I hope afew poeple can help,

On the same day as that Tw@t rear ending my scoob, I thought I may have been hit by a "speed saftey van", going out of Hull. That was Wednesday. Just received a Notice of Prosecution, dated 30/7/04, today (Saturday).

QUESTION : What happens next, do I fill out the form? do I wait 20 odd days and then fill it in and send it off?? do I ignore it??

Once I've sent it off, what's my chances?? 3 points, no points, 6 points, a ban?? How much of a fine??

Will it go to court??

I'm panicing abit here, any advice, experiencies you can share??

MANY MANY THANKS

Dave

It depends on if you want to fight it or not. If you have a clean license and did the offense then it's probably not worth the bother as 3points and 60 quid will have a minimal effect on insurance etc.

If you want to fight it, then www.pepipoo.com is the place to go

3 points and 60 quid fine, if you dont send it off within 28 days they will reply with another letter giving you 7 days from the date of the letter. Best to cough up really

Tony

Thanks guys, however I have 3 points from Sept 01, will I go to court?? if so how long will that process take??

I guess from an insurance point of view my points from sept 01 will disappear?? if it takes awhile to go to court (i.e after sept this year??)

again many thanks

Dave

Also just read the bottom of the form, and it states "the fact that this notice has been sent to you does not necessarily mean that you are to be prosecuted. ...........and often it it is not possible in short short time to collect and study all the evidence. If it is decided not to commence proceedings against you in this case you will be told"

Does this mean I stand a chance that NOTHING will happen, or is this just a way of sweeting me up??

Thanks

Dave

Try posting at Five O, they have cops that can answer your questions

http://www.5ive-o.com/web/index.php

I think that the law requires that they give you 10%, and then the custom is that they give you 2mph on top, which in your case is 46, so your case is marginal


If you can be bothered, it's probably worth it to do a bit of arguing, ask if the camera has been calibrated, request a copy of the certificate etc. etc. they MAY decide not to bother on a marginal case

Dave,

Visit the web site thats been mentioned. I would certainly want to see all of the evidence before signing or sending money.

Thanks mate, just posted on the above, I will await any answers

thanks steve, I hope this nightmare will end soon

Dave

After you fill in the NIP they will send you a fixed penalty notice. What I did was just ignored the FPN and they did not pursue the case, so I got 0 points & 0 fine. I decided that if they took me to caught I could always plead guilty by post, ok the fine would probably be higher but I believe the poinst would of been the same as a FPN. If everybody went to court then the system would fall down.

it got you just off the flyover, it got me doing 49 i got 3 points and 60quid fine i wait 2 months let it ride for a bit, they will have Video evidence on you so no getting out of it.

has that loophole been closed yet
where you say u were driving but dont sign the form
wasnt it something about an unsigned form is no good as evidence



steve

how long does it take for the fixed penalty notice to come through ?

I sent my NIP away must be around 6 months ago saying I was driving and never heard anything more ?

I think you have to wait 6 months, after that it's no longer valid and have got away with it???

Can anyone confirm??

Take a look at this site.

The unsigned loophole has, basically, been closed. It has been decreed that you must sign the form.

However, the NIP itself may be illegal and there is a test case due on the 9th August to determine this. Basically the NIP throws away your rights to silence and to not incriminate yourself and under European Law this has been deemed illegal. To date this has not been tested in the UK. I believe that Mika over on pepipoo is driving this angle so keep an eye on his site.

As you have 28 days to return the NIP it may be useful to wait as long as possible to see what the outcome of the test case is. To be honest it is being held in a magistrates court with the view to an appeal to a court that can set a precedent. However, if we get a positive result then you are in a strong position.

Mika also has a letter on the pepipoo site for you to send to the local Chief Constable pointing out that the NIP is illegal and asking what he would like you to do with it. This is a reasonable question to ask and so you may care to send one of these letters, listing the case law, as it may cause them to just "go away." It certainly can't go against you to do this and there is plenty of time as you have 28 days. As others have mentioned this is a money making business and sometimes when the bother is greater than the income they just give up.

The other advantage with delay, apart from the possibility that they might screw up, as they sometimes do, is that the points go on your license from the date of the offence. So, the more time you waste the less time they are on your license.

You should also bear in mind that they will go ahead with it, remember this is a money making scheme. When was the last time your local garage didn't bother to charge you for petrol?

NOT true. I've heard this so many times but the 10%+2mph is a GUIDELINE. The LAW states that the limit is a 40mph (in this case), NOT 40 + 10% + 2. If the police want to do you for 41 and they believe they can prove it in a court of law then they can if they really want. It's just a lot less hassle to apply the APCO guidelines of about 10% as there'll be far less people contesting it.

...I did say I THINK that the law etc......

But surely the law must allow for speedometer inaccuracies as well as camera inaccuracies, if it doesn't, it's an ***.......

Fair do's.

Speedo's must over-read anyway therefore if your speedo says 40mph then you are doing 40mph maximum. Therefore the guy getting caught at 46mph would have a speedo more likely indicating 50mph or so. Depends on the car as to how accurate or how much it over-reads.

However some cars speedos may inadvertently underread or be erratic (esp at low speeds - check out older mercs with their silly jumping speedo needles at low speeds!) but ultimately it's the car owners responsibility to ensure the car is working properly and that includes the speedo. In other words, if you think your speed is underreading then get it fixed! 'My speedo wasn't working correctly' won't stand up in court. And the more your tyres wear (decreasing the overall circumference of the wheel/tyre) the more it will overread so no excuses to be gained there

The APCO guidelines are for the benefit of the enforcement agencies, not the drivers. The better the speed detecting devices become, the lower speeds they will be prosecuting drivers. doing 5/10mph over the limit rarely got prosecuted 10/15 years ago but now it's the norm as they can prove it easier with the devices they now use.

Car speedos are allowed a tolerance of -0 to +10% which is to say that they are allowed to over read a little but not to under read at all. This is why most do over read as I would guess they are designed with a little safety margin in mind so the maker doesn't break the law.

As has been pointed out the guidelines are merely guidelines and as the race to get your cash out of your wallet hots up the speed at which they will prosecute drops. I have never seen proof of someone being done for 31mph but I have seen proof of people getting done for 32mph.

There may be something in what Dracoro says about more sophisticated devices but the "old" VASCAR system often quotes your speed to 2 decimal places. The fact is that the political climate is now right for the systematic persecution of the motorist and the administration are getting down to the task at hand. As a motorist you must make your views known to politicians, both local and national, if you are going to retain the right to drive what you like where you like. The speed cameras are merely the opening gambit in a bid to gain total control over our personal mobility.

Foxmod,
if u fail to return the NIP. they may try to get u for
"Failing to Furnish"

Which can result in 6 points and upto £1000 fine, they tried that on me but the judge threw it out

Well, I sent the form off signed fairly quickly, and to my surprise I have recieved a reply back from Humberside police already : -

"...........I am prepared to offer you to attend a speed seminar as an alternative on this occasion."

What a result!!!

Very happy chap, thought I may have put my insuranace renewal cost beyond my means.......

I get to live again

Dave

Jammy git

What do you mean Jammy Git it is a pointless offence he caused no harm or accident and it is just a way of raising revenue whilst ignoring the true causes of Fatal accidents and Law and Order issues like Drug abuse on which the Police have decided to legalise their way out of a problem rather than enforce the law.

About time the Police forces were made to do what the Tax paying public expect and not what is most profitable or requires least effort.