Safe Speed Forums

Hello,

I have recently received two separate letters in the post stating that I will be fined for speeding, both on the same night from cameras literally about 4 minutes apart. This was the first time I was ever caught speeding (I am 20, live in the UK, and have been driving around a year and a half). I was suffering from a migraine on this night and was not paying due attention to the speedo at the time of the offence, and Im worried that I will be getting 6 points and a driving ban (I haven't had the letters back stating what the penalties will be yet. Can anyone give me advice? Should I take this to court? What kind of legal expenses could I be looking at if I do?

A good place to check if you want advice on the legal side of things is www.pepipoo.com - register for the forums there (free) and see what they say. The only other advice I can offer is that telling a court that you wern't paying due attention because you had a migraine isn't likely to go down too well. If you feel you weren't paying enough attention it could be argued that you shouldn't have been driving at all, at least that's how I suspect the magistrates might see it. As to penalties... well, if you're worried about a driving ban I presume you've only had your full licence for less than two years. If it's more than two years you probably won't get a ban unless you were going really fast, otherwise expect 3 points and a £60 fine for each. If you are still 'probationary' then you're going to have to fight one or both if you want to stay on the road unless you are able to sell exceptional hardship to the magistrates. That's not something I'd want to rely on given recent stories in the media (unless you're a politician or a police officer ). And if I was thinking of fighting a speeding ticket Pepipoo is the first place I'd go.

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Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein

When a new driver gets six points it is *not* a ban, it is a revocation of the licence. The basically puts you back to having no licence, but there is no disqualification period and as soon as the test(s) are passed the driver is back on the road. I know the waiting times for a test are quite long but I imagine with some persistence a prospective candidate could get a cancellation within a reasonable period. The only fixed amount of time is between applying for a provisional licence and getting it.

Also you cannot plead exceptional hardship to avoid a revocation, it is automatic once you get to six points and the courts do not have powers to issue points to take the total to six but stop the revocation. You could plead guilty and ask for two points but I think it would be very rare to get this. The racing driver girl was up for a ban by virtue of exceeding 100mph so it's a bit different.

Anyway, I would advise visiting PePiPoo anyway, to summarise there are several avenues of atttack (or defence?):

1) Basic checks (were the NIP's served within 14 days, are they authorised by the CC of the police?)
2) Checking whether the signage is correct
3) Sending the PACE statement (not guaranteed - read PePiPoo!)
...plus a few more

Either way, there is zero mileage in mentioning the migraine, the mag's would say that you shouldn't have been driving at all.

Gareth

Look very carefully at the possibility that both cameras may have detected the same offence, so it should be dealt with as one single offence not two. There is legal precedent for this - as mentioned earlier seek advice on pepipoo...

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CSCP Latin for beginners...
Ticketo ergo sum : I scam therefore I am!