Free Traffic Legal Advice

I’m afraid, from what you tell us, it seems very likely his licence will be revoked,

Unless the court finds that there are “special reasons” not to endorse his licence and impose points, they must impose three points for each offence. The “special reasons” must be to do with the circumstances of the offence itself, not his personal circumstances.

The court is unlikely to do this as there is nothing you have told us about either offence which might suggest this.

With the offences occurring in separate journeys in opposite directions, there is no chance of the court considering them as a single offence or of two offences committed “on the same occasion” (when only one lot of points would be imposed).

It might be worth enquiring why no course was offered. He has no right to a course but it might be worth a phone call. Apart from that, the only sliver of hope I can see is the late NIP. The police must serve the NIP within 14 date of the offence date.  Postal difficulties do not alter that requirement. The difficulty is that the NIP is presumed delivered two working days after posting unless the contrary can be proved. The burden of that proof will rest with your son. This will mean he must decline the fixed penalty offer and plead not guilty in court. From what you say, without legal representation (for which he will have to bear the cost) this may cause him some difficulty.

The revocation of his licence is not a judicial decision to be taken by the court. It is an administrative function undertaken by the DVLA when they learn of his six points. The court has no control over it.

It is important to understand that revocation does not mean he is disqualified from driving. If his licence is revoked, he can immediately apply for a new provisional licence and can begin driving (in accordance with Its conditions) as soon as he has it, He will, of course, have to pass his test (both parts) again.

I think the combination of a night photo and light fog makes the picture look worse than it was.

That may well be so. But whether or no it was foggy is not the issue. The issue is whether you were exceeding the speed limit.

 You do not seem to be disputing that it was your car (so that largely negates the issue about the green circle being used to identify the VRN of the car being measured). HADEC3 cameras measure a vehicles speed by radar. If you want to defend the charge you will have to cast doubt on its reliability. Bearing in mind that the device is assumed to be working correctly unless proved otherwise, what speed do you believe you were travelling at and what have you got in the way of evidence to prove that?.

 

You could cut out one step by asking the lease company to name you directly instead of naming your employer. But if they have already made their response that may not be an option and in any case they may be reluctant to do that.

I suppose it depends a bit on how close your relationship with the lease company is.

Most forces will make the offer of a course up to three months from the date of the offence. How long ago was that?

So I have done their work for them and found evidence that there was an apparently watertight restriction in place,...

Whose work have you done? I don't think the police needed confirmation that a restriction was in place. They didn't seem to be in any doubt and didn't need any evidence at this stage anyway.

Good result. Thanks for letting us know.

From your description I assume you passed a number of overhead gantries which displayed "60" and finally one which displayed "50" and it was this final one which flashed and resulted in enforcement.

This is not an average speed stretch. It is a variable speed limit motorway, and the variable speed is displayed on each gantry. You must not pass a gantry in excess of the speed displayed, regardless of what speed was displayed on the previous gantries.

I still plan on going to court and represent myself,

If my assumption above is correct, how do you intend to defend this charge in court? The police will probably produce a photograph of your car together with one of the speed displayed on the gantry, taken at the same time.

i think a jury would also agree eyesight on a speedometer needle is not the clearest

There will be no jury involved. Your trial will be judged either by a District Judge sitting alone or more probably by a Bench of three magistrates. If you cannot read your speed using your speedometer you should consider either getting your eyesight checked or having a replacement speedometer installed. Whatever is the cause of the problem, it will not provide a defence to the charge.

If you are convicted (and your speed was 65mph or less) you will pay a fine of half a week's net income, a surcharge of 40% of that fine and prosecution costs of around £650. You will also have three points imposed on your driving record. The court will make a "collection order" and if you do not pay as directed measures will be taken by the fines enforcement office to recover the sum from you. This may mean bailiffs visiting your address. If that is unsuccessful the matter will be returned to court and the court may make an order to have monies deducted from your earnings or benefits, as appropriate. If that is also unsuccessful, ultimately you can be sent to prison for non-payment.

I dont blame police, this is the council and highway maintenance trying to get every penny they can

Neither the council nor the highways authority have anything to do with this. Whilst the reduced limit is imposed by National Highways, they receive no benefit from it. Course fees are split between the course providers and the police; sums paid in fines, fixed penalties and surcharges go to the government's funds; prosecution costs go to the prosecuting authority.

Do let us know how it goes.

I simply don’t understand why the court keeps asking you what are essentially the same questions, especially when they also provide you with confusing information:

The offences put to you and which require your confirmed pleas are;
 
   1   Speeding offence on 22/07/2024 at Worthing
 
You have admitted to the speeding offence...

Have you? As far as you have told us, you pleaded not guilty to both charges.
 
I don’t see any additional information that might cause you to change your mind (apart from incorrectly suggesting you have admitted to speeding). You still have no assurance that the s172 charge will be dropped.

Since you seem unable to get that confirmation I would simply wait for the court to give you a date for your hearing, attend and then make your offer then. You can do this by seeing the prosecutor before you are called into the courtroom or, if that is not possible, making your offer when you asked to confirm your plea.

The offer you have made in your opening paragraph above is she standard reply we would suggest in your circumstances. You need not have gone too deeply into the reasons why you did not respond to the s172 request.

My concern is whether I should now confirm my guilty plea for speeding, or should I continue with my not guilty plea for both and try to negotiate a deal with the court during a hearing. I’m trying to avoid focusing only on the speeding charge and would like the failure to provide charge to be taken into account, given my circumstances.

If the "deal" is accepted the circumstances surrounding the FtP charge are irrelevant. I will be dropped simply in return for your guilty plea to speeding and you will need to offer neither mitigation nor a defence.

At present it does not seem that you have an agreement to drop the s172 charge in return for a guilty plea to speeding and until you get that I would not enter such a guilty plea.

Your alternative is to defend the s172 charge on the basis that it was not "reasonably practical" for you to provide the required information because you did not receive the request and were not aware of it. If you succeed with that defence the speeding prosecution cannot succeed because the police have no evidence that you were driving. If you fail the court will impose a hefty fine and surcharge, costs in the region of £650, six points and an insurance-crippling endorsement which will see you face increased premiums for up to five years.