RE Ralph Musgrave’s letter about speeding (HAS, April 27).

It appears he has points on his driving licence for speeding and had “just been flashed by a speed camera in Newcastle”.

His letter seems aimed at the unfairness of disqualification on totting up of points on his licence. He quotes an article in The Scotsman newspaper which states that drivers convicted of speeding have less chance of an accident than other drivers.

Taken to its logical conclusion, if we all drive around at 100mph there will not be any accidents.

Mr Musgrave also seems to object to disqualification. He quoted the Department of Transport. I looked up its website and if he reads Road Safety Research report No 96 it starts off with: “The most important conclusion is the threat of disqualification does work.”

Mr Musgrave agrees with a £50 fine for speeding, but not the points on his licence. How will that prevent well-heeled drivers from continually breaking the law?

If he knew he was in a speed-limited area, took a risk and got caught, just accept it. If he didn’t know he was in a speed-limited area he must have not been looking at the road signs. The only excuse would be if the signs were not there.

Barry Wood, Edmondsley, Co Durham.

I WAS quite incensed to read the letter by Ralph Musgrave (HAS, April 27) who appears to think that speeding in a 30mph limit is something he should not lose his licence over.

Time and time again we are told that speed kills and, as found on the Royal Society For Prevention of Accidents website, here are the statistics: hit by a car at 30mph, two out of ten pedestrians will be killed; hit by a car at 35mph, five out of ten pedestrians will be killed; hit by a car at 40mph, nine out of ten pedestrians will be killed.

So, would Mr Musgrave like to tell the parents of any child he kills doing 40mph why he knew it was “perfectly safe” to speed in a built-up area, as he said in his letter?

I suggest he starts to think of children running out next time he chooses to speed. We have speed limits for a reason – they save lives.

Colin Jones, Spennymoor, Co Durham.