12pts in a week - driving ban

[Jarofgoodness]

I can't believe that this is happening.

I am normally such a careful driver. I hate speeding, always use the speed limiter on my car and have never had even 3pts on my licence in almost 30 years of driving.

Last month I worked away from home for a week, and on the way to my temporary workplace there was a road which I thought was a 30mph road but which was actually a 20. I got caught speeding (high 20s) every single day, and yesterday received four speeding fines in the post at once. £400 in fines but also 12pts which means a mandatory six month driving ban!

I simply cannot believe that this is happening. I know that it is my responsibility to know the speed limit, and that I shouldn't break it. But this punishment seems wildly excessive and unfair to me. I have 30 years of spotless driving, and have not suddenly become dangerous in a week. Surely someone can see the pattern here and note that it was multiple times making the same simple mistake in exactly the same place? I didn't even have time to reflect on one speeding ticket and change my driving behaviour because they all arrived at once, after I had left the area!

What can i do? I am not expecting sympathy as I know I am only receiving the punishment due to me. But I may well lose my job. The form says that I can plead 'exceptional hardship' in court but that losing employment doesn't count.

I see boy racers all the time and yet I am getting banned! It just seems such an unfairness.

20 zones usually have repeaters and signage at the start/end so can you go back to the road and have someone video as you drive along if there aren't any.

I don’t have any advice OP but just wanted to offer some sympathy as I’ve been in a similar position - diversion to work for a few days and mistook the speed limit. I got lucky and just got a speed awareness course and one set of points. It can easily be done and it does seem so unfair when daily we see far more dangerous drivers speeding along 20/30 mph over the speed limit.

Two wrongs don't make a right.

Go to court, be contrite, point out it is your first offences. The ban may be reduced.

I agree about the unfairness and unreasonableness given that around a quarter of all people with a driving licence should not have one.

How many speed limit signs did you drive past and how did you not notice them every day? If you can prove that the only sign was obscured you might have a chance, otherwise it's on you for not seeing the signs multiple times.

are you Scotland or England. Hardship much easier to establish in England.

I would take legal advice asap. It might be worth taking the lot to court and asking for it to be dealt with all at once. Then argument can be ran about lack of signs, your record etc.

Evidence for this please
Or is it your opinion

I can't remember seeing any, to be honest. Had I have seen them I'd have driven at 20. But there obviously were some that I missed.

I get that it's on me. I just wish there was a more subjective approach to driving bans than just "12pts = ban" when all 12 of my points were for the same thing in the same week on the same unfamiliar road.

You could certainly try going to court, being extremely contrite and ask for hardship to be considered and for consideration of the short timescale that you got the tickets and your previous complete lack of tickets. Get some legal advice and don’t try to offer any mitigation for the actual offences, as there is none.

Otherwise, and possibly regardless, you need to consider ways of getting to work without a car for the next 6 months.

I have been in a similar position, 3 speeding letters in the space of a week.

Did the course and paid 2 fines, 6 points on my license after 30 years clean.

Was surprised my insurance didn't go up at all tbh, they didn't seem bothered.

Op, can you use Ubers etc for the time being? What do you do for work?

I got two speeding tickets 300 miles apart on the same day. So not quite the same but it happens.

Depends where you are. The lamppost rules in Wales default to 20 mph and there need to be repeater signs if its anything other than 20

Driving on an unfamiliar road is absolutely not any kind of reason to excuse not spotting the speed limit signage. Tbh it would possibly indicate to me a worrying lack of awareness whilst driving, given it was repeatedly in such a short time span.

Not the same at all?

You need to see a specialist solicitor that deals with stuff like this everyday.

Double check that there actually ARE speed signs.
My mum got caught in Dorset years ago, got 3 points and a fine. Just assumed it was her fault.
NINE years later, got a letter saying it had been found that there was no signage on the road, so refunding her fine.
All well and good, but what about all her higher insurance premiums in between?? No-one was interested though.

Get legal advice. There’s a barrister called (I think!) Andrew Thompson who specialises in this. I suspect this is exactly the kind of case where a reasonable case for mitigation could be made.

You will get 9 points and an offer to do a speeding awareness course so you won't get banned.

If you get two speeding fines on the same unbroken journey, I think it doesn't count

vague memory.

And you're right that exceptional hardship is generally only hardship that affect others, and there was a case where they said losing your job doesn't count.

That's really shit OP.

You'll get a whole thread of holier-than-thou posters though.

I also don't agree with speeding and my one ticket in 30 years was also where I just got it wrong and thought it was 40 when it was 30 (it's a road that keeps changing between 30 and 40 and I must have just missed a sign). I'm lucky I just drove along it once though so just got one ticket.

I hope they show you some leniency.

I totally sympathise with you. I’m currently driving on 9 points and they were all low level speeds I was done for. And I don’t give a fuck for all you goody two shoes coming along to say “but you broke the law”. What about the boy racers speeding through our village at 60/70 in a 30 area that never seem to get caught. I do 37 on a well lit, dry, no school road in a brand new car with good brakes and I’m penalised. It’s a cash cow and you’ll never convince me differently.

What you might do is get a speed awareness offer for the first one

And the fact that other people might go faster than you doesn't mean that you werent speeding @ginislife

Or maybe they should change the speed limit to 38 for you?

I get to around 25% on the basis of:
Those who take illegal drugs on a regular basis being medically unfit to be behind the wheel.
Those who have ever been convicted of drink driving losing their licence for good.
Those who have poor eyesight and not taken a test then worn glasses.
Applying the same medical standards to all drivers as is done for large lorries or buses
Banning all middle lane hoggers on motorways or dual carriageways as unfit.
Those who would fail their theory test if it happened to be required say every five years.