I've been flashed! What happens now?
This page will not answer all your questions but hopefully it will
provide you with some useful information.
Step 1 - Being “flashed ”
If you are flashed by a speed camera you normally won’t know about it.At night time or in poor weather conditions you may see a flash from a static speed camera but often these days the police simply video you and there is no “flash ”.
Step 2 - Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP)
Unless you are stopped and spoken to by a police officer (at the scene of the offence)the police have got to send a letter called “notice of intended prosecution ”(NIP)to the registered keeper of the vehicle within 14 days,whether it be an individual or a Company.
If the police have not sent the registered keeper a NIP within 14 days then it means you cannot be prosecuted.
Once you get the NIP you are obliged to provide details of the person driving the car.This is no problem if you are the driver you simply fill in your name and address and then send it back to the police.If however you don ’t know who the driver of the car was you are entitled to see the photograph or video image of the speeding offence and most Constabularies will make this available to you.
Most people are unaware it is a criminal offence not to tell the police the name and address of the person driving the vehicle. If the Court finds you guilty of this offence you can be fined and disqualified from driving for a period up to twelve months.
Step 3 - Fixed penalty
Once the police have got your notice of intended prosecution back with details of the driver on it,they may offer you a fixed penalty rather like a parking ticket.You will get a fine of about £60 and three penalty points on your licence and a limited amount of costs,roughly £40
However the police cannot do this if you have more than nine points on your driving licence because then you would be liable to be banned under the “totting up ”provisions.
Step 4 - Court summons
If you have nine points on your licence already,or if you are travelling well in excess of the speed limit,you will be sent a Court summons.
The police have up to six months from the date of the offence to issue the summons at the Court.If they don ’t then you can ’t be prosecuted.
Step 5 -Attending Court with your Solicitor
There are two main reasons why we go to Court with clients first high speed and secondly “totting up ”.
HIGH SPEEDS
Generally speaking if you are guilty of speeding at 20 or certainly 30 miles an hour above the speed limit,the Magistrates will consider banning you just for that offence itself,even though you may have a clean licence and a good driving record.
TOTTING UP
As you probably know if you get twelve points on your licence during any three year period you must be banned under the “totting up ”provisions for at least six months. If such a ban would cause you “exceptional hardship ”the Magistrates can reduce that six month ban or impose no ban at all.
Normally “exceptional hardship ”involves the loss of your job and we routinely argue this successfully on behalf of clients who then avoid a disqualification altogether.There is no definition of ”exceptional hardship ” and we have had successful cases in the past where our clients have been responsible for driving disabled members of their family or even their children to and from school.The best thing to do is give us a ring.
However this reason for exceptional hardship can only be used once in a three year period and if you get caught speeding again within that period you will almost certainly be banned for at least the minimum six months because you cannot use the same “exceptional hardship ”reason twice.If however a different “exceptional hardship ”reason comes along in the meantime then you can argue that.
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