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

nurse at our local hospital got done for drink driving tried to use being a nurse for leniency

totally back fired as got told he should know better got max ban and max fine

And I have lost count of the number of times I’ve nearly been knocked down by a cyclist thinking they can jump red lights when the pedestrian sign goes on. Plenty of dangerous cyclists out there too.

@Geekylover I don’t need to look up the ‘big words’. I already know them.

You obviously need an education though, as well as basic manners and kindness.

No, we haven't "all done it". It's illegal. The OP has made an error of judgement and is showing remorse and taking responsibility. That doesn't mean we normalise breaking the law.

It's illegal to text while driving, including while in stationary traffic. If you need to text someone, you need to park your car.

Why would they take your licence away for texting in stationary traffic? Don't be ridiculous.

And yes I have done it too. I was in a snowstorm and texted my husband to say I was safely back in the town I lived in but was in a massive queue and would be home when I could. I am not apologising for making sure my DH knew I was safe.

Sanctimonious claptrap. Yes it's illegal but it's completely different to driving along looking at your phone. The worst that can happen if you do it while you are stopped in traffic is that someone beeps you because you don't move on when the traffic moves ahead of you.

There are a lot of dangerous drivers in this world and I'd much rather they were fined than someone who messed up the admin on a FPN.

I wonder how many of you drive onto pavements to park when someone is walking along it. Or overtake a cyclist when it's dangerous. Or break a speed limit.

OP I don't know the process but I think if you put your hands up and apologise profusely in court it will be ok. Courts have much more serious things to worry about.

Where has she asked for sympathy? Point it out.
She asked for advice.
If you have none to offer, scroll on by.

Oh someone always has to bring cyclists into it. Of course, they are SO much more dangerous than all the stupid SUV drivers parking on pavements (and driving into them when someone is walking along them).

This thread is not good for my blood pressure. Too many idiots.

When I first saw this, I thought you were caught by Cycling Mikey

a police officer was walking past and caught me.

Should have bought a lottery ticket and retired, really.

The stationary traffic could have been due to an accident. That police person might have been in the know that it was someone using a phone whilst driving that had caused the accident, fatal or otherwise, and there is someone on their phone in the accident queue!
Obs all hypothetical but you can see the logic.

No, it’s not an aggravating circumstance.

These threads always bring out the sanctimonious lot.

OP is not minimising what she did but they still harass her.

Who spat in your cornflakes this morning? Was it OP??

I can't see the logic no. If someone is driving and on their phone arrest them give an fpn or whatever, if they are sat stationary then what is the risk?

I was once pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt, fortunately it wasn't a jobsworth it was a nice PC who told me off nicely and sent me on my way. Never did it again.

Lots of SUV drivers are dangerous and ignore the law, but lots of them are safe and considerate.

Lots of cyclists are dangerous and ignore the law, but lots of them are safe and considerate.

Neither side has the monopoly on perfection - it's just that cyclists tend to come off far worse, for obvious reasons, regardless of whether it was them or the car driver being reckless and dangerous; or a bit of both.

Is sanctimonious a ‘big word’ for you? Oh dear.

You should know better, my car was written off by someone who was on their phone driving, luckily it was just my car that was damaged and not my 9 month old baby in the back.

The human error is not sending in her license after paying the fine, not the original offense....Read the OP

How on earth would you have been knocked off your bike by a completely stationary car?

You're talking about a completely different scenario than what actually happened.

So many posters jumping on to give OP a kicking when they have fully admitted their fault, yet still claiming moral superiority. Charmers. I know who I'd rather have treating me as a nurse.

OP as others have said the only thing to do about the initial charge is to apologise. In relation to the admin issue, is there any proof that you submitted the info online? As that shows that it's not that you were trying to "get away" with the licensing bit but just didn't do the administration side.

To be honest it sounds completely unnecessary to me, why is there a need to send your physical licence in the post AND do it online. It seems likely unnecessary double handling, potentially discriminatory to people who either aren't computer literate or whom can't get out and about easily, not to mention, given how crap royal mail are atm, the possibility of the licence getting lost. In fact, how are they to know that you didnt post the licence and it went missing? Not suggesting you should fib and say that but it seems like a ridiculous system.

The irony of castigating OP for not being able to read a letter when you apparently can't read (or at least comprehend) their post - where is OP a) asking for a way out of it and b) looking for sympathy?

Careful, you’ll be accused of bullying 🙄

Is that seriously your definition of ‘bullying’? You were the one who made a dickish comment to someone who used an ordinary word in a post.

And I can respond to whom I please, thanks.

And perhaps read the unpleasant initial comment you wrote, before accusing others of being bullies.

You've made a good point that I completely missed out of my post about speeding fine. You used to have to send off your physical licence along with the form but for my recent fine, I didn't. I had to pay over the phone, fill in the form and include my driving licence number on it - NOT send the licence itself.

The process has changed but I'm not sure when? Maybe OP can use that in her defence in court.

You're not being bullied.