´Sheer inadvertence´ gets Kinnock six month ban

“Speeding is a killer and I have campaigned all my life against speeding. If you break the speed limit you can expect to be punished.”

So said former Labour leader Neil Kinnock, after being fined £800 and banned from driving for six months by Abergavenny magistrates this week. Ex-European transport commissioner Lord Kinnock, who already had nine penalty points on his licence, was caught speeding twice on the M4 in June and September last year, taking his points tally – all as a result of speeding – to 15 in three years.

Kerry Gwyther, defending, told the court: “He was going above the speed limit as a result of sheer inadvertence.”

But Kinnock could still be driving today if he had used a GPS speed camera warning system to remind himself of speed limits and the proximity of speed cameras.

Nigel Carter of Talex award-winning GPS speed camera warning systems said: “I have no doubt that Neil Kinnock is normally a law-abiding driver and I have no wish to embarrass him further, but his misfortune highlights how easy it is to inadvertently break the law and collect fines and penalty points. GPS speed camera alert systems can help make people safer drivers by drawing attention to speed limits and encouraging them to slow down.”

In a recent Commons debate on the Road Safety Bill, transport minister Dr Stephen Ladyman and Tory MP Owen Paterson both said that they use GPS speed camera warning systems. Dr Ladyman confirmed that they would remain legal.

GPS speed camera warning systems use satellite technology to pinpoint exactly where your vehicle is on the road. The vehicle’s position is constantly compared with the system’s database of speed camera locations and the driver is warned of a camera’s proximity and the appropriate speed limit. Talex systems use visual and voice warnings and also alert drivers to schools and accident black spots.

There are two Talex GPS camera warning systems available: the Talex Lite at £89.99 and the original Talex at £149.99. Auto Express in its authoritative review and test of speed camera locators judged the Talex Lite to be its ‘Best Buy 2006’ with the original Talex coming second in the test as ‘Recommended 2006.’