Free Traffic Legal Advice

Quote from: 666 on April 24, 2026, 04:27:45 pm

Unless you've attended a Speed Awareness course in the last three years, you'll be offered the option of that or a fixed penalty.

For 35 in a 20?

I think this will more likely be a summons.

You're right. I misread it as 35 in a 30.

My understanding is that for service to be valid at a "last known address" (if this in fact becomes the prosecution's defence), the claimant must have been unable to ascertain a defendant's current residence; I'm not confident this can be true given the number of public records which refer to my current address.

When a NIP and/or S172 request is to be sent to the Registered Keeper, the "last known address" is taken as that shown on the DVLA record at the date of the (alleged) offence. In most cases that is correct.

The police are not required to trawl other records on the off-chance that it might be wrong, and in any case it would be impractical. The DVLA record ties a particular individual to the vehicle in question. There may be many others with the same name, e.g. John Smith, and no easy way to know which John Smith's new address they are seeking.

There is absolutely no point in your friend sending a covering letter: the police will process the (alleged) offences according to their normal procedures. The time for an EH plea is when - as seems likely - the matter proceeds to court and he faces disqualification.

BTW any "explanation" which involves looking at a screen rather than the road, or suggests inattention, would be unwise. Anyway, no explanation is necessary.

i asked a follow up question and was seeking clarification.
i wasn't arguing with the advice but trying to understand it.
                            

Think of the calibration certificate as akin to an MOT certificate. The latter proves that the car was safe on the day it was tested, but not the day after or 364 days later.

As explained above, the onus on you would be to prove (on the balance of probabilities) that the camera was defective. You could do that at any time, even the day after the issue of the certificate.

In both cases, the expiry date simply means that the next test is due.

If you had been caught "inadvertently breaking the law" then the worst case outcome would be an income-related fine, in the unlikely event of ending up in court. A £100 penalty is more likely. No points would be applied in either case.

An insurance clause requiring an MOT has been ruled unenforceable by the Ombudsman on several occasions. However, your future premiums might be affected when you declared the offence.

Assuming the (alleged) offence was in England or Wales, you should automatically be offered a Speed Awareness course.

No points on your licence, no effect on insurance, No enquiry about income.

The course will cost around £90-£100, and take 3-4 hours of your time. You will most likely be able to take it online.

Quote from: 666 on March 23, 2026, 03:18:03 pm

Quote from: adders on March 23, 2026, 03:15:55 pm

Dont charge out and about much, as am lucky enough to get free charging at work.

Going off at a tangent, how do HMRC treat that?

im guessing that would depend on whether they know or not

Exactly!

Unfortunately I don’t think my wife did as I guess she just assumed she could get a refund if they didn’t fit. Like most other places.

"Like most other places." may be the key. Many retailers do give refunds in circumstances where there is no legal obligation to do so: your wife has found one which does not.

But even offering a credit note or replacement is above and beyond what the law requires, so things could be worse. While Sports Direct are clearly not in John Lewis's league, at least they're not in Ryanair's.