….instead of a bloody big stick for those who get caught just exceeding the limit!

This is of major importance. Something like 90% of those who get stung with dirty great fines and demerit points are only exceeding the cruising speed by a very small amount.

And for goodness sake, given that the cruising speed and effective speed limit are so close together, the authorities surely MUST TELL US EXACTLY WHAT SPEED THEY ARE POLICING in each case.

The authorities need to realise that the safest speed for any individual vehicle in traffic is to roll with the flow, and that a driver who sits back and does 5 or 8kmh under while everyone else is doing ~5 over is actually creating a hazard, by fraying the patience of other drivers, many of which have got absolutely stuff-all patience to start with!. They need to understand that there are many of people who would be happy to keep their speed down a bit but feel that it is safer to roll with the flow or don’t like getting tailgated and shown contempt by other road users, or both!

There would be a great deal more respect for the whole business if we had a much stronger sliding scale of penalties. If there was only a minimal fine for exceeding the bookable limit by up to 5kmh, then we would all pretty quickly feel that revenue-raising is indeed not the primary motive. But as it stands at the moment, it does appear to be the primary motive…. and that really doesn’t go down well at all in engendering respect for the authorities and road rules.

And finally, we need to know that the policing of speed sits within an effective holistic regulatory regime for all road rules and aspects of road safety. Currently it DOESN’T! Not by a long way. It seriously offends me and no doubt many people when they get severely stung for very minor speeding infringements while frequently witnessing dangerous driving practices that don’t get policed, and don’t get dealt with if you make a complaint!

Persons doing 5 or 8 under and those doing 5 over a causing a great danger. Yes doing 5 over is against the law and you rightly get fined for it.
The policeable speed limit is what the appropriate restriction sign says. And no speeding before reaching the derestriction sign.
Speed signs are not hard to read it's just some people, don't believe what they say. Which part do you not understand.