Speeding Offences
Speeding used to be straightforward; a policeman saw you driving too fast, pulled you over and gave you a ticket. All this has changed though and now, getting pulled over is a far less common occurrence.
Instead, it’s much more normal to receive a Section 172 notice requesting that as the registered keeper of the vehicle that you provide the details of the driver at a certain time and place.
You’ve been caught for speeding modern style.
By law, it is your duty under law to provide the details of the driver. If you fail to do so, then you receive 6 points on your licence.
Providing the name of the driver isn’t an admission of guilt, just a legal requirement so that the correct driver is prosecuted, fined, etc.
Most low speed speeding offences only receive 3 points and a fine, often dispensed by means of a fixed penalty notice, meaning that you don’t even have to attend court, just plead guilty and the points are added to your licence.
Additionally, if this is your first speeding offence in any 3 year period, then if you were not excessively speeding, you may (at the discretion of the police force involved) be offered a driver awareness course. These courses typically cost £80 – 120 depending on where it’s being held, but you don’t get the penalty points on your licence.
In 2014-15 over 1 million drivers in the UK attended these courses.
One common way that motorists used to try to get out of naming themselves as the driver, was to name a ‘foreign’ friend who has now returned to their home country…… and you have lost their address and contact details. It’s probably not much of a surprise to hear that this little ruse seldom worked back in the day and never works now, because there are several methods that the police use to entrap you.
Firstly, if your foreign friend was driving your car, it’s your responsibility to make sure they are insured, otherwise you can be prosecuted for “permitting no insurance”… which not unsurprisingly carries 6 penalty points on your licence. Also, with the popularity of social media, it’s quite easy for them to attempt to track down your friend themselves and if there is no track of them online, they might rightfully conclude that they don’t exist.
You could soon find yourself being prosecuted for perverting the course of justice which carries…… a prison sentence….. much more severe than a few points for speeding.
The same can be said for ‘giving points to your spouse’ which allegedly happens far more frequently that you might imagine.
Famously Chris Huhne MP & Vicky Pryce a successful economist were both sentenced to 8 months prison for exactly this offence in 2013.
You tend to hear apocryphal stories about people giving partners their points, but its very rare that it ever makes the news and this case was surely to set an example because everyone was doing it??!!
Giving points to others still goes on a lot. For the breadwinner in a family it’s a no brainer to keep points off their licences as much as possible, even if it’s illegal.
Perverting the course of justice is serious shit….. a good friend of mine went to prison for attempting to mislead the court….. and that was all over a relatively minor offence.
So easy to fall foul of the law and get into more trouble than you were before. Tread carefully!
Speeding will always be a contentious issue. But with modern technology, there is little reason to be caught unawares as a driver.
There are enough devices available to warn you of potential hazards….. I am always amazed when i see people not using them.
Some drivers totally disregard the law, tailgate people driving legally and intimidate law abiding motorists. I have an insurance black box which monitors my driving, so always stay within the limit. So many drivers look at me like I am causing them an inconvenience on purpose when all I am doing is obeying the law!
With a whole generation of young drivers forced to drive within the limits, and lorries being limited to 40mph on single carriageway A roads, the government is succeeding is slowing the roads down by stealth means. It’s quite clever when you think about it.
Good point, if the new generation of drivers are restricted my cost, it has the effect of slowing all journeys down. Or increasing driver frustration?
Speeding will never stop until technology is used to limit car speed in dangerous areas. The technology exists, it’s used in motorsport on a regular basis, Le Mans for example, where it’s triggered automatically to slow cars past accidents. Our roads could use the same tech in dangerous areas.
I hate to throw a spanner in the works of your fab idea….. but who’s gonna pay all the fines and attend the speed awareness courses if we all automatically obey the limits where we are currently getting caught speeding? I think the government actually need us to keep speeding…… otherwise they will need to find the money from elsewhere.
If it could be done and would actually save lives, it begs the question as to why it isn’t?? No one could legitimately object surely?
I like the Portuguese solution of traffic lights that turn red if you drive too fast.