Does anyone know if you get multiple speeding tickets if you have travelled at least 14 times in a week down a road thinking it was a 30 not a 20 restriction?

[Mummytotwonow]

My poor friend travelled to Wales to help look after a friend after an operation and stayed for a week. She has just returned home and found a speeding ticket (she was travelling 26mph thinking it was 30mph road and the ticket says it was 20mph). She travelled along this road at least twice a day running errands for about a week. She is so so so worried she is going to get multiple speeding tickets with fines and points and lose her license. It says she will get up to 3 points and fine on the first ticket. I have have checked the name of the road online and it looks like it's a fixed camera. She is so worried. Does anyone know what happen in a case like this?

Thanks x

Might as well sell the car and get a bike... although she'll struggle to walk by the time she gets out of the clink.!!

Looking at Google images, assuming it's this road, which seems likely, the 20 sign is clear enough that she's not going to be able to argue poor signage.
The 20 signs are repeated along the roads (and in both directions) and painted on the road at least twice.

There are signs for 20. Doing it 14 times shows a staggering lack of observation, whether she was helping out a friend or not.

As for “hardly like doing 50 in a 30”, yeah it’s worse. 20mph zones are usually that way because it’s near a school, playground or in a residential area where pedestrians will be crossing. It’s that low for a reason, not to catch people out or piss them off.

There is a road near me that has recently changed from 30 to 20mph. There is some odd law that means it's only displayed once at the point of change, each way. If the speed cameras had been working I'd have been caught out.

It was 40 to 30 mph. This is the sign

20s round here usually have loads of signs and markings on the actual road.

Many roads in whole areas of my nearest city centre are 20. Beyond the first sign and road markings, if you didn’t know the whole area was 20 you wouldn’t know.

This is the article that clearly states repeater signs are not permitted. I'm not clear if this is because the new road limit is 30mph.

It was changed due to a tragic accident, so I'm not complaining. But easily missed when drove on the road for 20+ years.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/notorious-chester-road-stretch-slashed-20427311.amp

I don't know about how many tickets she will get, but the experience may teach her to take note of the speed signage in future

20mph zones are usually that way because it’s near a school, playground or in a residential area where pedestrians will be crossing

Nope, as I said, much of our city centre is 20 and no different in terms of residential from many other roads.

[quote Mummytotwonow]@PheasantsNest you sound like a lovely person. She has never been to this area before, was looking after two young children, helping her single parent friend recover from an operation as she doesn't have anyone else. It's hardly doing 50mph in a 30 is it! She's never had a speeding ticket in her life. People make mistakes. [/quote]
It makes no difference if she has been to the area before, if anyone was in the car etc.
That does not excuse her for not being observant of road signs

I was caught doing 26 in a 20 zone that I'd thought was 30.

On revisiting the scene of the crime after I received the letter it was obvious that I didn't have a leg to stand on to appeal as the signs were there. It was the first time I'd seen a 20 zone so I can only assume my brain saw signs and thought '30' rather than actually reading them.

Definitely my fault though

[quote Blueskythinking123]This is the article that clearly states repeater signs are not permitted. I'm not clear if this is because the new road limit is 30mph.

It was changed due to a tragic accident, so I'm not complaining. But easily missed when drove on the road for 20+ years.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/notorious-chester-road-stretch-slashed-20427311.amp[/quote]
That’s because it’s 30. Different rules for 20.

@Blueskythinking123

It was 40 to 30 mph. This is the sign

If it's 30 mph, you don't need signs, only street lamps.

They've been helpful in adding the big red sign, because legally, all they need to do is remove the 40 signs from the lamposts and add a single 30 at the beginning.

In the absence of other signage, if there are streetlights, the limit is 30, if there aren't any, it's 60 if a single carriageway.

Going back to the 'other' Ty Draw roads in Wales, they're all 60 mph limits, because none of them have street lights, although it would be likely to be reckless lunacy to drive that fast on those roads.

OP, I worked in Camera Enforcement until recently (in England not Wales though).

If it is a fixed camera she will probably have been pinged every time she went over a certain speed (not necessarily immediately over 20mph though). If it's a mobile van it will only be on the days it was there (probably only one day). Contrary to what a previous poster said, the fixed camera will have been on the whole time, they are not turned on/off on certain days.

Your friend would be best advised to phone the Camera Enforcement team and explain the situation, they will be able to check whether she has been caught more than once - at least she will then know what she is dealing with rather than stressing unnecessarily.

If there are less than 5 offences (assuming she currently has a clean licence) she should be offered a speed awareness course for one, and take 3 points and a £100 fine for the other 3 offences. This would put her on 9 points and her licence would still be valid.

If there are 5 or more offences (or she already has points on her licence or has done a speed awareness) she should request a court hearing, and explain the situation to the magistrates.

I would not advise trying to delay the process or employing specialist solicitors. All this does is piss people off, and in a situation where you will end up in court anyway it's better to have been pleasant and apologetic along the way. Don't give the prosecutor a reason to want to punish you!

Finally, it's probably going to be expensive, and yes she may get quite a few points, but it is possible to keep your licence even with more than 12 points, especially if the magistrate is sympathetic. The magistrate is more likely to be sympathetic if you are polite, apologetic and non-confrontational.

Plenty of 20 signs on roads.
I can see why she made the error as the road ‘looks’ like a 30 but on unfamiliar territory it’s always safe to check for 20 signs before speeding up….

@doistayordoigo thank you so so much for your helpful advice. I really appreciate that and will pass on the info. Thank you for taking the time to explain x

If it's Ty Draw road next to Roath park in Cardiff then the camera will have been a mobile one. Possibly an officer on the back of a bike (quite common around there)

It's a very obvious 20mph surrounded by other 20mph roads with speed calming give way points as well. To not pay that much attention is a bit concerning and maybe your friend has taken on more than she can cope with.

@BoredZelda

20mph zones are usually that way because it’s near a school, playground or in a residential area where pedestrians will be crossing

Nope, as I said, much of our city centre is 20 and no different in terms of residential from many other roads.

We probably live in the same city - my entire borough is 20mph, as is the next one over.

it is possible to keep your licence even with more than 12 points, especially if the magistrate is sympathetic. The magistrate is more likely to be sympathetic if you are polite, apologetic and non-confrontational

You will only keep your licence if you satisfy the criteria - a ban would cause exceptional hardship to you and/or another . Being polite is a positive but won’t save your licence unless you can establish exceptional hardship. Losing your job is unlikely to be enough.

I would not advise trying to delay the process or employing specialist solicitors.

Terrible advise. As I posted before Andrew Thomson is the person to engage. Has a proven track record and got an amazing result for a family member. All he does is motoring law.

@Shade17

I would not advise trying to delay the process or employing specialist solicitors.

Terrible advise. As I posted before Andrew Thomson is the person to engage. Has a proven track record and got an amazing result for a family member. All he does is motoring law.

I'd love to know how a solicitor argues someone out of missing huge 20 roundels painted on the road plus standard 20 signs along with traffic calming points. What is the excuse exactly?

@Shade17

I would not advise trying to delay the process or employing specialist solicitors.

Terrible advise. As I posted before Andrew Thomson is the person to engage. Has a proven track record and got an amazing result for a family member. All he does is motoring law.

Actually you are usually better off instructing a solicitor who is local to the court in question. Most specialist motoring lawyers are twats

@EdgeOfTheSky

I found myself in a road that cars aren’t allowed in for two periods on Mon - Fri. The whole area is sign-salad central, and I didn’t realise I was in it at the wrong time on the wrong day til I had no choice to drive out past the camera checkpoint (cameras at each end).

I was furious as I am fed up of the maze of road closures, LTNs etc, all with different signage.

But no demand for payment has arrived, 3 weeks later.

So your friend may get lucky.

I did the exact same thing, ended up in city centre after my usual route was closed. Was going for my vaccination and was running late and stressing out.

This was months ago now but luckily didn’t get a ticket. Was looking forward to seeing a picture of me looking panicked though.

And it would cost you a packet to instruct Andrew who would have to travel from Leeds to Cardiff to represent you, and would charge accordingly