Car Tax Disc Not Displayed = Fine!

sebdangerfield

lolly333 wrote: »

I then bumped into 2 officers (one of whom said it was a parking ticket & the other said he didn't think the police could issue parking tickets!-nice to know that they know the law inside out eh?).

Sorry to quote you lolly but I get annoyed by quotes like this. Do you think that you could go to anyone trained in law (myself included) and get a bang on, grade a answer for each question you ask? Nobody knows the law inside out, I've spent seven years studying law and still ask collegues and refer to books and case law for each new case. Law is a very in depth topic, it's been made for the last 500 years and so there are quite alot of them! Police officers get 17 week's law training and then people expect them to recollect laws on the spot in the street. I couldn't do that and I've had far more training in law! Sorry, rant over!

OP, the offence of failing to display a tax disc is known as an absolute offence, that means there are no defences and the offence can be commited regardless if you have ved on the car or not. I've even known emergency service vehicles fall foul of this even though their tax is free.

That being said. Contact the issuer, explain the situation and keep an open mind. I've known these be dropped for similar circumstances.

Hadrian

Section 3 Vehicle Excise and Registration Act.
"For a vehicle with a windscreen extending across to the nearside it must be
displayed on or adjacent to the nearside and clearly visible from the
nearside in daylight."
This means that if you display your disc anywhere other than as above, ie..."adjacent to the nearside"... , that's the kerbside! you are guilty of an offence. No argument.

LibbyR26

I would recommend that the you enclose a photocopy of your tax disc. It may help to support your position.

KeithP

LibbyR26 wrote: »

I would recommend that the you enclose a photocopy of your tax disc. It may help to support your position.

Why?

The authorities already know whether the vehicle is taxed or not, don't they?

How will a photocopy help anyone decide whether the disc was displayed or not?

waynedance

pay the fine and get a better disc holder..............job done.

LibbyR26

KeithP wrote: »

Why?

The authorities already know whether the vehicle is taxed or not, don't they?

How will a photocopy help anyone decide whether the disc was displayed or not?

It's going to be a police officer or court who decided whether this goes any further or in the fine gets dismissed. He has no defence. The best he can do is appeal to the better side of someone's nature which is a longshot. Including a copy of the tax disc helps verify his version of events and helps prove his credibility.

lolly333

It seems like some people are quite hostile towards me! I do realise that the law is a very complicated issue, but I do find it annoying that an officer who was working on the assistance desk didn't know about it, as did the 2 officers I spoke to in person. I don't really feel that the lawyer's argument to me was entirely fair- Every police officer doesn't know every law in the country, doctors don't know every illness etc. I don't see why I should be criticised for failing in their training and knowledge! The issue was that 3 officers I spoke to were clueless, which I think is pretty pitiful. I'm not stupid; through my own research I have discovered that it is an offence but that is not the issue here. If anyone wants to have a go at me, then at least read my post properly. I thought that this was a forum for advice & to hear the experiences that others have had in similar situations -not have a go at individuals! I don't see the point of writing anything that isn't constructive in some way. If you don't like it, ignore it. Glib remarks just make you look stupid.

Tickets from the police, parking tickets and banks just reinforce the sad fact that authorities/institutions like this are quick enought to slap tickets/charges etc on the public and take money from us, but are slower when it comes to explanations and their own knowledge of the processes for their actions.

I have sent my letter and explained my case honestly. I feel entirely justified in doing this and am not just attempting to 'wriggle out' of anything. If I get a parking ticket through my own fault, I don't whine about it. In the circumstances of this incident, I do feel that they should look upon my case with clemency. Whether they do or not is another story. I will keep you posted. I will certainly make sure that this doesn't happen again though :mad:

sebdangerfield

Woa Lolly! Chill out there!

I'm not being hostile, I even apologised for using your post as an example. I'm simply trying to point out that it may be unfair to expect a Police officer, who has little law training to know the answer to a question on the spot without being able to refer to another text etc. The lawyer example was to show even I, with an awful lot of training would still need to read up before giving an answer. It's not a lack of training, its just a subject that requires the application of the law rather than explicit knowledge of it. I've never walked into court not reading up on the subject beforehand simply because it's not my job to know the law inside out, it's my job to apply it in the right context. Like you said,

Every police officer doesn't know every law in the country, doctors don't know every illness

We're saying the same thing. There's probably not much point in being annoyed that they don't know them then!

Everything I’ve written is of benefit to the author. I've answered the question from a legal point of view i.e. there is no defence and the matter is an absolute offence. I've then answered it from a moral point of view and advised to speak to someone who is able to withdraw the ticket.

Ultimately, it is an offence to not display the tax disc in the correct place but so it also an offence to not produce your driving documents to a Police officer on request but very few of us actually carry them around and anyway Police give leeway for this offence (by issuing a producer HO/RT1 form) so they may well give leniency given that it would cost more to take the offender through the court system than they would get from the fine.

lolly333

Got a letter today, which was very quick as I only posted it on Monday! It states that if I send a photocopy of my tax disc, the fine will be scrapped! :j