Magistrates fine for speeding

Gusyah

I had to attend magistrates last year (May 17) for doing 42 in a 30mph zone in August 2016. I had not recieved any previous corespondence (as far as I was aware) so was unaware of the incident until I recieved the 'notice of endorsement of driving record' - a £800+ fine and 6 points. I put in a statutory declaration explaining I had recieved no prior corespondence and I was given a new hearing (speaking to a solicitor friend a year after he said I should have requested a complete 'reset' and requested the initial fixed penalty notice as I hadn't been aware of the incident at all). Anyway in court I explained that on that particular day I was driving to work to a new place and was unfamiliar with the road, I had previously driven on it years ago and the speed limit back then was 40mph, it's one of these roads where the speed limit changes from 50 to 30 back to 50 again as you pass by residential areas. I explained I wasn't speeding on purpose, and that I was always used to it being 40 on that section of the road. Plus it was early morning and I was suffering from quiet a lot of stress at the time (I have GP prescriptions to back this up) and my concentration may not have been 100%. Regardless I was still fined £400 and given 6 points. Speaking to a friend recently, he said I was treated extremely harshly as 42 is just bordering on Band B (under the new rules), and even then the judges had leeway as you could argue that the speed cameras have a margin of error +/-2mph, so I could well have been within Band A. Also Band B denotes 4-6 points, and a minimum fine of £100, given the circumstances he said I should have been shown some leeway and been handed the minimum fine. I just want some advice regarding this and whether I can appeal given the timescale.

Coupon-mad

I don't think you can appeal now, but ask on pepipoo forum:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showforum=5

No Hotmail emails allowed on that forum but they are very clued up!

esuhl

If you were stressed enough that your concentration wasn't 100% and you didn't notice speed limit signs, you shouldn't really have been driving. If you didn't notice signs, would you have noticed cars or pedestrians you were about to crash into...?

I don't think that excuse will go down well with the magistrates.

The_Deep

Not really very helpful esuhl.

bargepole

The new guidelines for a Band A fine are 31-40 mph in a 30 limit zone.

Your speed was recorded at 42, so that puts it into Band B, which was correctly applied. These bands already take into account any inaccuracies in vehicle speedometers.

The time limit for appealing against conviction and/or sentence in the Magistrates' Court is 21 days. You chances of being able to appeal after 11 months are zero.

So basically, you 'friend' is talking out of his or her posterior orifice.

macman

'Plus it was early morning'....so at what time in the morning do you think the posted speed limit starts to apply? I suspect you made the penalty worse by the irrelevant factors you mentioned in your mitigation: not seeing the signs, stress and lack of concentration are simply not mitigating factors.
PS: they were magistrates, not judges.
Was the vehicle registered at an out of date address? That would explain why you did not receive the correspondence.

TonyMMM

Assuming you pleaded guilty (and it doesn't sound like you had a defence) then your best option was to ask for the sentence to be at the FPN level, on the grounds that you didn't receive such an offer for administrative reasons.

However, without special leave your option to appeal is long out of time,.

The explanation you gave at court probably accounts for the magistrates sentencing at the top of the range.

nosferatu1001

If youd appeared contrite, momentary lapse of concentration etc, terribly sorry, you may have gotten more like 4 points. You could also have requested sentencing at the FP level, as you are only didnt takeit up for reasons not to do with the offence.

But thats far gone now. You havent got a hope.