Conditional offer of fixed penalty

[stewsmith2007]

Hi.

My partner was caught by a hand held camera allegedly doing 47 in a 30 zone on 27/07/2013. She was pulled over and gave her details to the police officer. She received a letter 2 days ago dated 21/08/2013 giving her the option to take 3 points & £60 fine or contest in court. Just wondering if anyone knows any way of getting out of it without going to court?
Thanks

[KungFuPanda]

Take the 3 points and fine if you don't want to go to Court.

[Ozzie Osmond]

What's her defence?

[HUFC]

Take the points, theres no way to get out of it if it was speeding for no reason.

[shim]

leave the country and hide in Kurdistan - no extradition treaty and great root vegetables!

[Jacobyte]

It looks like they might have exceeded the maximum of 14 days to notify you, so you might do well to check with a lawyer.

[Puddenchucker]

Jacobyte said:

It looks like they might have exceeded the maximum of 14 days to notify you, so you might do well to check with a lawyer.

OP says she was stopped at the roadside, and presumably informed that she would be prosecuted, so the 14 day rule doesn't apply.

[radiodanno]

I thought that 14 day rule was a myth!

Every day's a school day!

Suck it up. 47 REAL MPH is probably nearer 55 on the speedo. Even the most forgiving and liberal of us hippies start struggling there.

(I'm not preaching. I've not had a speeding offence yet, but I accept it as an occupational hazzard. It'll happen when it happens)

[Zingari]

Correct - 14 day rule does not apply as she was stopped and reported for consideration of prosecuting at the time.

The speed limit is above the theshold for alternative pathway such as speed awareness (normally +39 = prosecution)

Take the fixed penalty this is the cheapest option. Excess speed automatically incurs points so going to court and arguing the toss about accuracy/calibration of the camera will result in (likely) a larger fine, court costs and inconvenience hanging around with the great unwashed waiting for your case.

[750turbo]

stewsmith2007 said:

Hi.

My partner was caught by a hand held camera allegedly doing 47 in a 30 zone on 27/07/2013. She was pulled over and gave her details to the police officer. She received a letter 2 days ago dated 21/08/2013 giving her the option to take 3 points & £60 fine or contest in court. Just wondering if anyone knows any way of getting out of it without going to court?
Thanks

Sorry, but at 47 in a 30 she does not deserve to get off.

[LukeR94]

750turbo said:

stewsmith2007 said:

Hi.

My partner was caught by a hand held camera allegedly doing 47 in a 30 zone on 27/07/2013. She was pulled over and gave her details to the police officer. She received a letter 2 days ago dated 21/08/2013 giving her the option to take 3 points & £60 fine or contest in court. Just wondering if anyone knows any way of getting out of it without going to court?
Thanks

Sorry, but at 47 in a 30 she does not deserve to get off.

Im sorry OP but I have to agree. Thats a fair few over, she should be lucky she is only getting 3 points and a fine, thats 50% over the speed limit. The equavalent of doing 105MPH on the motorway.

[CampDavid]

Take the points, pay the £60 and then donate a further £60 to the charity of your choice as a massive thankyou to the gods of fortune that they've bestowed this kind 3pt/£60 off on you. Court would cost oh so much more

[sherman]

For doing 60 in a 40 I got 4 points and a £180 fine. OP tell her to take the points and the small fine as if she goes to court the judge will probably double her fine or some other nice little gift.

[obob]

radiodanno said:

Suck it up. 47 REAL MPH is probably nearer 55 on the speedo. Even the most forgiving and liberal of us hippies start struggling there.

I think you need to get your Speedo fixed.

[Roo]

obob said:

radiodanno said:

Suck it up. 47 REAL MPH is probably nearer 55 on the speedo. Even the most forgiving and liberal of us hippies start struggling there.

I think you need to get your Speedo fixed.

I do wonder why people always say things like that when speeds for speeding tickets are mentioned.

[voyds9]

750turbo said:

Sorry, but at 47 in a 30 she does not deserve to get off.

Depends on the road
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=A576+Middleton+Ro...

[Geekman]

750turbo said:

Sorry, but at 47 in a 30 she does not deserve to get off.

Nobody who was genuinely speeding "deserves" to get off - what a ridiculous idea. However, most of us would like to avoid the penalty if possible, which I'd imagine was what the OP was getting at.

[My Evil Twin]

voyds9 said:

Depends on the road
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=A576+Middleton+Ro...

and there you have 2 primary schools within 150m of that point.. so IMHO a 30 would be warranted in that situation.

[radiodanno]

Roo said:

obob said:

radiodanno said:

Suck it up. 47 REAL MPH is probably nearer 55 on the speedo. Even the most forgiving and liberal of us hippies start struggling there.

I think you need to get your Speedo fixed.

I do wonder why people always say things like that when speeds for speeding tickets are mentioned.

47 REAL is 52 INDICATED on my speedo. 47 is nearer to 55 than it is to 30. I take your point, but mine is still valid.

Why do people say that? Because it's a relevant point.

[agtlaw]

Jacobyte said:

It looks like they might have exceeded the maximum of 14 days to notify you, so you might do well to check with a lawyer.

No. This is very basic stuff. Section 1 RTOA 1988

Requirement of warning etc. of prosecutions for certain offences.

(1) ... A person shall not be convicted of an offence to which this section applies unless

(a) he was warned at the time the offence was committed that the question of prosecuting him for some one or other of the offences to which this section applies would be taken into consideration,

or

(b) within fourteen days ... ...

OP, you could look at TROs, compliance with signage regs, calibration verification checks, etc, etc, but the reality is that a fixed penalty is in 99.9% of cases the only sensible way of avoiding court proceedings if a SAC isn't on offer.