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

I’m sure she realises that. I hope YOU also realise that being a sanctimonious arse when someone has made a mistake and is asking for support and advice is a shitty thing to do.

@Negroany

"What? This is for people with disabilities, or who didn't get the letter due to a postal issue, etc. Not for people who, totally within their control, just didn't read the instructions."

Where do you get this idea from?

"She can, of course, respectfully ask. But there's nothing to suggest they "should" do it."

The guidelines I link to actually use the very word "should". The word "should" indicates something that is best practice, not necessarily mandatory.

What's important is that not supplying licence details is "unconnected with the offence itself", not that the OP didn't read the form properly. (Although that was monumentally stupid, but as someone who used to be involved in managing nurse training contracts on behalf of the NHS does not particularly surprise me...)

Yeah there are a lot of rude arseholes in the world who hide behind “honesty” so it makes sense that some of them make their way online. Shame for the OP who is getting abuse for not being perfect 100% of the time like you are.

It isn't an 'admin' error. It's failing to follow the terms in which the fine was issued which is why op will be before the magistrates. It's also wasting the courts time having to deal with people like this.

@Wonderi

"I don’t know about the fine etc but don’t be too hard on yourself as we’ve all done it..."

I haven't and many other people haven't.

I did it just last week when I was stuck in a traffic jam and had to ring work to let them know and my hands free wasn’t working... I try and just turn my engine off and then do it, even if it means the traffic starts moving at that point and I have to start it up again."

Then you are unnecessarily playing with fire and asking to be fined and 6 points.

Oh give over

You're not 'honest' you're just posting to put the boot in. Your earlier post was to suggest that OP will possibly make mistakes as a nurse due to lack of attention.

Suggesting that we're 'here' to do anything is so self-aggrandising and arrogant.

Could have guessed this would attract at least one cyclist hater 🤣

OP, just be honest, apologise and grovel and say you’ve learned your lesson and you’ll never text behind the wheel again.

One nasty poster said she hoped you lost your job. How nasty.

Only on mn are all drivers such angels. No one has ever touched their phone. Ever. On mn.

Stationary traffic. We were stuck in stationary traffic on the m25. There was an accident. We were stationary for 35 minutes. We knew there'd been an accident ahead. Ds1 and ds2 text Dh and put the accident on Waze. But if I'd been on my own I'd have done it myself.

I feel sorry for you op. You did pay. It got refunded. It wasn't that you didn't pay. You didn't realise it had to be sent off. You could have easily sent it off and it got lost in the post, never arrived. You'd still end up being punished.

Go to court. Hope they are lenient that it was an error on your part.

OP I would write to the court and ask if it can possibly be dealt with in an admin way, rather than wasting the courts time....The penalty is 6 points and a fine, you need to complete a means form and the fine will be based on your earnings. If you have debt/limited income/would struggle to pay, this will be taken into account. The fine has a 40% surcharge and there will be prosecution costs-if you can try and settle this without going to court, it might be less expensive for you. If you already have 6 points you will be looking at disqualification....unless you wish to make an exceptional hardship case. The forms are ridiculously complicated and many people don't fill them out correctly. Good luck

Imagine if everyone on the road does what you do..

I’m a magistrate, we see probably four or five of examples of this every day and have complained many times that the letter must not be clear enough, and you shouldn’t be able to get the payment phase without giving the other information - as if you go to court you don’t need to send your licence off, so it’s not necessary at all.

If you have a bench that is familiar with this, they’ll probably get as close to replicating the fixed penalty (it usually ends up costing about £60 more to cover court costs). If you have a less understanding bench it’ll be 6 points and a fine based on your weekly income levels, so could end up being up to £1,000 if you were high earner.

@Onlyme234 you need to speak with your uni and get legal advice on your case, as there could now be implications beyond 6 points. You should also check if you need to make additional disclosures at this stage to any unions and the NMC.

Sorry if you disagree but I think drivers who try to minimise the seriousness and danger of using a mobile phone while driving with the fallacy that "we've all done it" should have the error in their thinking pointed out to them..

Goodness, is that somebody who actually greatly understands and has direct professional experience in this matter confirming highly relevant and useful specific details?!

I thought this thread was just for 'people who reckon' to come on and berate OP and tell her that she's probably also rubbish at her job, when she fully admits that she made a (common, by the sounds of it) mistake.

Must be nice up there on your high horse.

What a sanctimonious and overly dramatic post.

I can't believe you wouldn't have come across sanctimonious before now?

Of course you need to ensure the court know the traffic was at a standstill as this is a mitigating factor relating to the offence. It would be even stronger mitigation if you were in neutral with the handbrake on.

Doesn’t really seem like she’s used any big words @Geekylover? You are being unnecessarily unkind here and the OP is looking for support for an admin issue not to be insulted.

I’m sick to the back teeth of judgemental arseholes who can’t read properly. She’s not calling the texting human error, she’s calling the not sending the licence off an error. Who are you to judge her for that and claim it wasn’t human error. No wonder no one wants to be a nurse anymore with every little thing in their personal life being judged.

I'd use mine while at traffic lights, never whilst driving. I really do think the law needs amending regarding being stationary. Does being sat in a carpark count if the engine is running? It is mental.

The PC needs to get chasing the ones on their phones whilst actually moving!

She asked advice, she didn't ask you for a lecture, if you have no advice move on