Free Traffic Legal Advice

The Situation

My wife has just received a Single Justice Procedure Notice (SJPN) for a significant speeding offence. We are trying to determine the best approach for her plea and mitigation. The speed was extremely high compared to the 30mph limit stated by the police, so we are very concerned about an immediate driving ban.

Case Details (from the Police Witness Statement)

• Normal Limit: National Speed Limit 70 miles per hour (Dual Carriageway).
• Temporary Limit: 30mph (due to roadworks, though no active work was taking place).
• Recorded Speed: 73mph, measured by handheld laser.
• Officer's Notes: The officer states my wife passed six large road traffic signs displaying 30mph. When stopped, she admitted she didn't see the signs or know the limit was in place.

Her Personal Circumstances

• She has held a perfectly clean driving licence for ten years.
• Crucially, she is an Approved Driving Instructor (ADI).

The Signage, Our Evidence & The "Familiarity" Factor

• At the time of the offence, the temporary signage was incredibly confusing. Several local community and Facebook groups had been actively complaining about it.
• Photographic Evidence: We have photos from the actual day showing that some signs were completely empty and signs on the opposite side of the road displayed 50mph. Following public complaints, the council increased the limit to 40mph a few days later. Currently, the road is a confusing mix of 40mph and 50mph signs.
• The Route: The incident happened less than a mile from our home, on a dual carriageway she drives regularly. She was entirely used to the National Speed Limit structure. Due to extreme familiarity, she did not register the temporary changes quickly enough.

Our Dilemma & Questions for the Forum

We plan for her to plead guilty, but we have spoken to a few solicitors and received conflicting advice:

• Solicitor 1: Plead not guilty first to test the waters, then switch to guilty later.
• Solicitor 2: Don't use a lawyer, draft it yourself, and just "make up a reason" to soften it.
• Solicitor 3: Plead guilty, request a mitigation hearing, but leave the written mitigation on the SJP completely blank for now and wait for court.
• Solicitor 4: Plead guilty now and figure out the statements later.

Questions:

• Plea Strategy: One solicitor advised pleading guilty and requesting a court hearing, but submitting no written mitigation on the SJPN, waiting instead to present it in person to avoid a single magistrate banning her behind closed doors. Is this the best strategy?
• Using the Photographic Evidence: Will our photos proving the signs were blank/displaying 50mph help mitigate the offence? We know 73mph is still speeding even in a 50mph zone, but could this evidence convince the magistrates to sentence her based on a higher speed limit band, thereby reducing the severity of the penalty? Should this be argued as a formal 'Special Reasons' matter?
• The 'Autopilot' Factor: Is it wise to mention that the road was less than a mile from home and her extreme familiarity caused her to miss the temporary changes? Or will admitting to 'driving on autopilot' completely undermine her status as a professional driving instructor in the eyes of the magistrates?
• Legal Representation: Given the speed, is it essential that we hire a specialist motoring solicitor to present this evidence at a hearing, or can we present the photographs and mitigation statement ourselves to persuade them towards points instead of a ban?

P.S.
On a personal note, I just want to add that she is an incredibly sensible driver. In all the years I have known her, I have never once seen her exceed the speed limit. Ironically, she is usually the one nagging me if I creep a few miles above the limit.

Thanks,
Ibrahim

On the face of it, for 73 in a 30, the question is not whether she will be banned, but how long she will be banned for. Under the current Magistrates' sentencing guidelines, Band C (7-56 day ban OR 6 points) applies to 51+ in a 30 limit. Under the previous guidelines, the equivalent band was for 51-60, with anything over that beyond beyond the guidelines. The current guidelines also state that for speeds grossly in excess of the limit, a ban exceeding 56 days should be considered.

Your post is one of the best formatted posts we have seen on this forum. If it had contained any useful information, it would have been easy to access.

The first question would generally be whether there is a viable defence. You indicate that there was an issue with the signage. Is there a compliant system of street lighting (lamp posts no more than 183m apart)? What signs were there? How were the 50mph signs on the other side of the dual carriageway visible? Can you evidence what was there?

As regards mitigation if there is no viable defence, the hive mind is generally of the view that absent a genuine emergency, there is very little that can be effective mitigation for speeding. I am generally of the view that the hive mind often does not fully understand the question.

The issue is that sentencing for speeding is generally very prescriptive - paint by numbers, presumably stemming largely from an assumption that the greater the speed above the prevailing limit, the greater the danger posed, and to a lesser extent, the greater the level of criminality or disregard for the law.

If she has no defence, she has no excuse for breaking the law. Any mitigation should be phrased on the basis that she fully accepts that she broke the law and has no excuse for breaking the law, but respectfully invites to consider whether in light of the following <the mitigation> (which does not excuse what she has done), the true seriousness of her criminality is reflected by the numbers - which taken in a vacuum, 73 in a 30 limit paints an exceptionally frightening picture...

If she is seen to argue that it's ok to speed through roadworks when there invariably are no roadworkers to protect, that will not help her cause. What she needs to get across is that there is a very material difference between the circumstances of her crime and that which 73 in a 30 taken in isolation would suggest.

Can you share your photos so others can assess how well (or how badly) they communicate the temporary speed limit?