the outcome would have been totally different. I wouldn’t have lost my brother and I wouldn’t have had these life changing injuries which have now left me disabled.
“They probably wouldn’t have been that bothered about just a little fine, but the more it is the more it’ll hit that their back pocket, so yeah I am totally one hundred per cent with this.
“It’s just been over 11 years since he died and to us, that day is like yesterday. It’s always like yesterday because it is so vivid, it’s such a tragic horrible loss and we can’t get over it. To have somebody ripped away from us in that sense, it won’t fade, its life changing, it affects you forever."
The Sentencing Council says the change is to make sure there's a "clear increase in penalty as the seriousness of offending increases''
It's after responses to a consultation arguing previous guidelines didn't properly take into account the increase in potential harm that can result as speed above the limit rises.
South Yorkshire's Police and Crime Co missioner thinks it's a good move - he's told Hallam speeding can have serious consequences:
“Speeding is one of the major factors in road traffic accidents. You’ve only got to come across one family where that has happened, to realise that speeding is a menace and it causes huge damage to individuals and their families.
“You can cause huge damage even at quite relatively low speeds, 35 miles an hour in a built up area when children are coming out of school.
“I understand from a motorist’s point of view that nobody likes to be caught speeding, especially if you are just over a limit, but on the other hand the speed restrictions are there for a reason and you’ve only got to go out with the road traffic police for a short period of time to realise what damage can be done to individuals.”