Plead guilty by post or go to court?
Discussion
JMW45 said:
I'm always happy to admit to being wrong as I thought the 'new rules' particularly affected new drivers (as well as generally increasing the fines for all).
My son has received a Single Justice Procedure Notice and has now decided to attend court in the hope that he will not have his licence withdrawn. He is preparing his plea of mitigation (based on fully accepting his responsibility, being very sorry and having paid for and attended a defensive driving course).
In reality we expect the worse and he has the licence withdrawn and he will have to re-take.
We do, however, live in hope!
Thats a real shame as judging by your posts I am certain your son and your family are amongst the ones least deserving of what may be coming your way. My son has received a Single Justice Procedure Notice and has now decided to attend court in the hope that he will not have his licence withdrawn. He is preparing his plea of mitigation (based on fully accepting his responsibility, being very sorry and having paid for and attended a defensive driving course).
In reality we expect the worse and he has the licence withdrawn and he will have to re-take.
We do, however, live in hope!
Reminds me of myself, as I say back in 2001 as a naive teenager - through complete ignorance and naivety I pinged the same camera repeatdely on the way to work in London, thinking that because it was a 2 laned dual carriageway it must have been a higher speed limit. No excuses for that, but, as a result, it cost me 7 points, hundreds of pounds in fines, a brand new car left undriven, licence revoked to provisional, re apply for theory test ( which I had to take twice but only because of a computer glitch telling me I had failed the1st test when I had in fact passed ) and then onto take another practical driving test. Then my insurance on a 1 litre Corsa was £1600 for the ywar. Oh and then a 4 year wait before I could drive in my career due to policy stating you couldn't drive if you had more than 6 points ( The 7 I accumulated remained on my new licence ). That in turn stunted my development hugely in my career. It was a whopping punishment by anyones standards, for a speed that people do daily on the same road today in London.
I will always maintain that the level of punishment I received, for basically making the same mistake a few times, was hugely disproportionate to what I had actually done.
Dizeee said:
I will always maintain that the level of punishment I received, for basically making the same mistake a few times, was hugely disproportionate to what I had actually done.
I can't disagree with you.In this case it's just one offence and if he had being doing 2 or 3 mph less he would have been able to attend a speed awareness course and probably no further action. If it happened 6 weeks later he would have held his licence for more than 2 years and it would be a different outcome.
As it is, like you, he is likely to have his licence withdrawn and re-apply and with significantly increased insurance.
Also, he has to drive 15+ miles each way to work and the nearest bus stop is over 2 miles down an unlit country lane so the loss of licence will hit him very hard.
He accepts he was speeding (and it really seems to have taught him a lesson) and he accepts there should be a penalty to pay but the likely outcome seems, to me, disproportionate.
JMW45 said:
I can't disagree with you.
In this case it's just one offence and if he had being doing 2 or 3 mph less he would have been able to attend a speed awareness course and probably no further action. If it happened 6 weeks later he would have held his licence for more than 2 years and it would be a different outcome.
As it is, like you, he is likely to have his licence withdrawn and re-apply and with significantly increased insurance.
Also, he has to drive 15+ miles each way to work and the nearest bus stop is over 2 miles down an unlit country lane so the loss of licence will hit him very hard.
He accepts he was speeding (and it really seems to have taught him a lesson) and he accepts there should be a penalty to pay but the likely outcome seems, to me, disproportionate.
Sorry, but there needs to be realism here. In this case it's just one offence and if he had being doing 2 or 3 mph less he would have been able to attend a speed awareness course and probably no further action. If it happened 6 weeks later he would have held his licence for more than 2 years and it would be a different outcome.
As it is, like you, he is likely to have his licence withdrawn and re-apply and with significantly increased insurance.
Also, he has to drive 15+ miles each way to work and the nearest bus stop is over 2 miles down an unlit country lane so the loss of licence will hit him very hard.
He accepts he was speeding (and it really seems to have taught him a lesson) and he accepts there should be a penalty to pay but the likely outcome seems, to me, disproportionate.
Firstly, 2-3mph less would not have put him in the zone for a Speed Awareness Course, they have a maximum of 42mph, so he’d have to have been doing 10mph less at least to get offered one.
Six weeks later and he could be facing a ban of up to 56 days. Even with the lowest punishment of 6 points, he’s facing heavy insurance premiums next year. So no matter when it happens, he’s facing heavy insurance premiums.
Losing your licence for 6 points in the first two years isn’t new, so he should take some ownership of his actions. The penalty is what it is and has been right through. If he’s as reliant as he is on his licence then he needs to learn some self control.
I’m not going to claim to be a saint and never speed, quite the opposite in fact, especially when younger, but I took my punishment as an adult and moved forward. My punishments included three lengthy bans and an 18 month period where I couldn’t afford insurance so had to go without a car.
Gavia said:
Sorry, but there needs to be realism here.
Firstly, 2-3mph less would not have put him in the zone for a Speed Awareness Course, they have a maximum of 42mph, so he’d have to have been doing 10mph less at least to get offered one.
Six weeks later and he could be facing a ban of up to 56 days. Even with the lowest punishment of 6 points, he’s facing heavy insurance premiums next year. So no matter when it happens, he’s facing heavy insurance premiums.
Losing your licence for 6 points in the first two years isn’t new, so he should take some ownership of his actions. The penalty is what it is and has been right through. If he’s as reliant as he is on his licence then he needs to learn some self control.
I’m not going to claim to be a saint and never speed, quite the opposite in fact, especially when younger, but I took my punishment as an adult and moved forward. My punishments included three lengthy bans and an 18 month period where I couldn’t afford insurance so had to go without a car.
Thank you for your comments.Firstly, 2-3mph less would not have put him in the zone for a Speed Awareness Course, they have a maximum of 42mph, so he’d have to have been doing 10mph less at least to get offered one.
Six weeks later and he could be facing a ban of up to 56 days. Even with the lowest punishment of 6 points, he’s facing heavy insurance premiums next year. So no matter when it happens, he’s facing heavy insurance premiums.
Losing your licence for 6 points in the first two years isn’t new, so he should take some ownership of his actions. The penalty is what it is and has been right through. If he’s as reliant as he is on his licence then he needs to learn some self control.
I’m not going to claim to be a saint and never speed, quite the opposite in fact, especially when younger, but I took my punishment as an adult and moved forward. My punishments included three lengthy bans and an 18 month period where I couldn’t afford insurance so had to go without a car.
However, this is all new to me as I haven't ever received a driving penalty (in 30 years) so a steep learning curve for me as well as my son. You clearly have the advantage of much greater experience!
I was also quite clear that he accepts responsibility for his actions and the resultant outcome. I was merely expressing some remorse at the system we live in.
JMW45 said:
Thank you for your comments.
However, this is all new to me as I haven't ever received a driving penalty (in 30 years) so a steep learning curve for me as well as my son. You clearly have the advantage of much greater experience!
I was also quite clear that he accepts responsibility for his actions and the resultant outcome. I was merely expressing some remorse at the system we live in.
I think mean frustration, rather than remorse. Either way I know it’s not ideal, but the penalties are surprises and the system generally works well I k ow loads on here want all speed limits to be removed along with all laws that restrict anything we do in a car, but that’ll never happen. The key is learning when to have some fun and when to show restraint. However, this is all new to me as I haven't ever received a driving penalty (in 30 years) so a steep learning curve for me as well as my son. You clearly have the advantage of much greater experience!
I was also quite clear that he accepts responsibility for his actions and the resultant outcome. I was merely expressing some remorse at the system we live in.
It’s a harsh lesson he’s learning, but best to make them young and learn from them. It’s a,so better to accept the consequences of your actions, rather than try to continually blame others, as that leaves people posting about how unjust they feel things are, even after a few decades have passed.
Gavia said:
Sorry, but there needs to be realism here.
Firstly, 2-3mph less would not have put him in the zone for a Speed Awareness Course, they have a maximum of 42mph, so he’d have to have been doing 10mph less at least to get offered one.
Six weeks later and he could be facing a ban of up to 56 days. Even with the lowest punishment of 6 points, he’s facing heavy insurance premiums next year. So no matter when it happens, he’s facing heavy insurance premiums.
Losing your licence for 6 points in the first two years isn’t new, so he should take some ownership of his actions. The penalty is what it is and has been right through. If he’s as reliant as he is on his licence then he needs to learn some self control.
I’m not going to claim to be a saint and never speed, quite the opposite in fact, especially when younger, but I took my punishment as an adult and moved forward. My punishments included three lengthy bans and an 18 month period where I couldn’t afford insurance so had to go without a car.
Thats all well and good but I want sympathy for my scenario. ( Mine was in 2001 around 3 months after the unadvertised change in the law ).Firstly, 2-3mph less would not have put him in the zone for a Speed Awareness Course, they have a maximum of 42mph, so he’d have to have been doing 10mph less at least to get offered one.
Six weeks later and he could be facing a ban of up to 56 days. Even with the lowest punishment of 6 points, he’s facing heavy insurance premiums next year. So no matter when it happens, he’s facing heavy insurance premiums.
Losing your licence for 6 points in the first two years isn’t new, so he should take some ownership of his actions. The penalty is what it is and has been right through. If he’s as reliant as he is on his licence then he needs to learn some self control.
I’m not going to claim to be a saint and never speed, quite the opposite in fact, especially when younger, but I took my punishment as an adult and moved forward. My punishments included three lengthy bans and an 18 month period where I couldn’t afford insurance so had to go without a car.
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff