Driver disqualified and required to take extended driving test after being snapped doing 80mph in a 30mph zone

A witness captured the Audi driver on film in Radwinter Avenue in Wickford in July 2021 and submitted the footage to the Partnership’s Extra Eyes team.

The witness was following a learner driver and was approaching the junction with Coppens Green when the Audi overtook both vehicles at extremely high speed.

The Audi was driven on the wrong side of the road and had to brake sharply as another vehicle was waiting at the junction.

The footage was sent to specialists at Road Safety Support, where an expert witness calculated the Audi’s speed to be 80.7mph.

The offending driver was disqualified from driving for 15 months, required to take an extended driving test, and was fined £400, plus an additional £145 costs and a victim surcharge of £40.

Nicola Foster, Chairman of SERP, said: “I was shocked watching this footage as the outcome could have been very different. The driver chose to drive at 80mph in a residential road, passes an island where children would choose to cross as a ‘safe place’, whilst also passing other cars which might hide people waiting to cross or crossing.

Hopefully, in a year’s time when the driver can take the extended test to regain their licence, they might possibly reflect on how lucky they were that day that there was no permanently life-changing outcome for themselves or anyone else.

“I want to thank the person for submitting this footage to us and I encourage all road-users to submit similar clips.

“We all need to encourage those we know and love to think about their driving and to ensure that they play their part in helping to reduce deaths and serious injuries on Essex roads to zero.”

The footage can be found here, Extra Eyes | Blue Audi – dangerous driving – YouTube.

To find out more about Extra Eyes or to submit some footage to us, please visit Driving Complaints (2020) – SERP (saferessexroads.org)

06 May 2022