how to deal with parking tickets

2009-08-03T08:14:00.000-07:00

Dealing with speeding tickets

How to contest a speeding ticket

If you want to contest a speeding charge, you must return the completed Section 172 notice within 28 days. Even if you are sure you were not speeding, you must still respond and provide your name as the driver.

Acceptable defences to a speeding charge include:

You were not speeding.

It was not you driving when the speeding happened.

There was not proper notice of the speed limit.

The speeding vehicle caught on camera has been misidentified.

To contest a speeding charge or fine

Step one - complete and return the speeding notice

When you receive the Notice of Intended Prosecution, return the Section 172 notice within 28 days, giving details of the driver at the time of the alleged offence.

Step two - Conditional Offer of a Fixed Penalty Notice

If the police are going to send a Conditional Offer of a Fixed Penalty, they will normally do so shortly after receiving your Section 172 notice.

Conditional offers have no official system for appeals, though, some police forces do accept informal letters of appeal, especially if the speeding ticket has been issued in error (such as the vehicle having been reported stolen at the time of the alleged speeding offence). If this is possible in your case, write to the address provided explaining why you believe you shouldn't have received the speeding notice (check the individual police force’s guidelines for details).

Not all police forces have an informal appeals procedure

Step three - speeding fine or court appearance

If the police force issuing the speeding notice has no informal appeals option, or if it rejects your speeding ticket appeal, you will have to either pay the speeding fine or formally contest the speeding offence.

To do this, you'll need to request a court hearing by completing the relevant part of the Fixed Penalty Notice, and attach a statement of mitigation. Send this to the address on the 'request court hearing' slip and you will receive a summons. But before you do this, you should seek legal advice to understand your chances of winning your speeding case, and the possible consequences of losing it. http://tinyurl.com/l8wg8o