James Bishop, 46, of McCallum Road, Doncaster, pleaded guilty in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court yesterday to exceeding the speed limit.

He had received an infringement notice of $397, four demerit points and one-month licence suspension but opted to go to court.

Bishop was told by Magistrate John Lesser that the licence suspension was mandatory. He also imposed a $350 fine without conviction.

The magistrate said there was no other course of action he could take and that travelling at such a speed resulted in a compulsory loss of licence.

He said there were very good reasons why 40km/h school zones existed although he recognised changing speed limits tested the attention of drivers.

Police said that on February 10 at 9.21am Bishop was driving a Land Rover wagon west in Dennington when he was observed travelling above the speed limit.

He was checked on radar at 70km/h in the school zone with an alleged speed of 67km/h.

Bishop told police he had set his cruise control on 70km/h and had been talking to his mother and didn’t realise the 40km/h limit was in force.

He said his car clock showed it was 9.40am, not 9.20am, but admitted his speeding was entirely his own fault.

Asked why he had taken the matter to court, Bishop told the magistrate he had clearly made a mistake but it was accidental, not deliberate.