[NIP Wizard] Driving without due care and attention Options

[uts321]

NIP Details and Circumstances
What is the name of the Constabulary? -
Date of the offence: - August 2019
Date of the NIP: - 8 days after the offence
Date you received the NIP: - 10 days after the offence
Location of offence (exact location as it appears on the NIP: important): - A4041 Queslett Road, Birmingham
Was the NIP addressed to you? - Yes
Was the NIP sent by first class post, second class or recorded delivery? - First
If your are not the Registered Keeper, what is your relationship to the vehicle? -
How many current points do you have? - 0
Provide a description of events (if you know what happened) telling us as much about the incident as possible - some things that may seem trivial to you may be important, so don't leave anything out. Please do not post personal details for obvious reasons - I was driving to work in the morning as usual. As I went along the Queslett Road through Sutton Coldfield, I spotted a police officer in hi-viz standing in a crossing area within the central reservation of the dual carriageway. At the point I saw him I was doing between 45 and 50mph (40mph limit on the road) in the outside lane and eased off the accelerator (going uphill) before I passed him. I glanced at him and saw him holding what looked like a speed gun at around stomach height.

I half expected to receive a NIP for speeding, and wasn't surprised when the NIP arrived. What surprised me though is that it's for the offence of "Drive a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road / public place without due care and attention". The vehicle speed indicated is 0. Beyond that, I have no idea what I'm supposed to have done. I wasn't involved in any accident and nothing untoward or even memorable occurred anywhere on my journey, other than driving past said police officer.

NIP Wizard Responses
These were the responses used by the Wizard to arrive at its recommendation:
Have you received a NIP? - Yes
Are you the Registered Keeper of the vehicle concerned (is your name and address on the V5/V5C)? - Yes
Did the first NIP arrive within 14 days? - Yes
Although you are the Registered Keeper, were you also the keeper of the vehicle concerned (the person normally responsible for it) at the time of the alleged offence? - Yes
Were you driving? - Yes
Which country did the alleged offence take place in? - England

NIP Wizard Recommendation
Based on these responses the Wizard suggested that this course of action should be considered:

• The law requires you to provide the information requested in the Section 172 notice within the 28 day period, naming yourself as the driver. If you are considering obtaining formal legal advice, do so before returning the notice.
  
  You should note that there is nothing to be gained by responding any earlier than you have to at any stage of the process. You are likely to receive a Conditional Offer of a Fixed Penalty (COFP) and further reminder(s). If you want to continue the fight, you should ignore all correspondence from the police until you receive a summons. You need to understand from the outset that while you will receive much help and support from members on the forums, you will need to put time and effort into fighting your case and ultimately be prepared to stand up in court to defend yourself.

Generated by the PePiPoo NIP Wizard v3.3.2: Thu, 17 Oct 2019 12:27:49 +0000

I posted the S172 information back within a couple of days (with proof of posting and delivery), but I've not heard anything back since and it's coming up to two months.

The NIP mentions maybe being eligible for an educational course and I was hoping this would be the case, but the longer it's taking the more worried I'm getting. Is the length of time a bad sign and should I expect a summons? Will they at that point tell me exactly what it is I'm alleged to have done?

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[Logician]

Thank you for coming back and letting us know the outcome, that is always useful.

[The Rookie]

It should be an SP30 endorsement.

Thanks for the update, always useful.

[uts321]

It should be an SP30 endorsement.

That's what I was expecting, but oddly it's an SP40 on the letter from the court and I checked my licence endorsements online and it's the same.

[The Rookie]

You may want to do some dummy insurance quotes, if a SP40 costs more contact the courts and ask them to correct their error.

[uts321]

I did a check using a comparison site and the only difference in the prices returned was the second-cheapest result being about £18 less with an SP40 than with an SP30. All other quotes were exactly the same.

[The Rookie]

OK, worth checking, when courts were incorrectly issuing SP60's as it was undefined the insurance companies were really ratcheting up the premiums compared to the SP30 they should have had.

[baggins1234]

It should be an SP30 endorsement.

That's what I was expecting, but oddly it's an SP40 on the letter from the court and I checked my licence endorsements online and it's the same.

What class of vehicle were you driving?

[uts321]

It should be an SP30 endorsement.

That's what I was expecting, but oddly it's an SP40 on the letter from the court and I checked my licence endorsements online and it's the same.

What class of vehicle were you driving?

A normal four door saloon car.