On-the-spot fines for bad driving are great

Good, if it stops the one-in-three lunatics on the road from getting up to their usual antics.

Middle-lane hoggers, tail-gaters, cutter-uppers, wrong-laners et al are all now in danger of picking up on-the-spot fines of up to £100.

We’ve all come across all of these so-called drivers, wondering how they ever passed a driving test in the first place.

And now they are all to be dealt with along with other miscreants like mobile-users, seatbelt-ignorers and horn-sounders who face stiffer penalties than they did in the past.

Before penning these words, I tried to decide which of the driving traits targeted in the new regulations is the worst.

Some are simply annoying, while others are downright dangerous.

We all know people using handheld mobile phones while driving are not likely to have full control of the vehicle they are in charge of – but that does not stop us seeing people doing it every time we take to the highways.

Tail-gaters are equally as dangerous and when, having entered the day from the wrong side of the bed, it happens to me on the way to work I often wish for a special button on the dashboard which released oil or marbles into the carriageway directly behind me. Perhaps the boy-racer or white van man behind me might back off a bit after a dose of that sort of on-the-spot punishment.

Middle-lane hoggers on the motorway are not always dangerous, other than the impact they have on other motorists’ collective blood pressure.

And those who drive in the wrong lane to then, all of a sudden, cut you up to get to the right one are either truly selfish or incredibly myopic.

But any way you want to look at it, some on-the-spot justice, including in some cases fixed penalty points, might just start to make a difference.

I can think of two or three FaceAche groups who will take great umbrage at this column.

But what they forget is that every single one of them admits to being a law-breaker by virtue of their disdain for any sort of road traffic legislation.