Speed Cameras (2)

Facing the fine

• Responsibility for completing the Notice of Intended Prosecution is with the owner of the vehicle who must provide information as to who was driving at the time of the offence.
• Owners who cannot identify the driver face a fine of up to £1000 and 3 penalty points on their driving licence.
• If you choose to ignore the notice and were the driver of the vehicle involved, penalties are also much higher for the offence with a maximum fine of £1000 and 3 to 6 penalty points being endorsed on your licence.
• If you don't have the correct personal details on your licence, you should still send it in with the Notice of Intended Prosecution within the 28 day period and it will be returned to you with the penalty points endorsed on it. You can then send it to the DVLA to have the details changed. The Safety Camera Partnerships have websites that can also help you.

Contesting & Appealing against Speeding Fines

Many recommend not to bother contesting or appealing against speeding fines unless you have good grounds. If you get an offer of a fixed penalty and you want to dispute it, it will probably have to go to court to be heard. This may well increase the costs payable by you. However. it is possible to beat a speeding ticket. It is possible that there is a mistake with the vehicle, or the reg no. of the speeding vehicle has been misread, or there may be a technicality that invalidates the speeding ticket.

There are strict guidelines about the siting of speed cameras and the locating, positioning and size of speed limit signs. For instance there must be a speed limit sign on both sides of the road, not just one and there are even regulations as to what colour the poles are! Where these details are incorrect you may have grounds to contest the speeding ticket or to appeal. But do your research first. You don't want to have to spend out even more money unnecessarily. If you've broken the law, sometimes you need to just accept the consequences and be more careful next time! If you get a solicitor / lawyer to help you beat the speeding ticket, this may also cost you money!

In addition to the fine, your insurance costs are likely to increase. Insurers normally ask about any licence endorsements in the last 5 years.

Got a Speeding Ticket - don't want another one?

If you've got a speeding ticket and want to avoid another one, the number one tip has to be "Look out for the speed limits and keep to them!"

It is not illegal to have speed camera detectors. There are two main types: those that are part of a gps satnav system such as Tom Tom or Garmin, or dedicated speed camera detector units. Those that are part of a sat nav system, usually work on the basis of a database and the gps senses when you are close to the cameras in its database and warns you. Dedicated units are able to detect the rays used by the cameras themselves and give you a warning. Jammers are illegal to use.

Information about Parking Fines