In trouble, what do I do?

[Hammondhugh]

I, after my family member fell really ill sped to the hospital. I did 30 mph over the limit so 80 in a 50. I could’ve taken the points and called it or taken a ban. I’m asking for a reduced ban in court.
I now need to explain this to my employer and I work in education. I really really don’t want to have to explain this. I’m so embarrassed. What do I do? It’s actually very embarrassing to explain and I work with very intimidating management

In the kindest possible way OP - working in education is not "that big a deal" - why are you making such a drama out of this? You were in the wrong and should just take the points. Who engages a solicitor to deal with this??

OP your posts are a bit muddled which could be purely down to feeling stressed. Can I ask if there was a reason you didn't go in the ambulance? I'm sure it's a question that will be asked. Things must have been serious enough to make a decision to keep up with a speeding ambulance. I don't think just so you had a car to get home from the hospital is likely to be seen as mitigating. Compounding one poor decision with another by lying to get the time off for court isn't advisable - it really is best to be honest about why you need the time off, it's less likely to bite you on the ass later. As a pp mentioned - there could be a local reporter in court and the case may make the media, how much worse are things going to be if you lie about why you need time off?

Why can’t you take the 6 points? This is really unclear to me….

Have you got a clean license or do you have points already?

The voice of reason! Of course they would!

I once drove a family member to the hospital after she had a nasty accident and was bleeding heavily. Someone sat in the back and put pressure on the wound and trust me, the last thing I thought about was sticking to the speed limit. Mercifully we got there ok, she had surgery and later made a full recovery.

I'm sorry you're in this situation OP and I hope you had a good outcome for your relative.

Tell your employer the truth, and be sincere. Always tell the truth.
Then you don’t have to remember your lies, which gets more and more complicated.

I think you'll likely get 6 points and a fine? You don't have to go to court, it's pretty common to be tried in absentia for speeding offences such as this and I doubt most people bother to engage a solicitor.

Tell the truth.

Anything else risks a worse outcome than the original discomfort of telling the truth.

OP, why don't you explain?
My relative was rushed to hospital, I followed the ambulance.
I went past a speed camera. I need to go to court..
I think the fact you were following an ambulance makes quite a bit of difference.

I'm not understanding your post??

I also work in education and am an 'essential user' so get a travel allowance.

Over a year ago, I stupidly drove my car on a flat (I didn't realise! I knew there was something wrong with the car, as there had been for a few days, and all I could think of was to get the bloody thing home before it conked out!) and it was unstable. I was reported as a suspected drink driver and breathalysed which proved that I wasn't. An officer suggested a 'deal' where I accepted points and a fine, and as I said at the time, I'd have been a dick not to take it.

However, he was overruled by a senior officer who insisted on taking it to court. I engaged a solicitor who was deeply unpleasant until he realised I was a middle class, well-educated professional, with a clear 40 year driving record, and I was hugely mortified about being in this position. He said he wasn't used to dealing with people who were devastated about what had happened!!

He represented me in court 3 times - I didn't have to attend TG - and my 'sentence' was commuted to doing a safe driving course - no points and no fine! I was, and am, hugely grateful!!

I didn't have to tell my employer - it was none of their business??

Assume in life everyone knows everything (as eventually they usually do).

If work have time be told under policy, then get in first. Explain what happened, that you feel dreadful, understand how in the moment of caring for someone you lost sight of endangering others, have taken responsibility and the punishment, how you are very sorry and how it won't affect your work.

If you work in a school you have a legal obligation to declare any convictions. Think this ban would count as this. If you don’t declare you could be dismissed under your disciplinary policy.

While there are a large number of people who 'beat' the system according to these admittedly old sources (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-39053658 and https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-40862975 ) and some magistrates are more lenient than others, I think you need to be consistent with your rationale for speeding.
It was either justified because you needed to keep up with the ambulance in which case (from your perspective) there is no shame and can be explained to court and employer, or it's something that cannot be justified and should be hidden from all respectable folk.
The contradiction of wanting to have your cake and eat it is likely to garner more condemnation than forgiveness.

Well how do you request time off without telling the employer

I went to court for 70 in a 40 zone, to put my case not to have an automatic ban. Not as dangerous as it sounds, it was a dual carriageway, empty on a Sat afternoon, and the limit was in place due to non existent roadworks.

No excuse for speeding and I didn't try to excuse it.

I got 6 points and a £300 fine.

You do need to tell your employer why you need the day off (to attend court) but you don't have to tell them what the case is.

Unless it’s a safeguarding issue, or something that might come up on a dbs renewal I wouldn’t say a thing.

What's embarassing about it?

You were speeding to the hospital. If I was an employer, I'd completely understand. You were scared, a life was possibly on the line. I'd actually respect you for it.

Read her post - she didn't attend.

I hope you answer questions more clearly than this in court, because this is like pulling teeth.

From your vague dribs and drabs of information and you repeatedly just saying 'I don't want to tell them' with no indication of why you don't want to, I think these are the answers to the things you're asking:

• The fact that you work in education is irrelevant to any of this. A driving ban alone isn't a criminal conviction.
• If you usually drive to work, you will need to find another means of getting there. Provided you get there somehow, it's of no interest to your employer how you do that. They don't give a shit if you come to work by taxi, car, plane, train, automobile or in a chariot drawn by zebras, provided you get there.
• If you cannot find another means of getting to work while banned from driving, then frankly you'll be sacked anyway - not for your driving ban but for the fact that you aren't going to work.
• If you need a day off to attend court (assuming you can't just take annual leave during term-time) and you 'don't want to tell them' that you're going to court over a driving offence, then your other option is to call in sick. But you would be much better to be honest with them, particularly given the circumstances of your speeding. You do not, OBVIOUSLY, have to tell them what speed you were doing.
• You are a grown adult. Get a grip and stop whining about being scared to talk to your employer. You're not a 12-year-old who forgot their homework.

Okay so I am going to fess up aka be honest with them. I will state:

1. i have been asked to attend court in relation to being caught speeding on route to hospital while following an ambulance

rhe only issue I have is my employer could say well how fast were you going if you’re facing a ban??

Just be honest. It will be better all round. Explain what happened factually and why you need time off.

Tell your employer. I’m sure they won’t judge you. You’re not the first caught for speeding and won’t be the last.

How do you work in education but don’t know it’s ’en route’?

A driving ban isn't a criminal conviction. A driving ban might in some circumstances be part of the sentence for a criminal conviction (eg driving without a licence, drink driving, dangerous driving) but you can also get a driving ban without any criminal conviction. Speeding is a motoring offence, not a criminal one. So if this is purely a speeding offence that is punishable by points and those points are sufficient for a driving ban, it doesn't form part of a criminal record.

Be completely transparent and tell your employer. You will definitely get a more sympathetic response.

I'm unclear why you won't take the points

If you think you have a better chance of defending yourself, why are you talking about a reduced ban? You could just take the points and not be banned and not have to tell your employer anything.

Endangering others, including the ambulance, doesn't sound like a mitigating circumstance. You weren't rushing someone to hospital. They were in an ambulance with paramedics.

Did they not give you the option to go with them?

Are you very young, within 2 years of passing the test? You're not making much sense, sorry.