Speeding
Author
Discussion

BALDYMONSTER

Original Poster:

11 posts

198 months

Wednesday 19th December 2018
quotequote all
About 5 months ago I got nicked by a camera on the M1 driving back from getting a full rev 3 turbo conversion done to my MR2.

A week later I get a nip through the post, not recorded.

Half asleep with my morning coffee I stupidly admitted I was driving, I know, I know. Should have just binned it, Anyway.

Yesterday I get a letter from Bradford cops saying I will be getting a summons to appear in court, I was supposedly doing 96 mph on a bone dry straight stretch of motorway, excellent visibility, zero traffic, 18:00 in the evening blah blah......

However the new turbo dash speedo was jumping between approximately 65-85 odds non stop, I have two written reports stating this fault with the speedometer which is obviously now fixed.

Now "Due to the speed I was allegedly doing, it cannot be dealt with by way of a fixed penalty notice"

Does anyone think I may have a chance of using the proof of the faulty speedo as some sort of mitigating circumstances?

I need my car for work and have had a clean licence for 10 years.

Any constructive advice and opinions welcomed.

Thanks in advance.

Chris.

No ideas for a name

3,241 posts

116 months

Wednesday 19th December 2018
quotequote all
No chance.
You can't reasonably argue that you thought 96 felt like 70.

Also, binning it would have landed you with 6 points.

spookly

4,391 posts

125 months

Wednesday 19th December 2018
quotequote all
No idea. But I'm not sure that an admission you were driving a car that might be considered unroadworthy might not be the best plan.

RedWhiteMonkey

9,132 posts

212 months

Wednesday 19th December 2018
quotequote all
BALDYMONSTER said:
About 5 months ago I got nicked by a camera on the M1 driving back from getting a full rev 3 turbo conversion done to my MR2.

A week later I get a nip through the post, not recorded.

Half asleep with my morning coffee I stupidly admitted I was driving, I know, I know. Should have just binned it, Anyway.

Yesterday I get a letter from Bradford cops saying I will be getting a summons to appear in court, I was supposedly doing 96 mph on a bone dry straight stretch of motorway, excellent visibility, zero traffic, 18:00 in the evening blah blah......

However the new turbo dash speedo was jumping between approximately 65-85 odds non stop, I have two written reports stating this fault with the speedometer which is obviously now fixed.

Now "Due to the speed I was allegedly doing, it cannot be dealt with by way of a fixed penalty notice"

Does anyone think I may have a chance of using the proof of the faulty speedo as some sort of mitigating circumstances?

I need my car for work and have had a clean licence for 10 years.

Any constructive advice and opinions welcomed.

Thanks in advance.

Chris.
- Binning it would have a stupid move, you did the right thing by not doing so.
- If you were driving then the stupid thing would have been to pretend someone else was driving.
- The weather conditions, visibility and amount of traffic are not mitigation for breaking the speed limit.
- You knew that your speedo was faulty, it would have been much safer to drive under the speed limit (ie. the same or slower than the average motorist on the road at the time), I can’t see your broken car being accepted as mitigation for breaking the speed limit.

Try to get evidence that your licence is essential for job, go to court, be humble.

Brainpox

4,319 posts

181 months

Wednesday 19th December 2018
quotequote all
BALDYMONSTER said:
Does anyone think I may have a chance of using the proof of the faulty speedo as some sort of mitigating circumstances
No chance!

eybic

9,212 posts

204 months

Wednesday 19th December 2018
quotequote all
BALDYMONSTER said:
About 5 months ago I got nicked by a camera on the M1 driving back from getting a full rev 3 turbo conversion done to my MR2.

A week later I get a nip through the post, not recorded.

Half asleep with my morning coffee I stupidly admitted I was driving, I know, I know. Should have just binned it, Anyway.

Yesterday I get a letter from Bradford cops saying I will be getting a summons to appear in court, I was supposedly doing 96 mph on a bone dry straight stretch of motorway, excellent visibility, zero traffic, 18:00 in the evening blah blah......

However the new turbo dash speedo was jumping between approximately 65-85 odds non stop, I have two written reports stating this fault with the speedometer which is obviously now fixed.

Now "Due to the speed I was allegedly doing, it cannot be dealt with by way of a fixed penalty notice"

Does anyone think I may have a chance of using the proof of the faulty speedo as some sort of mitigating circumstances?

I need my car for work and have had a clean licence for 10 years.

Any constructive advice and opinions welcomed.

Thanks in advance.

Chris.
So many rofl in this post, your car had a fault you knew about and you think this is a get out for a speeding ticket? Have another rofl

Alucidnation

16,810 posts

200 months

Wednesday 19th December 2018
quotequote all
Surely the kids haven't broken up from school yet?

Mandalore

5,457 posts

143 months

Wednesday 19th December 2018
quotequote all
You have a very strong case with the speedo argument and should definitely stand your ground until they give you suitable compensation in the form of an exemption from income tax for the rest of your life. Perhaps even a personal apology from Lord Lucan or Elvis.

Don't forget to point out that you were actually driving and speeding at the time, as dishonesty is wrong.


shakotan

10,862 posts

226 months

Wednesday 19th December 2018
quotequote all
BALDYMONSTER said:
About 5 months ago I got nicked by a camera on the M1 driving back from getting a full rev 3 turbo conversion done to my MR2.

A week later I get a nip through the post, not recorded.

Half asleep with my morning coffee I stupidly admitted I was driving, I know, I know. Should have just binned it, Anyway.

Yesterday I get a letter from Bradford cops saying I will be getting a summons to appear in court, I was supposedly doing 96 mph on a bone dry straight stretch of motorway, excellent visibility, zero traffic, 18:00 in the evening blah blah......

However the new turbo dash speedo was jumping between approximately 65-85 odds non stop, I have two written reports stating this fault with the speedometer which is obviously now fixed.

Now "Due to the speed I was allegedly doing, it cannot be dealt with by way of a fixed penalty notice"

Does anyone think I may have a chance of using the proof of the faulty speedo as some sort of mitigating circumstances?

I need my car for work and have had a clean licence for 10 years.

Any constructive advice and opinions welcomed.

Thanks in advance.

Chris.
Get a grip, accept the 6 points plus fine you will undoubtedly be awarded by the Magistrate (unless you fail the attitude test, which seems likely), then get on with your life.

anonymous-user

84 months

Wednesday 19th December 2018
quotequote all
Mandalore said:
You have a very strong case with the speedo argument and should definitely stand your ground until they give you suitable compensation in the form of an exemption from income tax for the rest of your life. Perhaps even a personal apology from Lord Lucan or Elvis.

Don't forget to point out that you were actually driving and speeding at the time, as dishonesty is wrong.
Surely his best defence is that he failed to bin the NIP? If he’d done that they’d never have got him in the first place.......

Red 4

10,744 posts

217 months

Wednesday 19th December 2018
quotequote all
Go for it.

Be sure to mention the turbo conversion so the cops can check your insurance is all in order.

But yeah, Magistrates love hearing about vehicle defects.

They might even add it to the speeding charge if you're lucky, especially as you've offerd a full and frank admission and are willing to provide written evidence (presumably from experts in the field) to confirm it was fked.

Good thinking Batman.

PS if you're not a troll you are very, very stupid.

Dr Mike Oxgreen

4,466 posts

195 months

Wednesday 19th December 2018
quotequote all
BALDYMONSTER said:
Does anyone think I may have a chance of using the proof of the faulty speedo as some sort of mitigating circumstances?
No.

Speeding is an "absolute offence". That means that it doesn't matter if you genuinely believed you were under the speed limit - the fact that you were above the limit means you were speeding.

Truffs

266 posts

168 months

Wednesday 19th December 2018
quotequote all
Annoyingly, you could have been doing the magic 100 and still accrued the same donation to the state. At least that would make the stage 3 seem that much better.

You were going slower than that chap who got caught doing 98 in his 1L 107. He did not have a stage 3 turbo!

Dixy

3,652 posts

235 months

Wednesday 19th December 2018
quotequote all
OP top lurking, 3 posts in 104 months

Cooperman

4,428 posts

280 months

Wednesday 19th December 2018
quotequote all
I once bought a new car and a couple of weeks later I was recorded in Northampton at 46 mph in a 30 limit.
It was a new type electronic speedo (this was in 1980) and I noticed that the speedo reading seemed to be under-reading when accelerating, then would 'catch up' and over-read when slowing down.
This I reported to the supplying dealer who checked it. Then I received a letter from the dealer apologising for the incorrect reading and confirmed that they had ordered a replacement speedo unit, followed by a letter from the manufacturer with details of the under-reading confirming a 15 mph error with a further apology.
At the court I took my solicitor who advised me to plead guilt with mitigation.
I received a small fine and no points.
So, yes, a proved to be incorrect speedo won't establish you not guilty, but can be a mitigating factor in sentencing.

Repel_Max

1,860 posts

146 months

Wednesday 19th December 2018
quotequote all
Coopperman is the only comment above that isn't a guess.

I was involved in a case where a similar fault to the one you describe was advanced as mitigation. The magistrates bought it, found the chap guilty and awarde a fine of £0.00, Victim Surcharge of £0.00 and 0 points.

Binning the ticket could have got you 12 points, 6 for the speed and 6 for failing to comply with the s172 notice to ID the driver. It would have saved you some fuel for 6 months though. Every cloud has a silver lining as they say.

Advancing your faulty speedo may or may not work, its probably an 80/20 Not Any Use/Useful but no harm in advancing it except admitting using a faulty car.


BALDYMONSTER

Original Poster:

11 posts

198 months

Wednesday 19th December 2018
quotequote all
Well thanks to the odd genuinely decent responses and the usual online personas giving it the big'un from the safety of the net.

However, I perhaps should have pointed out that the speedo was working fine initially and began to play silly buggers.

And yes obviously my attitude must be terrible and I couldn't possibly be intelligent at all due to my profile pic.

And yes I'm well aware of speeding being "an absolute offence", you learn that when you study law.

Stoofa

959 posts

198 months

Wednesday 19th December 2018
quotequote all
♫♫....schools out forever......♫♫

aaron_2000

5,407 posts

113 months

Wednesday 19th December 2018
quotequote all
4 posts in 108 months...

S11Steve

6,389 posts

214 months

Wednesday 19th December 2018
quotequote all
aaron_2000 said:
4 posts in 108 months...
Top lurking indeed!