5 points & £350 fine!

[laz11]

A friend of mine was caught on the motorway doing 97mph by a patrol car. It went to court and he's just been informed he got 5 points and a £350 fine!! He only had 3 points on his license prior to this...so was surprised at the fine/points! I thought this was a bit steep as I was caught in a very similar circumstance and just got an sp50 and 3 points. Any views on why he got such a hefty fine and 5 points? Cheers
Laz

[havoc]

Where was it, time, conditions, constabulary etc.?

If you can give us some more information we can start making some educated guesses...

[TwoWheelTerror]

perhaps because he didn't turn up at court. Definately not hearing the whole story though.

[laz11]

Well I know it was around 8pm and the road was fairly clear as he doesn't usually speed. Don't know where it was or the constabulary though I'm afraid. Does that make a difference?

[havoc]

Might make a big difference...some constabularies are notably anti-speed and would have definitely prosecuted, while others would have just hit him with an NIP, save the hassle. Constabularies also have varying "limits" at which they are supposed to do different things...97 IS borderline court-case for many, to be honest...

[laz11]

Ah ok...well I will see if I can find out where it was. Thanks for the advice

[ed22]

It does seem a bit random; I got a NIP for 97 in a 70 and got an SP30/ 3pts/ £60

[bluepolarbear]

laz11 said:

A friend of mine was caught on the motorway doing 97mph by a patrol car. It went to court and he's just been informed he got 5 points and a £350 fine!! He only had 3 points on his license prior to this...so was surprised at the fine/points! I thought this was a bit steep as I was caught in a very similar circumstance and just got an sp50 and 3 points. Any views on why he got such a hefty fine and 5 points? Cheers Laz

Sounds about right to me and you were let of light. Points rack up quick near the 100mph mark anything going to court at 95+ I would expect 5/6 pts. The fine is supposed to be means tested.

[john57]

As you seem to get banned at anything over 100mph (unless you get the bench on a good day and have a good grovelling technique) I am not surprised they got 5 points and a hefty fine ..... the speedo would likely have shown 100+ anyway so I don't really see they can complain too much.

I think 95mph is the recommended point at which tickets end and after that 'being reported' begins but that's only guidelines - if, for example, the police had been following for a few miles in a marked car I would not be surprised they didn't get the option of a ticket..... but we don't know as we weren't there!

[mojocvh]

97 mph is 1 mph over the ACPO guidlines for FPN in a 70.