Police officers gave me 3 points and a fine then reverse it. Am I safe?

FTBSOS

Hi there, the police the other day were doing a massive crackdown in my area with people on their phones. I never use my phone whilst driving but on this occasion (brief moment of answering and 'I'll call you back in a bit' talk) and got caught. I was also stuck in extremely heavy traffic.

I told the police officers, I was only answering for a brief moment, when I told the person I would call them back shortly.

Anyway, I pleaded, I begged for them to just give me a massive fine, and forget the points and they weren't having none of it, especially one of them, the ****. I begged them to just give me a massive fine and use some discretion, due to the nature of my job, where if get any points, I will get the sack.

I am a full grown man and started to cry like a ******. I went into my car and couldn't stop crying. I just sat there for like 10 minutes, angry with myself.

I am 19, and I am already paying nearly 2k for insurance for an old banger!

Anyway, one of nice police chaps came back to me on their own, to my car. I told them, please if I could have a massive fine, and he said 'you don't know how lucky you are' took the ticket from me, screwed it up, and gave it back to me. Said don't worry about it.

Does this mean I am fine? When they gave me the ticket, said I had to go to the police station by midnight and produce insurance certificate also. THIS WAS 2 DAYS AGO.

What do they have to do when they give you a roadside ticket and they overturn it? I don't want to leave it now, and find out the points fine are still active?

thanks

kelevraz

id say ur fine tbh, he's got no reason to make you think your okay when your not, i wouldnt worry about it, but thats just me, neither would i want to call them and ask about it lol

the ticket should have some kind of reference on for paying the fine, call the number, put in the reference, see if it asks you for any money or if it says its not recognised

Aretnap

There's such a thing as the "attitude test" and it sounds like you passed it. Obviously he thought you'd learned your lesson, hopefully you have.you won't hear any more about the incident.

You can't actually be given points at the roadside - a fixed penalty is essentially an offer not to prosecute you for using your mobile if you pay £60 and accept the endorsement. If you don't surrender your licence and pay the £60 then you get a summons to court, the points don't automatically become active.

Incidentally he had no power to give you a bigger fine and fewer points, the fixed penalty is, erm, fixed at £60 and 3 points. His options were to (1) let you off with a bollocking, (2) give you a fixed penalty or (3) report you for prosecution, where the court could give you a bigger fine (assuming you we're cinvicted) but 3 points would still be mandatory. Sounds like he decided to do (2) at first, but changed his mind and did (1) instead. Go and buy a lottery ticket - it's obviously your lucky day.

Joe_Horner

Sounds like you hit a good old fashioned copper who decided that the shock of getting pulled, given its obvious effect on you, was a more useful lesson than a ticket (quite likely causing resentment towards them).

As Aretnap says, your lucky day - that sort of policing is a rare thing nowadays, so don't expect the same treatment f there's a next time (I'm sure there won't be!)

Pee

I don't really see how we can advise you without seeing what the ticket said. I'm not suggesting you upload it on here, but is there an experienced driver who has had points that you could show it to? I don't know who would be appropriate.

I hope it is an incidence of nice old fashioned policing, but if not and you get a reminder it's certainly worth speaking to a solicitor.

KTF

FTBSOS wrote: »

I never use my phone whilst driving but on this occasion (brief moment of answering and 'I'll call you back in a bit' talk) and got caught.

So you do use your phone whilst driving.

Be thankful that they let you off this time.

AndyPK

Suggest you get a cheap blue tooth kit off eBay and install it yourself if your good at wiring.
Say a Nokia ck7w.

Save any future risks if points are that risky to your Job

kelevraz

to the OP, to be fair, in reality you actually are so lucky, whether it was to say call me back or anything, ive never known anyone to be caught talking on the phone while driving and only get a smack on the wrist, no matter how upset they were, or what it will mean to their lifestyle, hats off to you lol

TrickyWicky

FTBSOS wrote: »

Anyway, one of nice police chaps came back to me on their own, to my car. I told them, please if I could have a massive fine, and he said 'you don't know how lucky you are' took the ticket from me, screwed it up, and gave it back to me. Said don't worry about it.

Tricky one as technically the FPN is still served. Screwing it up doesn't mean they've not handed in their own copy to their supervisor for processing. If they'd taken it back completely then I'd say don't worry but giving it back doesn't mean a lot really.

No advice to give really, just trying to point out what others may have missed.

What I will say is get yourself a bluetooth headset. You can get them for peanuts (Tesco for £15 and cheaper on ebay). It will save you a lot of hassle and is completely legal as it's hands free.

Aretnap

If the cop said don't worry about it or something to that effect I'd be inclined to take him at his word. One can imagine various scenarios where the cancellation isn't recorded and the OP gets a summons in a few months time but I don't think they're likely and if he did he'd have a strong argument for being fined at the fixed penalty level so would be no worse off than if he pays it. Whether it's technically given is not very relevant unless he surrendered his licence at the roadside -I take it you still have it?

Lum

Maybe call the police and tell them you were given a telling off at the roadside but unsure if you got a ticket or not. Give them your name, address and reg number but NOT the ticket number.

They should do a search and get back to you.

If you're feeling particularly paranoid do it in writing, keep a copy and use recorded delivery. If you don't get a response in a timely manner then you can at least show some due diligence if it does come to court.