How Do You Know if You Will Spend Time for a Speeding Ticket

Whether you think speed cameras are a tool to inspire safer driving or only at that place to line the government's pockets, they are here to stay.

If y'all don't desire to find yourself faced with a punishment discover, and the hefty speeding fine and penalty points on your licence that come with it, it's worth understanding the consequences of getting defenseless speeding, how tickets are enforced and how yous can appeal them if you think there's been a mistake.

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How speeding fines work

Exceeding the speed limit by likewise much is illegal. If y'all're caught by a speed photographic camera or police officer, any of the post-obit could happen:

Y'all may exist given a exact warning. This may happen if an officeholder stops you on the route.
You may exist asked to nourish a speed-sensation form, which you will exist expected to pay for. This may not be an option on echo offences.
Y'all may be prosecuted.

How much is a speeding fine?

If you are prosecuted, your fine and punishment will depend on how fast you were driving. You will be put into one of these bands:

Band system speeding penalties

*Drivers will receive penalization points or a disqualification.

Band A - you will be put in this band if you lot were between ane and 9mph over the legal limit. Yous will be issued with a fixed penalty notice (speeding ticket), which constitutes iii penalty points on your licence and a fine betwixt 25% and 75% of your weekly income. If in that location are other factors, such as driving near a school or driving a heavy-goods vehicle, you lot may need to appear in court and face a larger speeding fine.
Band B - you lot will be put in this ring if you were between xi and 20mph over the legal limit. Y'all may need to appear in court where you would be fined between 75% and 125% of your weekly income. Between four and half dozen penalty points will be added to your licence or you would be banned from driving for between seven and 28 days.
Band C - you volition be put in this band if yous were 21mph or more than over the legal limit. You may need to announced in court and face up a fine anywhere between 125% and 175% of your weekly income. Yous will exist banned from driving for seven to 56 days or go six penalty points on your licence.
Other factors can button you into bands D, Eastward or F. Scroll down to find out more than well-nigh these bands.
£ane,000 is still the maximum speeding fine unless you were driving on a state highway - in this case, the maximum fine increases to £two,500.
Certain factors, such as having no previous convictions, adept character and if you lot were speeding as a outcome of a 18-carat emergency, can reduce your fine.

Factors that can push button you into bands D, E or F include prior convictions, offences committed while on bail, poor road and weather atmospheric condition, driving a big vehicle, towing a caravan or trailer, carrying passengers or a heavy load, driving for hire, testify of unacceptable driving over the speed limit, location and if there was a high level of traffic or pedestrians in the vicinity.

Band D - you lot will be fined betwixt 200% and 300% of your weekly income.
Band E - you will be fined between 300% and 500% of your weekly income.
Band F - you will be fined between 500% and 700% of your weekly income.

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What happens if you're caught speeding?

The owner of the car will be sent a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP), detailing the offence. Plus, a document called a Section 172 notice.

Whether you concord with the NIP or not, within 28 days yous must consummate the Department 172 discover declaring who was driving the car at the fourth dimension of the offence.

If you were stopped past a police force officer, they can give you a verbal alarm of prosecution and a NIP is not required if the offence was office of a road traffic accident.

What happens if you receive a speeding ticket?

One time the NIP is returned, you'll receive a provisional offer of a Stock-still Penalty Notice (FPN). Yous tin either pay the fine and have the punishment points, or competition the fine in court.

To uphold the fine, a courtroom only needs to evidence y'all were speeding. Saying that you lot did not intend to speed, didn't realise you were speeding or you only exceeded the limit briefly won't hold h2o.

What happens if yous're prosecuted for speeding?

If you accept eight or more points on your licence, or you were driving mode above the speed limit, the police may choose to prosecute you in court.

In this eventuality, yous will be sent a court summons. The constabulary has up to six months to effect it.

How to competition a speeding ticket

If you disagree with your speeding charge, yous can contest it. A fine is unlikely to be overturned unless you lot can show ane of the post-obit:

You were not speeding.
You weren't driving when the offence took identify.
There was no proper observe of the speed limit.
The vehicle caught speeding wasn't yours.
Your car was stolen.

Some police forces have informal appeals for speeding tickets. These should take the form of messages that particular why you believe you lot shouldn't have received a speeding notice.

If your local police does not accept informal appeals or your appeal was rejected, you can launch a formal appeal by requesting a court hearing. Y'all can do this by completing the relevant part of your Fixed Penalisation Notice.

It's worth seeking legal communication before you commence on a court hearing, to detect out if you're probable to win and the consequences of losing.

To read more nearly contesting speeding and parking tickets, run into our guide on cars and consumer rights .

Contesting a speeding offence in courtroom

These are the steps you lot may need to get through.

i. Plea and mitigation form

If a legal expert thinks you lot stand a chance of overturning the ticket, and so you'll need to complete and render a plea and mitigation form.

You can either plead guilty with mitigating circumstances or not guilty.

Guilty with mitigating circumstances - If you aren't facing a driving ban, y'all can usually plead guilty by post. In your statement of mitigation you'll exist able to outline why you were speeding and why this warrants a more lenient penalisation.

This information volition be presented in court and may persuade the magistrate to impose a lighter penalization.

Non guilty - At the speeding charge hearing you'll plead non guilty. You lot'll then exist asked if you lot wish to phone call whatsoever witnesses and your case will be scheduled for a trial.

Yous or your legal representative volition attend the trial to defend your plea.

Sometimes you'll be given the choice to move through the initial hearing process by post, in which case you won't need to attend the hearing.

2. Request evidence of the speeding offence

You tin can ask for the police and prosecutor's evidence of the offence before the hearing. This can be helpful if you tin't recollect who was driving, believe an error was made identifying the vehicle or you think a mistake was fabricated when your speed was recorded.

You or your legal counsel can base your defence force on these findings.

three. The speeding offence court appearance

At the trial, the prosecution must prove yous were the commuter of the vehicle at the time the offence took place and your speed exceeded the limit for that stretch of road.

iv. Guilty or non guilty

If you're found guilty:

yous can be fined up to £1,000 (£2,500 if you lot were speeding on a state highway)
betwixt three and six punishment points can be added to your licence
yous may exist disqualified from driving if you were more than 30mph over the limit.

If you're found not guilty then no further activity volition be taken.

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Speeding tickets in Scotland and Northern Republic of ireland

Speeding ticket enforcement in Scotland and Northern Republic of ireland works in much the aforementioned way as it does in England and Wales, merely there are some differences:

In Scotland, speeding offences are reported to the procurator fiscal for prosecution. Any not-payment will usually be referred to the district court.
Northern Irish drivers who commit a speeding offence in United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland are able to accept endorsement points on their licence by applying to the DVLA for a GB counterpart licence. This means the driver can take reward of the fixed penalization organization and won't need to go to court.

Speeding tickets in the Eu

Since the Britain left the EU, local authorities in the Eu can no longer send fines to Britain drivers who are defenseless by speed cameras on the continent.

This is due to the end of the Cross Border Enforcement directive, which was introduced in 2015 and immune EU countries to impose driving penalties of cars registered in other Eu nations.

The end of enforcement works both ways. Uk authorities will besides no longer be able to prosecute EU drivers once they've returned home.

If you're defenseless speeding on the continent past the police, you lot tin can still exist issued an on-the-spot fine (or worse, depending on the severity of the offence).

How to avert speeding fines

The easiest and safest way to avoid speeding fines is to obey the speed limit. Only as cars get more than powerful and the ride more stable, it can be easy to creep over the legal limit - especially on roads you are familiar with.

Dedicated sat navs, sabbatum nav apps and some on-board car computers can warning you when you break the speed limit, prompting you to slow down and stay safe.

These same devices can also flag when you're nearing a speed photographic camera, giving you fourth dimension to cheque your speed and ensure you aren't fined. Having advance alert and then you can cheque your speed hasn't crept over the limit is useful, equally the regime are under no obligation to signpost whether speed cameras are in operation on a road.

It'south important that you purchase a sabbatum nav that's going to assistance back up your driving. Nosotros've come across sat navs that give disruptive directions and are hard to follow, which makes driving stressful. Our expert tests reveal the best sat navs.

If your car has prowl command, y'all can set it to a maintain a steady speed to aid you lot stay within the legal limits. By setting your cruising speed to 70mph before hitting the state highway or 30 to 40mph for driving effectually town, you can maintain a steady speed without needing to constantly glance at your speedometer.

You tin can still accelerate past your limit if needs exist, but in one case yous end the prowl control will suit back to your set speed.

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How Do You Know if You Will Spend Time for a Speeding Ticket

Source: https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/new-and-used-cars/article/speeding-tickets-explained-auRUh9H3DFHz