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Original poster

Speeding fine

53 replies

Sparklebelle1024 · 29/10/2017 16:51

Hi,

I was issued a FPN for speeding today and it’s the first time I’ve ever been given a ticket but I was wondering if I would be able to contest it under the grounds of the details being incorrect? They haven’t updated the gun thing and the time of the “offence” is wrong by an hour due to the clocks going back so TECHNICALLY I wasn’t speeding at that time? Anyone know if I’d have a chance? I almost threw up when I got stopped because it’s not like me at all and I’ve been worried sick about it all day

(SCOTLAND)

OP posts:
Snap8TheCat · 29/10/2017 18:21

I’m not saying you’re the only one who has ever sped- I have 🙋

However if I were caught I would accept I my punishment and pay the fine. Not be whinging on here about how I should get out of paying the fine.

ajandjjmum · 29/10/2017 18:23

Write to them and explain why you were speeding - include details of where your daughter was and who could confirm this - and ask for leniency under the circumstances.

And obviously apologise.

They can only say no.

lljkk · 29/10/2017 18:24

The dance people know to ring an ambulance for her if she took that bad a turn, right?

How far was the drive? Driving at 34 mph (instead of 30mph), would have got OPu there 7 minutes faster if the whole distance was 30 miles. But I bet the real distance was much smaller so the time gain for doing 34 was less than 1 minute overall. Compare that to maybe 10-15 minutes OP had to wait for the FPN to be issued. So OP lost lots of time by speeding. That alone should motivate OP not to risk speeding again.

Glad your DD was ok & didn't need an ambulance after all.

OlennasWimple · 29/10/2017 18:32

There is a reason for a 30 mph speed limit. Driving fast could have put someone else's child in danger.

"Feeling sick" for your first driving offence is a bit OTT - unless you are likely to lose your job as a result, or some other significant consequence, you pay the fine (or ask to do the awareness course instead) and suck it up

theladylovescupcakes · 29/10/2017 18:33

It sounds as though the machine wasn't calibrated correctly, I'd challenge. And stick to the speed limit in future.

Littleelffriend · 29/10/2017 18:34

You wouldn’t get a fpn for doing 34 in a 30

FinallyHere · 29/10/2017 18:39

Answering on behalf of a friend...

In order to pay the fine, you have to plead guilty to . Explain (you will need to do this in writing) that you don't want to waste their time and that you are not contesting the fact that you were speeding, but that you cannot in good conscience plead guilty to speeding at when their officers are witness to the fact that the offence actually occurred at .

Ask for their advice, in these difficult circumstances. Try not to smirk.

DownstairsMixUp · 29/10/2017 18:43

Why wouldn’t you get fpn doing 34 in a 30

Littleelffriend · 29/10/2017 18:59

I’m in the police. You wouldn’t get a ticket because the machines aren’t calibrated accurately enough to stand up in court when you’re only a tiny bit over the limit. The general rule is the limit plus 10 percent plus 3

repetitionrepetition · 29/10/2017 19:02

why do you get to speed because your daughter is unwell? how does getting stopped or having a crash or killing someone help you get there quicker? why do laws suddenly not apply because you say so? unclear

LurkingHusband · 30/10/2017 10:01

Personally I tend to take the view that once one mistake is found, what else is lurking (pun intended) to be discovered ?

My first thought is what are the maintenance and calibration records for that particular camera like ? If wasn't being operated in accordance with DoT guidelines, the OP might have a point.

MongerTruffle · 30/10/2017 17:07

Why wouldn’t you get fpn doing 34 in a 30

In England and Wales it used to be the case that you wouldn't get a fixed penalty notice if your speed was less than the speed limit + 10% + 2 mph. Those guidelines were scrapped a few months ago because all police forces in England and Wales have more accurate machines.

MongerTruffle · 30/10/2017 17:07

... I'm not sure what the rules are in Scotland.

LIZS · 30/10/2017 17:09

How can you have already received a ticket for when the clocks changed when it only happened yesterday?

MongerTruffle · 30/10/2017 17:10

How can you have already received a ticket for when the clocks changed when it only happened yesterday?

OP said that she was caught by a police officer and pulled over.

LIZS · 30/10/2017 17:10

Ignore that, see it was one handed over at the time.

LurkingHusband · 30/10/2017 17:18

In England and Wales it used to be the case that you wouldn't get a fixed penalty notice if your speed was less than the speed limit + 10% + 2 mph.

When I did my Speed Awareness Course in 2014, one attendee was done for 31 in a 30.

CosmicPineapple · 30/10/2017 17:22

Why would the time make a difference OP?

You were caught speeding stopped by an officer and given the ticket. The time wont matter as the officer is a witness that it was you.

You were speeding. You were caught. Pay the fine.
You are not the emergency services so any excuse as to why you were speeding will not wash.
Had your DD being that ill then the dance school should have called 999.

Heratnumber7 · 30/10/2017 17:36

Even if you were trying to get to an unwell daughter, unless she was about 50 miles away the difference in arrival time if you were doing (say) 40 instead of 30 would be about 30 seconds, or less.

AutumnGlitterBall · 30/10/2017 17:45

In Scotland, for hand-held speed devices, the Lord Advocate’s Guidelines are 31-39 mph in a 30 is a warning. 39-49 is a ticket with three points and £100 fine. 50 or above is a report to the PF. Fixed speed cameras are different. We don’t have speed awareness courses here. I have issued enough of them to know.

prh47bridge · 30/10/2017 19:31

Those guidelines were scrapped a few months ago because all police forces in England and Wales have more accurate machines

No they weren't, although you could be forgiven for believing otherwise based on the coverage in some of the press.

The 10%+2mph "allowance" has only ever been a guideline from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). As far as the law is concerned you can be fined if you are just 1mph over the speed limit. That has always been the case.

A few months ago new bands were set for speeding fines. Some papers saw that the lowest band is for exceeding the speed limit between 1mph and 10mph. Some parts of the press assumed that this meant the 10%+2mph guidance had been abolished. That is wrong. ACPO guidance is still that a fixed penalty should not be issued unless the motorist is at least 10%+2mph over the limit (10%+3mph for a 20mph limit).

However, the thing to remember is that this is only guidance (and that this guidance does not apply in Scotland). Individual police forces do not have to follow this guidance. If they want to issue a fixed penalty notice to someone going 1mph over the limit they can do so.

1099 · 31/10/2017 08:50

Hi OP, I used to teach this subject to Police Officers, albeit several years ago, you could contest on the grounds that the machine clearly hadn't been calibrated correctly as the time was incorrect (which as PP say can be corroborated by the Police Officers on the scene) therefore it is quite plausible that the actual speed reading was also incorrect. Whether you should contest it rather than just pay it is a matter for you and your conscience.

LadyPenelope68 · 31/10/2017 09:01

When it’s so crucial you get there for this life and death health condition you should not be leaving her at a dance class unsupervised then, or be co dude tvthat the staff can deal with it/call an ambulance when necessary.

You have a speed limiter which you “took off” so you knowingly made the decision that you would be going over the limit. In my eyes, that’s planned so you knew you were likely to be committing an offence. You could have hit someone and killed them because you were (a) speeding and (b) too focussed on getting to your child.

You’ve done the crime, you pay the fine. As for feeling like you were going to be sick, that seems a huge over-reaction. How far over the limit were you?

LurkingHusband · 31/10/2017 09:01

Hi OP, I used to teach this subject to Police Officers, albeit several years ago, you could contest on the grounds that the machine clearly hadn't been calibrated correctly as the time was incorrect (which as PP say can be corroborated by the Police Officers on the scene) therefore it is quite plausible that the actual speed reading was also incorrect. Whether you should contest it rather than just pay it is a matter for you and your conscience.

The OP is expected to keep her car roadworthy under various laws and regulations. It's not too much to expect the state to do the same with respect to the apparatus it uses to prosecute criminal cases.

I wonder if the OP were successful in challenging on the grounds of maintenance, whether the authorities would automatically cancel all other fines from the machine while it was not fit for use ?

1099 · 31/10/2017 09:16

Lurkinghusband, I agree, and there are, or were at least, pretty comprehensive rules on using the machines to avoid exactly this sort of event. I also wondered whether they would cancel all the clearly incorrect fines or just wait to see if anyone found out.