Hi All,

A summons arrived for me yesterday, for an alledged offense of speeding 6 months ago. Can anybody help me understand the implications of this please ?

Also, how it is affected by the statute of limitations, the seemingly incorrect Road Traffic Regulations Act section number, etc.

Also, worth noting is the envelope that the summons arrived in has a postmark date of 06-04-09.

What is my next step ? This is the only documentation that I have received regarding this. At the scene, the officers in a Volvo T5 pulled me over and told me they had judged by speed using 'pacing' i.e. eyesight, in pitch black, no motorway lights or dropped shadows to measure the speed.



Best regards,

Pabb

Well they appear to have laid information on the 2/4/09 so 2 days within the limit. They say they paced you. They stayed at a constant distance keeping pace with you and read there calibrated speedo. There is no requirement for them to do more. Did they caution you or tell you at the scene that you are being reported for consideration of presecution or words to that effect. What speed do they allege you were travelling at. Pete D

How did they maintain a constant distance in the pitch black...?

They may have said words to that effect at the scene, and it was lost in conversation. Either way, there was two of them so regardless of if they did say it or not, they could claim to have done.

They alledged (at the scene) that I was travelling approx 120 mph.

What about the section 17(4) on the form ? that appears to reference an entirely different offense....

---quick update---

it seems that the RTRA section 17(4) deals with 'special roads' and i'm guessing (can somebody comfirm this) applies to roads such as the m6 toll.

now the 'offense' was a good ten miles south of the m6 toll so has the wrong legal act been invoked ? also, im sure they can correct the information but since they were only 2 days short of laying information will this take them over the statute of limitation ?

any help much appreciated...

They have met the statute of limitation which applies not to the issuing of the summons but the "laying of the information" from which the summons has been produced and this is the crucial element - not that an "accurate" summons has been produced from it. Any relatively minor fault within the constitution of the summons can be corrected at court. As far as "special road" is concerned this relates to any motorway not just the M6 Toll.

Edited due to being a little hard of thinking today.

aha... missed it i'm afraid... what did you say ?

--
I'm gutted... so it seems as if they have got it in on time, by 2 days ?!


What are the next steps I need to take now ?




Hi Hotel Oscar, cheers for the reply...

I'm gutted - so they have done it with 2 days to spare, after 6 months ?! What would you do now as the next steps ? & why have they used the RTRA and not the RTA ? do I have any possible defenses from this ?

Best regards,
Paul




Hi Hotel Oscar, cheers for the reply...

I'm gutted, so they have got it in on time, after waiting 6 months :-/ !? What would you do now ? Do I have any defense ?

Best regards,
Paul

They have used the RTRA 1984 because this is the statute that creates the offence of speeding (not the RTA 1988).

How heavy was the traffic? Also, 'pitch black' - you (and they) presumably had headlights on?



This is why you are required to be in attendance at court - they will look to ban you, which can not be done in your absence.

Do you know over what distance they followed you / recorded your speed?