KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
It will very much depend on the facts and any evidence they have. If they have photographs I would very much like to see them so we can see exactly how frosted it was and whether you did have full view. I would like to see the evidence before we decide what plea to enter. If it’s obvious it was frosty and this was obscuring your view then they may have a point. If it was not obvious and they were clearly going over the top, then we may be able to challenge it.
If there are no photographs then it will just be your word against theirs, so I would like to examine their state- ments to see exactly what they’re saying.
If you plead guilty you would receive three penalty points and a fine of up to £1,000, most likely without you ever needing to go to court. The courts are usu- ally happy to sentence in absence if you are not at risk of a ban.
If you plead not guilty the case would be listed for trial and we would be able to cross examine the police offi- cers on the evidence and examine all of the pho- tographs (if there are any) against you.
Q A
I’ve just been given three points and £100 offer of fixed penalty for speeding at 41 in a 30 limit. I thought it was a 40. It is a 40 back down the road and I don’t remember seeing
any 30 signs. If there are no 30 signs would I have grounds to fight it?
A 40mph is depicted by two signs either side of the road at the entry and/or painted roundels on the road, followed by repeater signs reminding the driver that it is a 40mph zone. A 30mph limit
is different - this should require signs either side of the road where there is a change of speed limit but once in a 30mph zone there do not need to be repeater signs – instead it is depicted by a system of streetlighting no more than 200 yards apart.
If the signage is confusing; if there were no signs in- dicating that it was changing from a 40mph to a 30mph zone or even if the signs were hidden by fo- liage then there may be an argument to run special reasons to avoid penalty points.
But before you do that, I would strongly recommend going down to have a look at the signage. I say to do this now because at this stage we are not entitled to see the evidence against you (that comes at court) and you will have a limited time to accept the fixed penalty offer.
AUGUST 2020
If you do not accept the fixed penalty of three points and £100 fine then the next stage would be court, where we would be required to plead guilty or not guilty. The risk that we would run is that if you were found guilty the Sentencing Guidelines state that for speeding at 41 in a 30 you will receive between four-six points and a fine of up to £1,000, so a lot more than the fixed penalty on offer at the moment.
So with that in mind we must work quickly to determine whether the signage is sufficient and decide whether to take it to court or not.
Q A
I was laid off because of the coronavirus so to save money I cancelled my insurance policy. My vehicle has just been sitting on my drive on pri- vate land, but I’ve just got a letter from the
DVLA saying I’m keeping a vehicle without insurance. Does it matter that it was on my drive and I hadn’t driven it? Am I going to get points for this?
There are lots of different offences relating to in- surance. “Driving without insurance” carries six-eight penalty points. “Using” carries the same – but this this is where you have use of the
car. “Permitting someone to drive without insurance” is again very similar and also carries penalty points, but this is where you permit your car to be driven without insurance.
Keeping a vehicle is simply where you have kept it on private land or on a road but haven’t declared it off- road. It is a fine only offence. You cannot receive points.
The DVLA has access to the motor insurance database and any vehicle which is not insured but hasn’t been de- clared off-road flags up on their system and fines are is- sued automatically.
If you accept that it is your car, that you didn’t have in- surance and didn’t declare it off-road, you may be best accepting the fine.
But you need to act quickly to make sure it doesn’t happen again, otherwise the DVLA will continuously issue fines. There is no limit. You need to either arrange an insurance policy or declare it off-road as soon as possible.
This impartial advice has been provided by Patterson Law Solicitors
www.pattersonlaw.co.uk
99
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112
