3 points and £60 fine for brake lights

anewman

Jakg wrote: »

If you have a fancy and or expensive car, yes.

With a length of wire and a warning lamp (the drill a hole in the dash and screw it in from behind type) you can easily rig up a brake light indicator which will light up if the brake lights are working and not light up otherwise.

mcjordi

when one of my brake lights failed i was pulled and given a VDRS (vehicle defect form) to get stamped by an mot test station to say it was working again this cost me £5er and the cost of a bulb
he said he was gonna go over my car with a fine tooth comb lol.. yeah when you show to me your qualified and allowed to do so then you can .
was a run of the mill pc driving an astra

sebastianj

I am insured with Barclays for legal help not sure if they will entertain this one. As I said there were two of them one who wrote the ticket in a flash and the other who was concerned about writing the prohibition order with my boot full of shopping and my disabled wife sitting next.

Yes I would say he was trying to make life easier but why pick on me in the first place.
seb

Inactive

To the best of my knowledge, a police officer cannot issue a prohibition notice and then allow you to continue driving the car.

Seek legal advice.

rev_henry

mcjordi wrote: »

when one of my brake lights failed i was pulled and given a VDRS (vehicle defect form) to get stamped by an mot test station to say it was working again this cost me £5er and the cost of a bulb
he said he was gonna go over my car with a fine tooth comb lol.. yeah when you show to me your qualified and allowed to do so then you can .
was a run of the mill pc driving an astra

Haha. Yeah only a handful of very highly trained traffic policemen are properly authorised and qualified to do that. They have a special name, as does the actual procedure, both of which escape me now.
Of course you'd have to be virtually a qualified MOT tester to know how to do it properly wouldn't you?

derrick

sebastianj wrote: »

There was an exemption that I could drive home, stay at below 20 mile with hazard lights flashing.
seb

This thread has to be a wind up!

From the HC; -
116
Hazard warning lights. These may be used when your vehicle is stationary, to warn that it is temporarily obstructing traffic. Never use them as an excuse for dangerous or illegal parking. You MUST NOT use hazard warning lights while driving or being towed unless you are on a motorway or unrestricted dual carriageway and you need to warn drivers behind you of a hazard or obstruction ahead. Only use them for long enough to ensure that your warning has been observed.

[Law RVLR reg 27]

It is illegal to drive with hazards on, the words "MUST NOT" relate to legal requirements, from the introduction to the HC; -
"Many of the rules in the Code are legal requirements, and if you disobey these rules you are committing a criminal offence. You may be fined, given penalty points on your licence or be disqualified from driving. In the most serious cases you may be sent to prison. Such rules are identified by the use of the words ‘MUST/MUST NOT’. In addition, the rule includes an abbreviated reference to the legislation which creates the offence. An explanation of the abbreviations can be found in 'The road user and the law'."

Gordon861

sebastianj wrote: »

I was given 2 bits of papers, one ticket saying that I need to give or take my license to the police station etc.
The other one a Pink Prohibition order sheet saying that I need to get the car fixed and get an MoT test certificate. In the faults section it said Brake lights not functioning.
Quentin, it seemed they stopped mr for some other reason as they were talking on the radio saying 'so it has not expired' I think they were given the wrong info about my tax disc or Insurance. Did not speak to me at all, then they started to write the tickets only then I tried to communicate calling them officers 'is this absolutely necessary'. They did not care about any thing I said any way.
seb

OK just read the whole thread and I may be wrong but I see no where anything indicating '3pts and a £60 fine' other than the title.

From this post it sounds like you got:
1. 7-day produce your documents at the local police station. Easy to deal with. Just take your docs to the station within the 7 days. Although this document may be a FPN (your description is lacking a lot of info).
2. A 'get it fixed in 14 days or scrap it' notice.

On the 14 day notices they have an option to allow the vehicle to be driven home or require it to be towed/trailered to get home. I think you may also be misreading the Prohibition notice as well, it probably says the work must be checked and authorised by an MOT station after being fixed.

The first thing to do is check the break light bulbs, if that solves the problem phone a local MOT station and book an appointment to get the car checked (if you don't book you will be breaking the law). At the appointed time drive straight to the MOT station, don't go shopping on the way first.

If the bulbs don't fix the problem you will need someone to come out and fix the car as you cannot legally drive it to the repairer.

I'm not sure what the cost will be from the MOT station but it should be cheaper than a full MOT.

Once you have the certificate from the MOT station you will probably need to produce that at the police station as well.

I had a similar stop by the police a while back on a motorcycle and walked away (pushing the bike) with a producer, a FPN and a Prohibition Order. Was not a good day!

sunshinetours

Few keyboard warriors on here! I would pay up as your brake lights were not working properly which is a real danger to other road users, especially at higher speeds when someone can all of a sudden stop without warning to those approaching (at speed) behind.

Does anyone take any responsibility for anything these days or is it always someone else's fault?
If the policeman has not followed correct procedure on you driving home then by all means follow it up but not on the pretence of avoiding your (deserved) ticket. Presumably you would have been happier if he had inconvenienced you further if he had made sure you were towed rather than making a best compromise so you could get home?

Certainly go back to the garage however to speak with them to make sure teh repair is sorted correctly as you have paid for this already

Hintza

Gordon861 wrote: »

OK just read the whole thread and I may be wrong but I see no where anything indicating '3pts and a £60 fine' other than the title.

Interesting point. It would also appear OP was cut a bit of slack by the police to get home.

OP you can start jumping up and down but remember policemen have long memories and if you want to complain then expect to be stopped if/when you make the slightest traffic violation.

There is nothing worse than travelling behind a car with no brake lights. It is also your responsibility to check them every morning before you set off. Of course most of us never do but we can't then claim it only went on that journey.

sebastianj

I have no means of copying and pasting it otherwise I would. I have the penalty notice the officer had seen my license, I think they need it to endorse it. The prohibition is very real, I think Police have been given too much power to milk the public.

When driving along, if your Tyre bursts, your brakes fail or a fuse blows then how can you be held responsible for it?

I am waiting to hear from my solicitor and the IPCC to see what advice they give.
seb