KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
In this month’s edition we feature more road traffic issues relevant to the trade supplied by Patterson Law. Below are three case studies based on real cases that we have taken on over the last couple of months highlighting the complex nature of traffic law and the need to obtain specialist legal advice.
CASE 1
Mr A was recorded speeding at 44mph in a 30mph limit. He received a letter from the police within a few days and nominated himself as the driver. After that he heard nothing. It turns out that the police had sent him a fixed penalty offer of 3 points and a £100 fine, but it had never reached him because it was returned to the police as ‘undeliverable’. We don’t know why.
The next he heard was six months later when he received a letter from the court charging him with speeding and asking him to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty. He pleaded guilty and explained that he never received the letter giving him 3 points.
He was then stunned to receive a letter giving him 5 points and a £600 financial penalty.
THE LAW
In a 30mph limit, if someone is recorded speeding up to and including 42mph, they will be offered a speed awareness course (as long as they haven’t done one within the last three years and as long as it’s within time). If they are not offered a course and the speed is up to 50mph, the driver will be offered a fixed penalty of 3 points and a £100 fine.
However, if for any reason the driver doesn’t accept that conditional offer (as in Mr A’s case because he did not receive it) the case will automatically proceed to court.
The problem is that when the case gets to court, the courts have different guidelines from the police. In a 30mph limit the courts will only give 3 penalty points up to and including 40mph, but anywhere between 41 and 50 they will give 4-6 points and a fine of 100% of weekly income, with surcharges and costs on top. So that’s where the increased sentence came from.
THE OUTCOME
This happens far more often than people think, and the consequences can be devastating for professional
80
drivers. In this case, we immediately lodged an appeal to the Crown Court with the aim of getting the sentence reduced.
The Sentencing Act 2020 makes it clear that the court must follow the guidelines - so therefore the court was absolutely correct to impose 5 points. However, the Sentencing Act also states that the court can depart from the guidelines if they consider it “in the interests of justice to do so”.
In this case, we successfully argued at the Crown Court that it was in the interests of justice for the court to depart from the guidelines because Mr A never had the opportunity to accept the fixed penalty of 3 points, because it wasn’t delivered to him - and we could prove that it was returned to
the police as
undeliverable. So the Judge agreed it was in the interest of justice to depart from the usual guidelines and awarded just 3 points and a £100 fine.
CASE 2
Mr B was a foreign national and moved to the UK from India in June 2022. He moved on the understanding that he had 12 months to drive in the UK on his international driving licence.
He became a delivery driver and decided he was going to take his UK test. In December 2022 he applied for a provisional licence and shortly afterwards passed his theory test.
In March 2023 he was stopped by the police and was told that his provisional licence ‘overrode’ his inter- national licence, and therefore because he was driving without a supervisor and without his learner plates, he was driving without the correct licence. He was further told that this would invalidate his insurance policy.
He was charged with both driving without a licence and driving without insurance. He had initially pleaded not guilty at court, but the court had listed a hearing for him to attend to confirm his plea.
THE LAW
Quite simply, the police officer was incorrect. A driver from abroad can rely on their international licence for 12 months from the date they enter the UK (although please note that the rules are different for certain countries). If within that first 12 months, a
NOVEMBER 2024 PHTM
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
