Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hello,

In august 2024, I receieved a NIP for the offence of 'Drive on motorway, failed to comply with red/green arrow/lane closure signals on the M6 from staffordshire police.  My speed was recorded at 39mph.

When I received the NIP I was dismayed. I was driving on the motorway in the first lane of the motorway when I remember seeing some arrows above the first lane of the motorway indicating I should move over to the next lane. As the motorway was heavily congested I wasn’t able to move to the second lane straight away but managed to move across to it.
a few hundred yards after this I noticed the lane I was currently in now had a red x above it and I needed to move over. Again because of the congestion it took me a bit of time to move over but when it was safe to do so I did.

I checked the pictures of the offence (attached) and indeed there was a car and truck in the lane next to me and also a vehicle behind me.  I admitted to being the driver and opted to take the matter to court instead of accepting the fixed penalty notice (I have already dont a motorway awareness course for speeding in the last 3 years)

on 18/02/2024 I receieved a SJPN.  I intend to plead not guilty and take the matter to court. I am posting here to get some general advice on how to prepare my defence and how to proceed. The SJPN has a deadline of 11 March to make my plea.

I have a suspicion that you may be found guilty.

The law is quite clear: you must not proceed beyond a gantry in a lane where the red arrow is displayed. I am not ware of any exceptions being provided.

As I understand it, the only alternative if you find yourself unable to move to an open lane is to stop.

I would like to know how long the arrows and red X was displayed for

One of the images you have uploaded says: "Time Since Red X Set: 0 days 0 hrs 30 mins 8 secs"

Why did you not move over when the white arrows told you to do so?

The photographs not only show your vehicle in the lane closed by the Red X, they also show that the lane outside yours appears to have spaces that you could have moved over into, it might have been a bit tight but the other vehicles would no doubt have adjusted their positioning. Driving passed the Red X is the equivalent of driving through a red light. I think you have every chance of being found guilty of the offence, and you would be well advised to plead guilty, if you are found guilty after a trial not only will you have the fine to pay but also prosecution costs of at least £650.

3 points. Same as if you plead not guilty and are convicted - although pleading guilty will reduce the fine and surcharge by 1/3 and the prosecution costs by about £530.

I’m not sure why any of that would be disclosed to you. The offence is not “driving past a red x 10 seconds after it came on”, so what is the relevance of how long it had been displayed for?

I’m not actually sure if it was one or two gantries that displayed the arrows, nor am I sure if they were in the first lane, second lane or both lanes.

Surely there should be a record of how long and which lanes the white arrows were displayed.

But if this isn’t recorded or logged then the judge would simply find me
Guilty based on one photo of my car in the red X lane, with traffic behind me and next to me. Despite me saying in court that the arrows were not clearly displayed in both lanes and did not give me enough time to safely move over before the red x was displayed

I appreciate the advice and input from everybody, I will decide in the next few days which way to plead