Advice re speeding finne please

Steve_xx

My friend has been caught speeding in Manchester by an unmarked police car. Apparently doing 38mph in a 30mph zone.

I suppose it'll mean he will get 3 points plus a fine, and this will mean he will have 6 points on his licence. Within the last 12 months he's done the same thing before and already has 3 points. But last time he was in West Yorkshire when it happened.

Do they offer speed awareness courses instead of having the points?

I'm sure a friend of mine told me they had had two such events, one in Liverpool and the other in wales and they were close together and they went on two separate speed awareness courses and avoided the points for both I believe. I could be a bit wrong here. Does anyone know?

peter_the_piper

This is a parking forum so someone may help but I suggest you contact pepipoo.com and post on the speeding section.

HO87

In general terms the overriding factor in deciding whether a speed awareness course is offered is the speed at which the offender was detected. From that perspective your husband is within the speed band that is national agreed. That having been said as he was stopped at the roadside and the officer concerned will have made a judgement as to whether he thinks the course appropriate. Given the fact that your husband has previously been dealt with for what would seem a similar offence would probably have weighed matters.

The suggestion that it is possible to "get away with" doing two speed awareness courses is, I believe, an urban myth. A national database of those offered (and completing) such courses is maintained and each person offered one is checked against it. This is to maintain the rule that only one such course is offered to any person in a rolling 3 year period. It may have been possible for someone to have slipped through the net if their names were misspelled or changed or if, for some reason, the database had not been updated perhaps in the way your scenario suggests but I would doubt it. That said, the fact that your husband (presumably) has been issued with an endorseable fixed penalty notice and the incidents are some months apart hardly opens up the possibility of "slipping the net".

Steve_xx

Thanks, to clarify, it's my friend, not my "husband". However it matters not.

I take your points re the 3 year rolling rule. It's one of those things I guess. He's had a clean drivers licence for years and then been unfortunate on two occasions close together. It's had a dramatic effect on him and he's quite fearful about driving nowadays it seems.

I can understand where he's coming from as some years ago I went through a red light in the early hours of the morning. My mind was wondering because the roads were so quiet and I saw the lights go back to red a bit too late to stop and suddenly a camera flashed me. Nothing actually resulted from that event but it was years ago and I'm still very wary of cameras today!

I don't know how anyone manages not to have points on their licence these days with the roads being bobby trapped with cameras, as they are. Having said that, my own licence is clean but I'm not a perfect driver I'm sure.

HO87

Steve_xx wrote: »

Thanks, to clarify, it's my friend, not my "husband". However it matters not.

Apologies. Scan reading at its best!

Steve_xx wrote: »

Having said that, my own licence is clean but I'm not a perfect driver I'm sure.

How many of us are? All we can do is our best but even then we sometimes fall foul of things. If you drive any appreciable distance these days fixed penalties are something of an occupational hazard.

Steve_xx

Yes I think you're right; they are an occupational hazard these days.

My friend is obviously concerned how 6 points will affect his insurance. He's aged 62, so not a youngster!