Court summons for mobile phone driving

[Onlyme234]

Hi all
I was caught sending a text on my phone in standstill traffic in March last year. Silly of me but a police officer was walking past and caught me. I got issued an FPN and received a letter in the post with a £200 fine and then details of how to surrender my license details online. I didn't realise that I also had to send off my license, fill out a form and send that off too. I honestly just didn't read the form properly.
I paid the fine and did it online but didn't send the form off. In September, I received a refund of the £200 and a court summons.
I'm due to go to court on the 23rd and was wondering if anybody had any advice?
I want to just go in and be super honest and say it was human error and I didn't read the form properly. Has anyone ever had this before and received more points or a larger fine?
Do they just reissue the same as on the FPN or am I at risk for more?
Any advice valued please

That is one of the most bizarre arguments I have ever heard!

I would definitely give ringing them a try, as a PP said they might just let you respond to the original FPN. If not though I would just explain in court that you didn't read the form properly and apologise profusely, make the point that you've never been in any sort of trouble before so you probably panicked a bit and thought you'd done everything required of you by paying the fine. They will take your income into account when calculating your fine so try not to worry, going to court is never pleasant but it's a few minutes and then it's over, it will be ok. You made a mistake and sound like you're unlikely to do it again so don't be too hard on yourself OP.

OK. The prosecution rests its case.

Okay Judge Judy. Luckily that’s not how it works. Also unless she is a trauma nurse she won’t necessarily be in contact with RTA victims.

Just wonderful that so many people came rushing in to get the boot into OP when she already admits she's at fault

I hope that, as a student nurse, you read patients notes more carefully

Just paying the fine and not submitting your licence for the points is seen as failing to comply. If your case has been booked into court it can’t be unbooked. You won’t have to attend. It can be deal with by post when you will have the opportunity to explain not submitting your licence was an oversight. It will then be up to the magistrate to make a decision.

Really? I’m an experienced RN and the only RTA victims I’ve encountered have been whilst out and about as a member of the public and stopped to help. I’ve never looked after RTA victims ‘on the clock’.

Not excusing what OP did at all, just wanted to point out that that’s a very strange thing to say.

Boo fucking Hoo.

Dipshits texting whilst behind the wheel are why people like my child get hit by cars.

I hope you get fined to the max.

No one here is defending her actions. I certainly am not. She absolutely deserves a fine and points, hopefully got a stern telling off from the police officer in question who caught her. And even more hoping she’s realised the magnitude of her actions and is very remorseful and has learnt from this going forwards.

However my point was - there was absolutely no need for Gall10’s incredibly unhelpful and patronising, nasty comment.

I hope someone buys you a wooden spoon.

This.

Which is not the point that poster was responding to.

She admitted that she did not read the form properly. It is perfectly reasonable to hope that she reads patients notes,etc., properly. Not bothering or being in a hurry can lead to disaster

Par for the course isn't it?

Did you inform your insurer? If you receive a caution or conviction you will need to inform the relevant person at your university and follow the RCN guidance. I would seek legal advice.

6 points on license and band C fine - based on salary/benefits. Make sure you plead guilty.

So, just so I'm clear (sorry it's a bit of a derail):
If my phone is in a holder, like attached to the dashboard, I can touch it to get my maps up (don't have car sat nav)? Or I can restart it when the Internet drops off.

I'm sure she finds that response very helpful, well done you🫴

Does your child regularly get hit by cars? How many times exactly? The same car or a different one each time?

Think you need to show them a green cross code video!

Personally, I think you should just explain what happened. We have all been stuck in standstill traffic going nowhere, often for lengthy periods of time. I'd be amazed if anyone hadn't had to let someone else know you were stuck and wouldn't be meeting/collecting children/making an appointment/etc on time because of it.

You can use it hands-free.

https://www.gov.uk/using-mobile-phones-when-driving-the-law

go to court, say you are desperately sorry for being so careless first in thinking it was ok to text while stationery in traffic and then for failing to read the letter properly. Say you’ve learned your lesson and will take better care in future. Good luck.

I don’t see that it’s patronising. It was something that was evidently important and the OP didn’t bother to read it properly.