Crime & Punishment.

I've been driving now for over 27 years and up till now had a clean licence. But a couple of weeks ago I failed to spot on of these sneaky buggers (pictured left) in time. My own fault, it's a route I do every week, I knew it's a speed trap zone, I obviously wasn't concentrating .

Today I've had the letter through, offering a Fixed Penalty of £60 plus 3 points .

Fair enough I guess, I'll take it. I've got the option of going to court but at the end of the day I was speeding (50pmh in a 40 zone) so I have no defence (for once my usually fertile imagination has let me down) and no doubt I'll only end up with the same (or more) plus costs.

I've done some quick mental calculations, I reckon I've probably driven around 400,000 miles in my lifetime so far. At a guess I would say about 250,000 of those at least have been in excess of the speed limit. I like to consider myself a safe driver with only 2 minor knocks in that time. I'm certainly no boy racer ,but sticking to the limits just seems to damn slow.

Unlike many I'm not complaining about being caught. Of course it's frustrating. But the way I look at it, life's a game, you know the rules and you know the consequences if you get caught breaking them. Looking on the bright side I've got away with it for about a quarter of a million miles (sounds even more like that) so I haven't done too badly.

And I have to admit, since getting caught I have been driving more slowly ........ although I'm sure it'll wear off soon.