Speeding Fine 6 month Rule

Kerryi28

Just found other letter on my camera roll, I rang them and asked could I have more time and said I was hard up with it being Xmas to see why their response would be. I was hoping they might take pity and tell me I didn’t need to pay it but they just said they would put a note on the system to extend it a month

Kerryi28

facade said:

They can't prosecute the speeding.

But they can prosecute failing to name the driver, they have 6 months from when the S172 was sent.

Did you definitely return the S172 notice addressed to you with a signed admission that you were the driver within the 28 days?

If it was a combined S172/COFP they are sneaky, as you apparently can't reply to just the S172, so a signed & dated letter stating that you were the driver should be attached to the combined form and it returned, or you could fill in the "Take me to court then ( if you can)" section I suppose...

Yes I definitely replied to this 

TooManyPoints

Well the letter of 6th November shows that any prosecution is doomed. It was two days too late to bring proceedings when it was written and they have to suspend proceedings for another 28 days after that anyway (under the terms of the Fixed Penalty legislation). There is no doubt they have your response to their request for driver's details ("We have evidence that you were driving...etc".) so prosecution for failing to respond is not a possibility.

They are obviously hoping you simply pay up.

Kerryi28

Thanks for your reply.  thought that was the case
from what I have read on sites I have seen people
say they have 6 months to put in court from date of offence but the police woman I spoke to said that because they jad
sent the conditional offer within 6 months that they could take me to court .
I will
see
What happens when I don’t respond 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼

TooManyPoints

"...but the police woman I spoke to said that because they jad sent the conditional offer within 6 months that they could take me to court "

And that is why you should never, ever take legal advice from a serving police officer. Far better to take it from "some bloke on the internet" who does at least have some idea what he's talking about.

To boost your confidence, the relevant legislation preventing them taking proceedings is contained within the Magistrates Court Act, 1980, Section 127:

Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 (legislation.gov.uk)

127Limitation of time.

(1)Except as otherwise expressly provided by any enactment and subject to subsection (2) below, a magistrates’ court shall not try an information or hear a complaint unless the information was laid, or the complaint made, within 6 months from the time when the offence was committed, or the matter of complaint arose.

• There is no enactment relating to speeding offences which provides for anything otherwise
• Nothing in subsection (2) is relevant to a speeding charge. 
• "Laying an Information" means beginning court proceedings. 
• The matter of a "complaint" is also not relevant.

If anybody from the police contacts you and tries to tell you that offering you a fixed penalty somehow means that s127 does not apply, you should ask them what legislation provides for that.

Kerryi28

Brilliant , thank you so much for this information !!
I really really appreciate it 😊

boxosox

Kerryi28 said:

Hi , I was caught by a camera cam doing 79mph on a motorway on May 4th last year.

Interesting.  I always thought one would be ok up to 80mph.  Plus I'm always hearing how there's the 10% plus 3mph thing which would be 80mph.

Being caught at 79mph on a motorway seems harsh.

TooManyPoints

Interesting.  I always thought one would be ok up to 80mph.  Plus I'm always hearing how there's the 10% plus 3mph thing which would be 80mph. 

Being caught at 79mph on a motorway seems harsh.

The National Police Chiefs' Council's guidance on speeding enforcement suggests that enforcement should begin at (Limit + 10% +2mph) - so 79mph in a 70mph limit. All police forces in England & Wales are said to adhere to that guidance, which is here:

Microsoft Word - Speed Enforcement Guidance ACPO_2011 2015_May 2013_Internet (college.police.uk)

boxosox

TooManyPoints said:

Interesting.  I always thought one would be ok up to 80mph.  Plus I'm always hearing how there's the 10% plus 3mph thing which would be 80mph. 

Being caught at 79mph on a motorway seems harsh.

The National Police Chiefs' Council's guidance on speeding enforcement suggests that enforcement should begin at (Limit + 10% +2mph) - so 79mph in a 70mph limit. All police forces in England & Wales are said to adhere to that guidance, which is here:

Microsoft Word - Speed Enforcement Guidance ACPO_2011 2015_May 2013_Internet (college.police.uk)

Ooooh.  Bad luck, OP.