I understand that, but I'd be shocked if the practice of taking points for others isn't widespread.
What's the point (no pun intended) of assigning points for speed camera violations? Just take the money, that's the purpose of the cameras anyway.
Because taking points for another person is classed as Perverting the Course of Justice (PCoJ), it's not very widespread. To take points for another person, you'd have to be fully insured to drive the car that was caught speeding, so that knocks out almost all potentials but partners/parents/adult children. Remember also that every speeding camera penalty is backed up with a photograph - if there is any doubt about who was behind the wheel, the police force concerned can check that. In practice, photographs aren't always looked at, but a driver can never be sure that the police force won't check.
PCoJ is seen here as a really serious offence, on a par with perjury in court, and the maximum penalty is life imprisonment. Jeffrey Archer, ex-politician and author, was jailed for PCoJ for four years in connection with the provision of a false alibi in a libel case he brought against a newspaper.
The Don has explained the issue of insurance in a UK context. For example, both I and my daughter are insured to drive my car, but my policy contains an exclusion that nobody else, even if they have third party cover for driving other vehicles, can drive it. I had to get a special dispensation to allow my 19yo daughter to drive it as I have a Motability car (a car leased for me by the government using my disability benefits as well as my own money), and generally they won't insure under 25s on higher value cars (I have a Mercedes B class). So if either of us were to be caught speeding, we could only take points for the other, and the insurance issue would be the same in the end.
Whilst I think most UK residents would entirely agree with you that speed cameras are simply revenue generators, their supposed function is to deter speeding. If the only consequence was £60, nobody would much care about being caught as the fine is relatively small as long as you are within fixed penalty guidelines. To act as a deterrent, there has to be proper consequences, and the points are that deterrent. Everybody starts off with no points, and points are given for various motoring offences. Points last for three years; any points older than that are disregarded. In the first two years of a person holding a driving licence, 6 points will lead to a loss of licence, after that, 12 points means a six month automatic ban. Most run-of-the-mill speeding offences are 3 points, having no insurance is 6 points. All points have to be declared to your insurer and they may load the premium accordingly.
The highest limit on UK roads is currently 70mph, though there are plans to raise the limit on motorways to 80mph. Built up areas are generally 30mph, sometimes 20mph. Other roads are 40, 50 or 60, depending on the type of road. They are generally all well signposted and cameras have to be painted bright yellow so they stand out.
