Speeding fine appeal

Chloe165

I received a parking fine on the 17th February dated from 2nd January. At first I thought I had ground for appeal but realised that when receiving my new car in October that I had not registered my car due to circumstances which are complex and will explain. In October my little girl was nearly 4 months old and was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy resulting in a two week stay in hospital to get her on the appropriate treatment. She has been so up and down but was discharged end of October (28th). I got a new car on HP finance on the (23rd October) and this period was when I received the V5C which I completely forgot about. On Christmas Day just gone my little girl was readmitted due to worsening heart failure and was in intensive care due to the severity. We were in hospital till the 6th January 2020 so this fine was when we were in hospital and this hospital was over an hour away from home. I remember that I was going to get my little boy to bring him up to hospital to visit as he is nearly 2 but was deeply unsettled with what was going on and the road I was caught was a temporary speed restriction where the signs go from 50 to 40 pretty quickly and I was doing 47 in 40 but as it was dark I mustn’t of realised the change. I don’t know whether I have any sort of grounds to appeal, I understand that I obviously done wrong but more the circumstances behind it I don’t know whether to risk appealing? Any advice would be helpful thanks

AdrianC

You don't "appeal" a speeding ticket.

First, the keeper is asked who was driving. I suspect this is where you're at now. You MUST reply to that, else you risk six points and an MS90 on your licence. Insurers REALLY don't like those. (If the driver wasn't the keeper, the driver will then be asked whether they were driving. Same applies.)

Once the driver admits it was them, they'll get offered one of three outcomes for the kind of speed you were caught at.
They may be offered a speed awareness course. Half a day of tea and biccies, and they might even learn something. Usually about £90. This can be rejected, in favour of a fixed penalty.
They may be offered a fixed penalty. Three points, £100, SP30. Insurers don't mind them at all.
They may just get a court date. This is unlikely - unless you've already got lots of points on your licence.

If you refuse a fixed penalty, you can opt for a court date. If you go to court, you can plead guilty (then introduce any mitigating factors), or you can plead not guilty. Court penalties in the event of a guilty plea or a guilty verdict will be considerably higher than a fixed penalty.

Honestly, "I wasn't paying any attention so didn't notice the signs" is not going to play well in court. Pleading not guilty won't work, simply because you are.

Supersonos

Chloe165 said:

the signs go from 50 to 40 pretty quickly and I was doing 47 in 40 but as it was dark I mustn’t of realised the change. 

The signs don't change so quickly if you aren't driving so fast.

And maybe it's worth getting your headlights checked if being dark means you have trouble reading road signs.

Manxman_in_exile

I think you first need to be clearer about where you are in the process.  Is it as AdrianC suggests that you have simply received a NIP with a s172 request to name the driver at a particular time at a particular date, or is it that you've received a Single Justice Procedure Notice charging you with speeding (and perhaps failure to name the driver), or is it, as you actually say in your post, that you've already been "fined", perhaps because you've been tried and convicted in your absence?  What are all the documents you have received?

(You need to be clearer and more precise - your OP says you've received a parking fine but your description is of a speeding offence.  I assume it is speeding?)

macman

Sorry to hear about your daughter, but her illness is simply not a mitigating factor for speeding. Take the fixed penalty, and the 3 points or an SAC. Neither are ruinous.
Contest it, and you have no idea what penalty you may incur in court. Do you feel lucky?

Dr_Crypto

We need a little more information regarding where you are up to. What exactly have you received? 

I’m sorry to hear about your daughter and hope she’s recovering. I don’t see any grounds to plead not guilty here. You were speeding (you don’t appear to disagree with that). The speed isn’t that high (47/40) so you may well get a course or 3 points and a fine. There’s not much point going to court in person because the best they’d likely do is bring things back to the fixed penalty position which is the worst you should be offered at this stage anyway. 

NBLondon

Chloe165 said:

I got a new car on HP finance on the (23rd October) and this period was when I received the V5C which I completely forgot about. 

Does this possibly mean the NIP went to the finance company; didn't get dealt with promptly?  Hence the OP has been convicted in absence?

treeroy

given that you're only over the limit by a little amount, you'll probably be offered a speed awareness course or max 3 points / £100 fine. 
just accept it. not worth fighting it in court, if you were over the speed limit then there is nothing to contest and you will lose.  You'll then have to pay court fees on top of the existing fine.

If it was an emergency rushing someone to hospital then judge might be lenient. It's hard to discern from your post what you are rambling on about with the hospital but it doesn't sound like it was an emergency.

neilmcl

NBLondon said:

Chloe165 said:

I got a new car on HP finance on the (23rd October) and this period was when I received the V5C which I completely forgot about. 

Does this possibly mean the NIP went to the finance company; didn't get dealt with promptly?  Hence the OP has been convicted in absence?

I doubt it, HP or PCP the registered keeper should still be the OP.

NBLondon

My point being that maybe the OP needed to do something with the V5 to change RK to themselves and forgot because of the family problems taking priority.   We can't assume that the finance company was efficient...

The_Rainmaker

OP without being unkind perhaps you shouldn't have been driving with all that stress and worry.  I wrote off two cars in fairly quick succession when I seperated from my wife 20+ years ago purely because my mind was elsewhere, fortunately nobody was hurt.
Just take the speed awareness course if offered.