Speeding ticket, calibration certificate

iolanthe07

If your husband knows in his heart that he has been caught bang to rights, he might just as well suck it up, move on with his life, and save himself a lot of stress.

tonyh66

iolanthe07 wrote: »

If your husband knows in his heart that he has been caught bang to rights, he might just as well suck it up, move on with his life, and save himself a lot of stress.

This...tell your husband to put his big boy pants on and take his punishment instead of crying like a baby.

SHAFT

TooManyPoints wrote: »

They don't have to, as I have explained. The defendant has to prove that it was not accurate and whilst the lack of a valid calibration certificate might help, it does not do that by itself. As mentioned above, the lack of a valid calibration certificate does not jeopardise the claim that the device is type approved and operated in the approved manner. If you think about it, a device is deemed perfectly accurate and reliable on the day its certificate expires but the following day it cannot be relied upon for no other reason than it has not been calibrated for 366 days. That is a ludicrous submission which would gain no ground in any court.

Unless anything fresh is raised I'm out now because I've said all I need to. All I can say to JulieD (the OP) is this: do not be fooled by anyone here (or anywhere else) into believing that the lack of a valid calibration certificate is a "Get out of Jail Free" card. It is a bar-room myth. Do not lead your husband to believe that if there is no such certificate all he has to do is turn up in court and say "There was no valid calibration certificate so there must be doubt as to the accuracy of the device". It will not work. The CPS may discontinue a prosecution if they find out there is no valid calibration. I would not rely on it and I doubt that they will anyway because there is no legal basis for them to do so. They will have all the evidence they need to support a conviction and can easily rebut the argument that the device is unreliable if that argument is based solely on the lack of a valid certificate. More than that since calibration certificates do not form a routine item of evidence they may not even find out that there is no valid certificate until your husband enters his Not Guilty plea and outlines the basis of his defence. If they decide to continue, by that time the option of out of court disposals will be lost and he will even lose part of his discount for an early guilty plea if he is convicted.

If you doubt my advice, as suggested seek guidance elsewhere. Despite the warnings, Pepipoo is a good place to start or you could seek a solicitor who will provide a free initial consultation (though it would be wise to use a specialist motoring solicitor).

All the in car speed detection equipment fails to work the minute it's out of calibration despite it's being accurate seconds before. I've seen CPS discontinue a dangerous drive because the video kept flashing calibration required.
I've seen them bin an excess alcohol because the suspect had his blood analysed and his came back under when the evidential specimen was over.

So I do admire your faith in them taking on a speeding charge when the only evidence is from an uncalibrated device.

Car_54

SHAFT wrote: »

All the in car speed detection equipment fails to work the minute it's out of calibration despite it's being accurate seconds before. I've seen CPS discontinue a dangerous drive because the video kept flashing calibration required.
I've seen them bin an excess alcohol because the suspect had his blood analysed and his came back under when the evidential specimen was over.

So I do admire your faith in them taking on a speeding charge when the only evidence is from an uncalibrated device.

We don’t know it’s uncalbrated, we only know that the website says it’s out of date. The (uncalbrated!) website is much more likely to be inaccurate than the camera.

SHAFT

Car_54 wrote: »

We don’t know it’s uncalbrated, we only know that the website says it’s out of date. The (uncalbrated!) website is much more likely to be inaccurate than the camera.

I know but thanks anyway.

Car_54

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth wrote: »

Mind you, having just recently been done at 34 mph! and attending a course, my licence remains clean! Though one guy turned up, thinking he only had to register and walked out. He is now up in front of the beak and is expected to get 6 points and a bigger fine!

Were you really nicked for 34 in a 30? If you have evidence of that you should post it on Pepipoo.com: they’ve been looking for such a case for years.
Also, what speed was the other guy doing that was low enough for a course but high enough for six points?

TooManyPoints

All the in car speed detection equipment fails to work the m

inute it's out of calibration...

We're not talking about in-car equipment are we. If those devices stop working when the calibration expires then obviously they cannot be relied upon simply because from what you say they don't even work. Fixed cameras do not stop working when their calibration expires.

If the OP's husband wants to take your advice and rely on the CPS discontinuing the matter at some point when less expensive disposals are off the table that's his call. Personally the risk of £1,000 plus for a conviction following a trial against £100 for a course or fixed penalty - especially if I knew I had been speeding and that my best chance of avoiding conviction was relying on the matter being discontinued - is not one I'd take.

Were you really nicked for 34 in a 30?

I've raised that question many times. I've never seen any paperwork for such an allegation (in the form of a NIP or whatever) but as some participants to this thread may say, "Why would you?"

Robisere

Your husband broke the law by driving at a speed above the legal limit for that road. You have been informed over and over here that the defence of an out of date calibration certificate is very unlikely to work and will almost certainly cost more in terms of a fine and points.

When I received a NIP some years ago, my wife called me an idiot and advised me to pay up. I took her advice. You should follow the same procedure with your husband.

SHAFT

TooManyPoints wrote: »

inute it's out of calibration...

We're not talking about in-car equipment are we. If those devices stop working when the calibration expires then obviously they cannot be relied upon simply because from what you say they don't even work. Fixed cameras do not stop working when their calibration expires.

If the OP's husband wants to take your advice and rely on the CPS discontinuing the matter at some point when less expensive disposals are off the table that's his call. Personally the risk of £1,000 plus for a conviction following a trial against £100 for a course or fixed penalty - especially if I knew I had been speeding and that my best chance of avoiding conviction was relying on the matter being discontinued - is not one I'd take.


I've raised that question many times. I've never seen any paperwork for such an allegation (in the form of a NIP or whatever) but as some participants to this thread may say, "Why would you?"

I thought you were done, have a look at my first post on this thread.

I do however admire your faith in our CPS if you think they'd run the case if the calibration is out.

Not a route I'd advise the op to take solely relying on the evidence so far.

Car_54

Robisere wrote: »

Your husband broke the law by driving at a speed above the legal limit for that road.

We don’t know that. You’re probably right, but at this stage it’s simply an allegation.