KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
In this month’s edition we feature more road traffic issues relevant to the trade supplied by Patterson Law. These questions are based on real enquiries that we have received from professional drivers. If you need any advice on motoring matters please email
e.patterson@
pattersonlaw.co.uk or call 01626 359800 for free legal advice. For regular updates on road traffic law follow us on
facebook.com/PattersonLawMotoringSolicitors or
twitter.com/Patterson_law_
Q
On Christmas Eve I went out to do some last-minute shopping. As the shops are generally busy around Christmas time I attempted to drive between stores in a timely manner, due to this it seems I had been
speeding.
I was followed by an unmarked police car for roughly half a mile and then pulled over. Upon being pulled over, I learnt that I had allegedly been speeding and I have now received a Conditional Offer of Fixed Penalty offering three points and a £100 fine.
Can the police do this? What were their means of detection as they had no speed gun? Can I challenge this?
I currently have nine active penalty points on my licence, and I am at risk of a disqualification, what can I do to min- imise my chances of being disqualified?
A
The police have several ways to detect speeding. They do not necessarily have to use a speed gun.
One device they use is called a Vascar. It is a
speed/distance/time calculator, where they record your vehicle travelling between two reference points and the time it took, and then they can work out your speed.
Alternatively, they can do a “follow check”. This is where they maintain an even distance behind your vehicle for a minimum of 2/10 of a mile and work out your speed using their own speedometer.
As you already have nine points on your licence you will not be able to accept the conditional offer (one of the conditions of acceptance is that you have less than nine). Instead the matter will automatically proceed to court. You will shortly receive a Single Justice Procedure Notice asking you to plead guilty or not guilty. Enclosed with the papers, should be a witness statement and evidence of the speed check. It is at that point we can check the evidence and advise you of your plea.
If you are found guilty after trial or plead guilty, then you would receive a minimum three points for speeding, putting
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you at risk of a six-month disqualification for accumulating 12 or more points during a three-year period. It is what is called a “totting” ban. But a six-month ban is not inevitable, as the court have the discretion not to disqualify if they believe that a ban would cause you and others around you exceptional hardship. So, we will get to know you, preparing your personal mitigation with supporting documents to sup- port that argument.
Q
Over the Christmas period I had been at home spending time with my family. On Boxing Day I had eaten a festive brownie that was laced with cannabis. In the late evening on 27th December I
had been out driving with some friends in my car and I was pulled over by the police.
I was drug swabbed and due to the presence of drugs in my system, I was arrested and taken back to the police station where they took a blood sample. I have not yet had the re- sults, but I would like to know what I am at risk of.
I did not think cannabis would have been detectable after that length of time in my saliva. I regularly consume cannabis and I did not feel impaired that day whatsoever. As I regularly consume cannabis, my tolerance is much higher, with this in mind do I have a defence to the allegation?
A
You must wait for the results to come back in the first instance. They should have given you your own blood sample. If they did, you must get that tested straight away. Otherwise the sample will degrade
and will not be accurate.
The legal limit is 2µg of THC per litre of blood. It is difficult to know exactly what the reading is going to be unless we know exactly how much cannabis you have consumed, the strength of that cannabis and the times you consumed it. Ultimately it would be impossible to accurately predict. But if it is above the limit, you will likely be charged with drug driving, an offence which carries a minimum 12-month disqualification.
It is not a defence that you have a higher tolerance. It has no bearing as to whether you were impaired or not. It is also no defence that you are a regular smoker so you may have had some residual cannabis in your blood. The limit is the limit.
However, you may have a Special Reasons argument on the basis that you unknowingly consumed cannabis. If you can show the Court that firstly, you did not realise you had consumed cannabis and secondly, had it not been for the additional cannabis you accidentally consumed you would not have been above the limit then you may avoid disquali- fication. But what concerns me here is that you admit to being a regular smoker, so there may well have been enough cannabis to put you above the limit anyway.
DECEMBER 2020
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