Variable Speed Limit - M6 - Speeding…

Belenus

Ozmond78 said:

No there was no fixed penalty - it’s gone straight to court. This is why I’m considering going just to say that although I was speeding, I am not a ‘speeder’ & hopefully my driving record somewhat backs that up….

Absolutely not trying to get out of it, fully expecting to pay a fine & get points but I’m hoping it can be treated as something a bit less serious than it looks on paper. 

Honestly furious with myself but these things happen I guess. 

The court will see you as a speeder.

These things do happen. About ten years ago I got caught by average speed cameras on the M5, a long stretch of about 20 or more miles if I remember correctly. I was within the speed awareness course guidelines which I took and quite enjoyed. I was retired so it didn't affect my work day.

In about 1993 I was done for 104mph on the M40 by a Police Car using VASCAR.  I had to attend court. I was very contrite etc and I got away with a two week ban.

If you do attend court don't do what I did and drive there unless you have a co driver to drive you home as any ban will be immediate. I had to phone my wife who was at work in Central London and ask her to get a train to Bicester and drive me home to Surrey.

Where is your court in relation to your home and or work? 

Good luck.

TooManyPoints

You are probably best off accept.ing the non court process

As already mentioned, that is not an option. The matter is already being dealt with by the court. What you have is not a summons. They are no longer used for minor traffic offences. You have a "Single Justice Procedure Notice" (SJPN). The options you have are:

(1)  Plead guilty and have the matter dealt with under the Single Justice Procedure

(2) Plead guilty and opt for a normal court hearing.

(3) Plead not guilty.

Assuming that (3) is not on the table (nothing you have said suggests you have a viable defence) this leaves you with the first two. If you opt for (1) you cannot attend the hearing. SJ hearings are held in an office with a single Magistrate hearing guilty pleas on paper only and with the assistance of a Legal Advisor. The SJ will use exactly the same sentencing guidelines as a "normal" court (usually presided over by a Bench of three Magistrates). You can make any mitigation you want to the SJ in writing when you respond to the SJPN. In all honesty, sentencing for speeding is quite prescriptive and rarely does any mitigation influence the sentence. The guidelines for your offence suggest either a ban of between 7 and 56 days or six points. Six points is almost certainly to be the outcome. You will also pay a fine of a week's net income, a Victim Surcharge of 10% of the fine (minimum £34) and £85 costs. In the unlikely event that the SJ considers a ban may be appropriate, your case will be adjourned for a hearing in the normal court and you will be invited to attend. The SJ will not disqualify you in your absence.

If you opt for (2) the same procedure will take place except that you will be able to attend. It will not cost you any more to go down this route (except your time and travel costs). However, you should not expect a significantly different outcome.

TELLIT01

Driving history is irrelevant.  You were 'pinged' driving at 75% above the marked speed limit.  I certainly wouldn't try using the fact the car was in cruise control at the time as that simply adds to the conclusion that you weren't concentrating.  Most experienced drivers would surely think it strange that they were flying past all other traffic.

Certainly attend court or the assumption may be made that you think the whole thing is no big deal.

Ozmond78

TooManyPoints said:

You are probably best off accept.ing the non court process

As already mentioned, that is not an option. The matter is already being dealt with by the court. What you have is not a summons. They are no longer used for minor traffic offences. You have a "Single Justice Procedure Notice" (SJPN). The options you have are:

(1)  Plead guilty and have the matter dealt with under the Single Justice Procedure

(2) Plead guilty and opt for a normal court hearing.

(3) Plead not guilty.

Assuming that (3) is not on the table (nothing you have said suggests you have a viable defence) this leaves you with the first two. If you opt for (1) you cannot attend the hearing. SJ hearings are held in an office with a single Magistrate hearing guilty pleas on paper only and with the assistance of a Legal Advisor. The SJ will use exactly the same sentencing guidelines as a "normal" court (usually presided over by a Bench of three Magistrates). You can make any mitigation you want to the SJ in writing when you respond to the SJPN. In all honesty, sentencing for speeding is quite prescriptive and rarely does any mitigation influence the sentence. The guidelines for your offence suggest either a ban of between 7 and 56 days or six points. Six points is almost certainly to be the outcome. You will also pay a fine of a week's net income, a Victim Surcharge of 10% of the fine (minimum £34) and £85 costs. In the unlikely event that the SJ considers a ban may be appropriate, your case will be adjourned for a hearing in the normal court and you will be invited to attend. The SJ will not disqualify you in your absence.

If you opt for (2) the same procedure will take place except that you will be able to attend. It will not cost you any more to go down this route (except your time and travel costs). However, you should not expect a significantly different outcome.

Thanks for a comprehensive response. I will attend & see what comes of it but as you’ve said, I have low expectations of anything particularly in my favour. Going to be a painful lesson to learn 🤦‍♂️

gozaimasu

Wasn't there a news story some time ago about these variable speed limit camera being on and set for the wrong speed and prosecuting drivers illegally? Is it possible that it flashed onto 40mph and it caught you before you'd managed to reduce speed by the time you got to the next overhead thing displaying the 40mph? Trying to find the news story with no luck so far - only thing I found was an old MSE post:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6161255/contesting-a-speeding-ticket-variable-speed-limit

Ozmond78

TELLIT01 said:

Driving history is irrelevant.  You were 'pinged' driving at 75% above the marked speed limit.  I certainly wouldn't try using the fact the car was in cruise control at the time as that simply adds to the conclusion that you weren't concentrating.  Most experienced drivers would surely think it strange that they were flying past all other traffic.

Certainly attend court or the assumption may be made that you think the whole thing is no big deal.

Didn’t mean that to sound so blasé. And yes, it’s not a particularly good tactic to use cruise control as a mitigating factor…

Just wanted to say I wasn’t ‘flying past all the traffic’. I could share the images but not really any point, traffic was flowing very freely however which is clearly visible. 

I will attend to at least show I understand how serious a matter it is. 

Belenus

Ozmond78 said:

TooManyPoints said:

You are probably best off accept.ing the non court process

As already mentioned, that is not an option. The matter is already being dealt with by the court. What you have is not a summons. They are no longer used for minor traffic offences. You have a "Single Justice Procedure Notice" (SJPN). The options you have are:

(1)  Plead guilty and have the matter dealt with under the Single Justice Procedure

(2) Plead guilty and opt for a normal court hearing.

(3) Plead not guilty.

Assuming that (3) is not on the table (nothing you have said suggests you have a viable defence) this leaves you with the first two. If you opt for (1) you cannot attend the hearing. SJ hearings are held in an office with a single Magistrate hearing guilty pleas on paper only and with the assistance of a Legal Advisor. The SJ will use exactly the same sentencing guidelines as a "normal" court (usually presided over by a Bench of three Magistrates). You can make any mitigation you want to the SJ in writing when you respond to the SJPN. In all honesty, sentencing for speeding is quite prescriptive and rarely does any mitigation influence the sentence. The guidelines for your offence suggest either a ban of between 7 and 56 days or six points. Six points is almost certainly to be the outcome. You will also pay a fine of a week's net income, a Victim Surcharge of 10% of the fine (minimum £34) and £85 costs. In the unlikely event that the SJ considers a ban may be appropriate, your case will be adjourned for a hearing in the normal court and you will be invited to attend. The SJ will not disqualify you in your absence.

If you opt for (2) the same procedure will take place except that you will be able to attend. It will not cost you any more to go down this route (except your time and travel costs). However, you should not expect a significantly different outcome.

Thanks for a comprehensive response. I will attend & see what comes of it but as you’ve said, I have low expectations of anything particularly in my favour. Going to be a painful lesson to learn 🤦‍♂️

It will get less painful as time goes by. I know that from experience. Look at the fine as part of the cost of car ownership and motoring. The ban will probably be more painful but it soon ends.

I have no wish to preach but please make sure that you learn from it and try not to get caught again.

My boy racer days are long behind me, as they should at aged 69. and I do far less driving these days. I am still happy to put my foot down when conditions allow but I am now ultra careful not to stray into potential ban territory.

ontheroad1970

Ozmond78 said:

TELLIT01 said:

Driving history is irrelevant.  You were 'pinged' driving at 75% above the marked speed limit.  I certainly wouldn't try using the fact the car was in cruise control at the time as that simply adds to the conclusion that you weren't concentrating.  Most experienced drivers would surely think it strange that they were flying past all other traffic.

Certainly attend court or the assumption may be made that you think the whole thing is no big deal.

Didn’t mean that to sound so blasé. And yes, it’s not a particularly good tactic to use cruise control as a mitigating factor…

Just wanted to say I wasn’t ‘flying past all the traffic’. I could share the images but not really any point, traffic was flowing very freely however which is clearly visible. 

I will attend to at least show I understand how serious a matter it is. 

I would suggest that attending will make no beneficial difference.  If guilty, plead guilty on the SJ procedure, then you will waste less time in the courts system for more serious offences.  They won't sentence a ban in your absence on a SJ situation, and you won't get better than 6 points in an attended court.  

A_Lert

If the variable speed limit was not actually displayed that's a defence. But unless you have dashcam footage that would be nearly impossible to prove. Even most people who have dashcams don't keep all their recordings.

user1977

A_Lert said:

If the variable speed limit was not actually displayed that's a defence. But unless you have dashcam footage that would be nearly impossible to prove. Even most people who have dashcams don't keep all their recordings.

And don't the cameras on the variable speed gantries include the displayed sign in their images to avoid any doubt?