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Disqualification
Whenever a court decides to endorse someone’s driving
licence, the court has a discretion to disqualify the person from driving
instead. This will depend on the nature of the offence and the specific
facts of the offending.
In a case of speeding
on a motorway where the measured speed exceeds 100mph the court will
always consider a period of disqualification. If the driver is disqualified
their driving licence will be endorsed but no points will be awarded.
The period of disqualification will reflect the speed of the vehicle,
road conditions, traffic flow and any other relevant facts which can
include the age and experience of the driver.
Order
for a Retest
An order to retake your driving test or even an extended test will automatically
follow a conviction for dangerous driving. It can also be ordered following
other convictions.
The same effect
as an order for a retest can occur if you have 6 points endorsed on
your driving licence within 2 years of passing your driving test. The
effect upon the status of your driving licence is that if a court orders
your licence to be endorsed with 6 points or orders endorsement of any
number of points, the effect of which when added to points already on
the licence will take you to 6 or more points, then from that day your
licence is treated as being a provisional licence only. As such you
must retake your test. The provisional effect will last as long as it
takes you to arrange and pass both parts of the driving test.
Fixed
penalties and the Notice of Intended Prosecution.
Fixed penalties are available for a number of motoring offences including
speeding, entering a bus lane, ignoring a red traffic light, failing
to name the driver of your car.
For all speeding
offences where a fixed penalty is offered the tariff is a £60.00
fine and 3 penalty points. If in accepting the offer of a fixed penalty
it is apparent that you already have 9 points on your licence then the
fixed penalty cannot be applied. You will instead receive notice that
a summons will be issued instead. Subsequently you will be dealt with
in the magistrate’s court where the totting up procedure will apply.
Within 14 days
of the offence occurring you must receive a Notice of Intended Prosecution
(NIP), subject to some limited exceptions.
If you are stopped
by the police shortly after the offence you may receive a verbal NIP.
The words used will be, ‘you will be reported for consideration
of the question of prosecuting you for…’. After that you should
be cautioned with the words, ‘you do not have to say anything etc’.
If you receive
a notice through the post that you have gone through a speed camera,
the NIP will be in writing. If you are the Registered Keeper of the
car, you must receive the NIP within 14 days of the offence.
If you are not
the Registered Keeper, and you receive the NIP outside the 14 day period
then, you must check to see if the actual Registered Keeper received
the NIP within the time limit. If they did not, then we may be able
to get the charge dropped.
The wording of
the NIP and any other document you receive demanding to know who the
driver was is important. Cases have been successfully defended by pointing
out the wrong wording. That is why you should ask us for advice before
completing the forms and returning them to the authority.
Section
172 (requests for driver details) offences
If you receive a notice from the police demanding you tell them who
the driver is you commit an offence if you fail to respond.
This offence is
committed contrary to s.172 of the Road Traffic Act .
There is a defence
to this offence, if on the basis that a number of people could have
been driving at the time you provide the police with their details.
If you really do
not know who was driving then you are likely to be summonsed to court.
If you can show that despite using all due diligence you cannot ascertain
who the driver was and the court is satisfied as to your explanation
then you will be found not guilty.
It is not good
enough to simply tell the police you do not know who was driving. You
will have to give them an explanation and details of who it might be.
If you commit this
offence on or after 24 Septemmber 2007, and are convicted, your licence
will be endorsed with 6 penalty points. You will also be fined.
Parking
tickets
If you receive a fixed penalty ticket for parking on
a yellow line, it is often possible to challenge the validity of the
ticket either because of the way it is worded or more likely because
the yellow lines are not actually lawful.
Highway Authorities
and local councils are very lax when it comes to ensuring that yellow
lines are lawful. Yet, they still allow parking tickets to be handed
out by their wardens and then go on to enforce them.
The usual problem
is that the bar at the end of the line is missing or wrong, or the dimensions
of the line are not correct. If the line does not comply with the regulations
then it is not a lawful sign and penalties cannot be enforced.
It is wise for
all sorts of reasons to keep a camera in your car to take a photograph
of a sign/yellow line if you think it might not be lawful. (Cameras
are also useful if you have been involved in a motor accident, to record
the damage and positions of the vehicles before moving them).
Traffic
Signs
In order for you to be prosecuted for not obeying a sign
the prosecution must prove it is a lawful one. It must comply in colour
and size with the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002
. If it does not then the prosecution must fail. Other road markings
such as double white lines require particular care.
In speeding offences
the position and number of signs is critical to the prosecution case.
Also to be taken into account, are any white lines in the middle of
the road. This is because their dimensions are defined so as to match
certain speed limits. That is so that you can tell if you are in a speed
limit of 30 mph or one that is higher.
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