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 advice on motoring matters please email
e.patterson@
pattersonlaw.co.uk or call us on 01626 359800 for free legal advice.
Q
I was caught speeding while overtaking. The mobile camera was hidden behind a lorry in a lay-by and not noticeable till I was basically touching him. I was doing 85 in a 50.
Also it has taken over six months for them to bring this to court. I know people who have got tickets and got their points in the meantime.
1. Is there a time period before they can’t prosecute? 2. Are they allowed to hide cameras behind vehicles? 3. What prosecution will I be looking at?
A
1) Six months. The police have six months from the date of the offence to begin proceedings – but once started there is no time limit on when the actual court case needs to be. When did you get the original papers?
2) Yes, they are allowed to hide. There is no legal requirement for the police to notify motorists of speed traps.
3) The offence places you at risk of six points or a discretionary disqualification of up to 56 days together with financial penalties. If the Magistrates believe the speed to be grossly in excess of the speed limit, they will consider a ban of longer than 56 days.
If you need to be able to drive, the best thing to do is to tick the box to request a court hearing and attend to present mitigation to ask for the points instead of a ban. But if it doesn’t matter either way, you can ask to be sentenced in absence and the court will likely deal with it without you having to attend.
Q
My husband and I have a company doing construction and all his vans are on fleet insurance, so at any point any of the staff can get in one of the work vans and collect tools or
nip off to get some more materials. 70
We got a letter through to say one of the vans was caught going 8mph over the limit in July and we needed to fill the form in to name who the driver was. We had no clue so we didn’t respond.
Now it's November and we received a Postal Requisition asking the company secretary to attend court for “failing to give information as to the identity of the driver”. I have looked this up and can see it’s six points but will we both get the points or just the person who attends?
A
Neither. If the vans are registered to the company, and the Postal Requisition is addressed to the company, then the company only will get a fine.
What’s happened here is quite common. When a speeding offence is committed in a company vehicle, the police write to the company asking them to nominate who was driving the car/van. If the company cannot nominate, then the company is prosecuted for failing to provide driver information.
You’d only be able to defend it if you could show that:
(a) you didn’t know who was driving; (b) you have exercised reasonable diligence in an attempt to find out who was driving; and
(c) failure to keep company records was reasonable.
Unless you can provide a lot more information about (b) and (c), I would advise pleading guilty and accepting the fine.
However, as above, the company should receive a fine only – in the region of £1,000. The only time the directors/owners will get points is if:
(i) the original request for information was actually sent in their name personally, or
(ii) the police can prove that the failure to provide information was due to the connivance or neglect of the director/owner.
So as long as neither apply, you should be safe. Q
Should I accept six points for holding my smartwatch while driving? I was not stopped by police but received a letter telling me I have contravened regulation 110(1) of the Road
Vehicles Regulations and have been offered a fixed penalty of £200 and six points.
I have been driving for almost 30 years and have never JANUARY 2023 PHTM
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