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80mph in a 60mph Zone, What a twatt.
Catskins
post Mon, 16 Apr 2012 - 00:15
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Hi guys, I'm wondering if any of you can possibly give me any advice on the following...

This evening (approximately 11.40pm) I was driving down a lit, single carriageway/national speed limit road and inexcusably was clocked going 80mph in the 60mph zone. I am in no way disputing this fact (although I was shocked when the officer showed me this reading on his gun) and I'm not going to reel off some ridiculous excuse. There was no cars around, weather was good, visibility was good and for some subconcious reason I kept my foot down longer than I should have.

Basically, as I was driving down said road, the first I saw of this was a man (NOT in a high visibility jacket but I could see the reflective tabards on his vest) stood in the middle of the road and truth be told, I was shocked at how poorly visible he was. He waved me into a Layby where I could see his marked Volvo Estate hidden nicely behind a hedgerow and went through the usual "how fast do you think you were doing?" "what is the speed limit?". Needless to say I was fully compliant and he asked me to take a seat in the back of his car.

I was breathalysed, he questioned me on my name/dob and address and I did hand over the card part of my drivers license (I have read somewhere that this is the wrong thing to do). I was then given a Fixed Penalty Notice (Endorsable Offence) and told I need to present both parts of my licence at the local police station within 7 days.

Truth be told, aside from the fact that he issued me with the notice, the officer was a pleasant enough chap. Wasnt in any way rude/intimidating or overly forceful and from the little information I could find, I'd be lying if I said the officer didnt say anything he SHOULD have said and likewise, he didnt say anything he shouldnt I dont think.

Whilst I accept that I was speeding, I have a clean license and have done for 6 years or so (been driving for 8) and I do of course want to keep it that way. I asked the officer what the chances were of me doing a 'Speed Awareness Course' and whilst he couldnt give me a definitive answer, a quick search on the internet shows that I am more than likely over the threshold to attend one of these courses. I was advised by the officer that worst case scenario was that it would be a fixed penalty of 3 points/£60 fine but given that I'm 24 and have an insurance group 17 car, these points will I fear, have a big impact on my renewal which is due in 3 months time.

My queries are; How can I check whether the officer was Legally located? Should I be able to request a certificate of corroboration? Is there a way I can ensure I go on the Speed Awareness Course and not recieve the fixed penalty? Is there any other advice or guidance you can offer to avoid having my license tarnished?

I have searched the forums but I'm finding it difficult to find any information on roadside issued fixed penaltys using hand held devices. My apologies in advance if these are glaringly obvious and I've somehow missed them.

Thank in advance guys and girls

Chris.

EDIT: I'm not sure if this is relevant or not but the officer was from Nottinghamshire Police.

This post has been edited by Catskins: Mon, 16 Apr 2012 - 00:22
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post Mon, 16 Apr 2012 - 00:15
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Logician
post Mon, 16 Apr 2012 - 02:17
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QUOTE
My queries are; How can I check whether the officer was Legally located? Should I be able to request a certificate of corroboration? Is there a way I can ensure I go on the Speed Awareness Course and not recieve the fixed penalty? Is there any other advice or guidance you can offer to avoid having my license tarnished?

The officer can be located anywhere at all provided he can measure your speed. There are guidelines, but the officer failing to follow them does not give you a defence unless it casts doubt on the speed measurement. Not sure what a "certificate of corroboration" might be, but if you mean calibration you can ask and they may send you one, but you are not entitled to any evidence at all unless you plead NG and go to court, and you have disclosed no basis to do that. It would be very unlikely that anything would be wrong with the calibration anyway. You were over the threshold for an SAC of 110% of limit + 9mph. Therefore you are most unlikely to be offered one. A roadside stop like this is very difficult to dispute, as you say there were no cars around he cannot have been targetting another car. To be honest the fixed penalty is the best offer you are likely to get.


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Catskins
post Mon, 16 Apr 2012 - 11:15
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Clearly I did mean Calibration so I apologise for that mistake, we'll put it down to the time of day I made the original post lol.

I've driven down the same stretch of road today. It's approximately 1.45miles long and no point on that stretch of road is there any 'Speed Camera' signs. I've no idea whether this is relevant or not.

The point where the officer was stood/parked made it impossible to see him until I was literally within 50 yards of his position. I still stand by the fact that had I been slightly distracted at all it would have been all to easy to have ploughed straight into him as he wasnt very visible at all but I know that bares no importance on this issue, or at least I wouldnt have thought it did.

Worst case scenario I'll have to bite the bullet. I'm just more ****** off with myself than anything. I should've known better considering it was a Sunday night and that stretch of road is historically notorious with sunday night 'Cruisers'.



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BaggieBoy
post Mon, 16 Apr 2012 - 11:55
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QUOTE (Catskins @ Mon, 16 Apr 2012 - 12:15) *
I've driven down the same stretch of road today. It's approximately 1.45miles long and no point on that stretch of road is there any 'Speed Camera' signs. I've no idea whether this is relevant or not.

Not relevant at all, there are no requirements to warn motorists that speed cameras are/or may be in use.

QUOTE (Catskins @ Mon, 16 Apr 2012 - 12:15) *
The point where the officer was stood/parked made it impossible to see him until I was literally within 50 yards of his position. I still stand by the fact that had I been slightly distracted at all it would have been all to easy to have ploughed straight into him as he wasnt very visible at all but I know that bares no importance on this issue, or at least I wouldnt have thought it did.

Again no relevance to the alleged offence, the fact that you didn't see the officer did not cause you to speed (although the opposite might have been true!)
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dawmdt
post Tue, 17 Apr 2012 - 14:36
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Personally, I'd take the FP in this case - if you think you can find a technical defence (eg flawed speed measuring equipment) and you go to court, plead not guilty and lose you'll get the same three points but your fine will be higher and you'll have CPS costs starting in the high £300's + costs of any experts (ie the manufacturer of the equipment) they ask to attend to testify that the equipment was working just fine - and it's basically this you'll have to overcome to the JPs satisfaction that the prosecution's expert witnesses are somehow wrong.


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