Speeding - 24 mph in a 20

[maz8062]

Hello and happy new year to you all.

I need help trying to navigate through the minefield that is speeding fines here in London.

- Date of offence - 17/01/2020
- National speed awareness course offered on the 6th of March and valid for 4 months.
- Due to COVID and lockdown etc. I wasn’t able to get a course and didn’t realise they were online. My fault. 4 months period lapsed.
- Conditional offer of fixed penalty (3pts) and £100 fine received 6/7/20

I didn’t do anything as wanted to have my day in court. I haven’t heard anything since.

I have a clean licence, but I’m not sure how long these things can go on for.

Any ideas or guidance appreciated.

[CoolHands]

[kiethton]

Have you received a summons for the offence?

If not they only have 6 months (from date of offence) to lay charges before the court IIRC

[maz8062]

kiethton said:

Have you received a summons for the offence?

If not they only have 6 months (from date of offence) to lay charges before the court IIRC

No summons. The conditional offer of fixed penalty gave me the option to pay, plus points or do nothing and await a court summons.

[Terminator X]

24 in a 20 is unlucky as that is the low point for fines. What a fking joke though, 24mph and fined.

TX.

[agtlaw]

kiethton said:

Have you received a summons for the offence?

If not they only have 6 months (from date of offence) to lay charges before the court IIRC

It’s 2021.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/44/secti...

[Sebring440]

maz8062 said:

I didn’t do anything as wanted to have my day in court.

Meaning your were going to plead "not guilty", or had some incredibly impressive mitigation?

[maz8062]

Sebring440 said:

maz8062 said:

I didn’t do anything as wanted to have my day in court.

Meaning your were going to plead "not guilty", or had some incredibly impressive mitigation?

No, I thought it was unfair that they withdrew the offer of the speed awareness course, given the lockdown and all the chaos during that period. It was also difficult to contact the MET during this period, so there was no guidance on how to take the course during a national lockdown.

I probably would have lost anyway but I thought it was worth the effort.

[maz8062]

agtlaw said:

kiethton said:

Have you received a summons for the offence?

If not they only have 6 months (from date of offence) to lay charges before the court IIRC

It’s 2021.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/44/secti...

Thanks for this, but it’s not obvious what it tells me.

[Sheepshanks]

Sebring440 said:

maz8062 said:

I didn’t do anything as wanted to have my day in court.

Meaning your were going to plead "not guilty", or had some incredibly impressive mitigation?

Isn’t there some thing about speedos not being legally accurate at this level?

[InArrears]

Sheepshanks said:

Sebring440 said:

maz8062 said:

I didn’t do anything as wanted to have my day in court.

Meaning your were going to plead "not guilty", or had some incredibly impressive mitigation?

Isn’t there some thing about speedos not being legally accurate at this level?

Not sure... I was banned for this same offence under Totting Up last year, they are very strict on 20 Zones, and London is full of them. Even on the annoyingly wide obvious main roads which used to be 30. New cameras mounted on lampposts in some boroughs may not be as obvious to see. Get a car with SLI (Speed Limit Information) on the dash, and be more observant.

OP, you could have done an online course, there's not many "days in court" due to COVID-19, unless they summons you if you are at risk of disqualification due to number of points or nature of offence, IIRC (speaking from my own experience)

[Haltamer]

InArrears said:

they are very strict on 20 Zones, and London is full of them. Even on the annoyingly wide obvious main roads which used to be 30.:

There's a camera outside my office on Lower Thames Street which goes off most of the time when walking by; I've seen it do 3 cars and a HGV in the space of 10 seconds before.

That's on a dual carridgeway with pedestrian safety fencing to prevent crossing:- The road was recently dropped from 30 to 20 quite simply "because the rest of London is 20" - No safety or material traffic benefits for any road user - And words to that effect are in the traffic order for the limit.

[anonymous-user]

maz8062 said:

...

- Due to COVID and lockdown etc. I wasn’t able to get a course and didn’t realise they were online. My fault. 4 months period lapsed.
...

In other words, you faffed around for four months. You accept that was your fault but now you want to waste public resources by whining in court about your own inability to click buttons on a website.

[alabbasi]

Get a lawyer

[caziques]

Surely the expiry date of the COFP was outside the six months? - hence the offence cannot now be prosecuted.

[scottyp123]

Breadvan72 said:

maz8062 said:

...

- Due to COVID and lockdown etc. I wasn’t able to get a course and didn’t realise they were online. My fault. 4 months period lapsed.
...

In other words, you faffed around for four months. You accept that was your fault but now you want to waste public resources by whining in court about your own inability to click buttons on a website.

Everyone has a fundamental right to a court appearance if they choose, if its deemed a waste of money then there is nothing stopping the CPS withdrawing the charges, they instigate court not the defendant.

[maz8062]

Breadvan72 said:

maz8062 said:

...

- Due to COVID and lockdown etc. I wasn’t able to get a course and didn’t realise they were online. My fault. 4 months period lapsed.
...

In other words, you faffed around for four months. You accept that was your fault but now you want to waste public resources by whining in court about your own inability to click buttons on a website.

Fair enough, my question however, is that given the time that elapsed since the original offence nearly 1 year ago, is the case still live so to speak and can I still be summonsed to court?

[agtlaw]

6m time limit to commence proceedings. You’re way past that now. If you want confirmation of NFA then contact the police prosecutor (details on your correspondence). I have the email address if needed.

In 2021, they don’t actually commence proceedings with a summons, but that’s academic in your case.

[Voldemort]

scottyp123 said:

Breadvan72 said:

maz8062 said:

...

- Due to COVID and lockdown etc. I wasn’t able to get a course and didn’t realise they were online. My fault. 4 months period lapsed.
...

In other words, you faffed around for four months. You accept that was your fault but now you want to waste public resources by whining in court about your own inability to click buttons on a website.

Everyone has a fundamental right to a court appearance if they choose, if its deemed a waste of money then there is nothing stopping the CPS withdrawing the charges, they instigate court not the defendant.

No they don’t.

[anonymous-user]

The OP is bang to rights and is wasting public money. He failed to take the easy option of a course and declined a fixed penalty. He will be fined the same amount or more after a pointless hearing.

EDIT:. If the case proceeds.

Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 6th January 08:33