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Speeding and driving other than in accordance with licence, Medical licence
Bipolar
post Tue, 25 Aug 2015 - 15:43
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Hi all,

Thank you in advance for your help. I had a medical licence issued for one year due to bipolar. Brief timeline.

Aug 2014 - medical licence expires. Receive paperwork through from DVLA to renew but due to illness decide not to apply yet.

Feb 2015 - on new medication and feel much more stable so send off paperwork I was sent from DVLA to reapply for licence. Check leaflet on DVLA website which says you can drive as soon as you've applied for your medical licence so start driving again.

Feb 2015 - DVLA say they didn't receive my application but randomly send me a D1 application form in the post. I don't receive it though this isn't a surprise as there is a very similar address in the same postcode "xxx Cottage, High Street" vs "The xxxs, High Street"

About Apr 2015 - I call DVLA medical, recorded message basically saying "Don't bother to call us if you submitted your application in the past eight weeks" so hang up. Not overly concerned as from memory the last licence took over six months to come through.

Admit should have chased it up but started new business working 11-12 hour days + 50 mile commute seven days a week and a new baby at home so literally have about 2 minutes to myself each day.

Sunday 11.30pm - get stopped by roads police speed trap on 30mph dual carriageway... location a bit annoying but obviously my fault. When filling out the form I explain that it's a medical licence I've applied to renew. At this point cop says "if it's expired it's expired, that's all I can see". Takes car key and says he's going to seize car.

I ask him if he can't radio someone and ask about driving whilst a medical licence application is in progress but he basically says he's too busy. After finding the leaflet on the DVLA website on my phone he eventually relents and says that I can drive away the car but he's still going to report me for Driving other than in accordance with licence as well as the speeding, but if I can get proof that I've applied for the licence I can email and he'll attach it to the Traffic Offence Report.

Monday - call DVLA. They insist that the D1 form was sent out for no reason in February, I've asked them to send me a copy of the letter they sent as I guess they must have wanted more information but they say they can only send me copies of the D1 form. Asked for this anyway in the hope the covering letter will be the same and say "to complete your application" or something.

Tuesday - fill out a D1 form and get proof of posting so (hopefully) I can drive again and if I get stopped show the the receipt? The postcode is only for medical applications.

I've read S88 of the Road Traffic Act since then but I can't really make head nor tail of it. I would have posted the original application back first class as those are the only stamps I have, but not recorded delivery. S88 seems to say the application must be "received", so I guess the key is to get the DVLA to admit they received the application but my experience of the DVLA is that is makes getting blood from a stone seem easy sad.gif

Any advice greatly appreciated sad.gif happy to roll over on the speeding but frustrating with the licence as I genuinely did think I was okay to drive.
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post Tue, 25 Aug 2015 - 15:43
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Logician
post Tue, 25 Aug 2015 - 16:14
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What may have happened is that the DVLA sent a D1 form in response to your application, but when they did not get it back, because you never received it, they wiped your application off their system which is why the person you spoke to could find no record of it. It is absurd for them to suggest that they randomly chose to send you a form, and it was a coincidence that you had previously written to them.

I would email the copper and reiterate that you applied in February and attempted to chase it in April, but the recorded message you heard indicated that there was a very considerable delay in processing applications so you were not concerned. But DVLA now say they sent you a form which you never received, which explains why you did not get your licence, but you have now sent off a D1 form. Hopefully he will attach that to the traffic offence report and someone will decide not to proceed with that aspect but simply send you a FPN for the speeding (or course, depending on speed)

If they do go ahead with both charges and it gets to court, I would ignore the invitation to plead by post in advance, go to court and approach the prosecutor to say that you will readily plead guilty to the speeding but you have a defence to the licence offence and explain. S/he may well not be very familiar with this aspect so take the DVLA leaflet to demonstrate that you were entitled to drive because you fit the criteria and the DVLA had received your application, as shown by their dispatch of a form to you.


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TheBeak
post Tue, 25 Aug 2015 - 17:57
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Your best hope is to keep it out of court and get a fixed penalty for the speeding (or even better, a SAC).

I would do as Logician suggests and put a full explanation down on paper/email for the officer who dealt with you.

If it goes to Court you'll be looking at an income related fine + costs + victim surcharge + courts charge. It could be very expensive. The only good news is that the licence matter would probably be No Separate Penalty if it's not dropped by the prosecution and you give your mitigation to the court.
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Bipolar
post Tue, 25 Aug 2015 - 19:45
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Thank you for your replies. I have already emailed the police officer saying I had contacted the DVLA and they are sending me a letter, he said he will attach a copy of my email to the Traffic Offence Report and will forward the letter as well if I send him that. I thought I'd got his back up on Sunday "proving" him wrong but his email was quite helpful so fingers crossed.

I will go for round 2 with the DVLA, I really want to get a copy of my original form as that will obviously be the key evidence but suspect I will have to fight to get it.

The speed is too fast for a SAC but within the range for a fixed penalty just (49mph). The problem is I am unlikely to get a licence back by then to send off so suspect it will go to court. Looking on these forums I can ask for it to be sentenced at a fixed penalty level I think & hope the magistrates are in a good mood. But will I still have to pay the £150 court charge on top?
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TheBeak
post Tue, 25 Aug 2015 - 20:25
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QUOTE (Bipolar @ Tue, 25 Aug 2015 - 20:45) *
But will I still have to pay the £150 court charge on top?


Yes. The mags have no discretion. You are an evil criminal and must pay for the court time to taken deal with your crime.
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Bipolar
post Tue, 25 Aug 2015 - 20:59
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Ouch. Ah well lesson learnt I will go 30 now and probably get rear ended. It's a dual carriageway past a retail park that is closed at 11.30pm. I know everyone probably thinks it's unfair when they are caught but they were literally stopping about 80% of the (very light) traffic going past.
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Bipolar
post Mon, 9 May 2016 - 21:28
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Hi all,

Thank you for your advice with this. I thought I'd come back and update to help others.

I emailed the police officer telling him what the DVLA said, and them received two lots of two mail merge letters one soon after and another after about three months saying "please send us some money and we'll put points on your licence".

I ignored them both, it's now over eight months later and I haven't received anything more. I also checked my online licence and it has 0 penalty points.

So fingers crossed I was filed in the "too much effort to pursue" pile and have been let off the speeding too. Hopefully I can't get done for Failing to Furnish as I was stopped at the time?

I still don't have my licence due to massive ineptness at the DVLA but that's another story.

Chris
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Bipolar
post Mon, 9 May 2016 - 22:05
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Also I know "ignoring police letters" isn't good advice but I've been hospitalised for a significant chunk of time and by the time I had got back on top of things it was so close to six months it seemed like it would just be poking the hornet's nest.
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The Rookie
post Tue, 10 May 2016 - 03:20
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There is no possibly of a failing to furnish as you appear to have never been sent an S172 request to namer the driver, they clearly knew who was driving (having stopped you at the time) to be able to send what appears to have been a Conditional offer of a Fixed Penalty (CoFP) for the alleged offence (then send in your licence and £XXX 'letter').

Unless it was implicit with the D1 form sent, your licence being revoked with a separate letter, so it appears two have gone AWOL.

It is perfectly OK to 'ignore' (file, not advisable to bin until the case is closed) a CoFP, it is an 'offer' you are free to take up or ignore.

This post has been edited by The Rookie: Tue, 10 May 2016 - 03:43


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There is no such thing as a law abiding motorist, just those who have been scammed and those yet to be scammed!

S172's
Rookies 1-0 Kent

Council PCN's
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Rookies 1-0 Birmingham

PPC PCN's
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Bipolar
post Tue, 10 May 2016 - 10:16
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Hi Rookie, thank you for the advice, the letters are quite officious and don't really give an option to ignore so good to hear it was an okay thing to do.
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The Rookie
post Tue, 10 May 2016 - 11:38
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Many CoFP's state you should ask to go to court, but there is no legal basis to that 'request', as you don't want to go to court, why would anyone ask for it!

This is not to be confused with FPN's where you licence is surrendered, you MUST then either accept (pay) or ask for court, failing to do so will see the penalty (fine) doubled are registered as unpaid.


--------------------
There is no such thing as a law abiding motorist, just those who have been scammed and those yet to be scammed!

S172's
Rookies 1-0 Kent

Council PCN's
Rookies 1-0 Warwick
Rookies 1-0 Birmingham

PPC PCN's
Rookies 10-0 PPC's
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Bipolar
post Tue, 10 May 2016 - 12:03
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Thank you. Final question, is it worth a polite email to the police officer just to check they've dropped it, or is it best to leave it? We have a problem with a lot of our post going missing ("xxx Cottage, High Street" vs "The xxxs, High Street") and the other people never forward our post. Would they already have put points on my licence by now?

I don't want to find I've "missed" a court hearing but likewise I don't want to remind the police!
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Gan
post Tue, 10 May 2016 - 12:09
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You can check here

https://www.viewdrivingrecord.service.gov.u.../licence-number

If the police haven't prosecuted already, the deadline is long past
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Bipolar
post Tue, 10 May 2016 - 12:15
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Thanks Gan, I don't have any points there. I wasn't sure whether it would have gone to court yet.
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