New speeding penalty points announcement

New speeding penalty points announcement Some V8 members have received an unsolicited email informing them the Government has announced it is increasing the penalty points for speeding from 3 to 6 points. The email was from a publisher offering a guide to ways of avoiding a speeding fine. What is the situation? Misleading announcement at a recent DfT press conference The source of the press reports was a very misleading press conference held by the Department for Transport and an announcement of graduated fixed penalties for speeding offences which was very badly reported in the newspapers. The power to have graduated fixed penalties was contained in the Road Safety Act 2006, but has not been implemented. This proposal for its implementation was contained in a lengthy consultation paper which was launched at the recent press conference. Download a copy here So these measures are not yet in force and will not be for some time, and may be introduced in a different form depending on how much notice they take of their consultees. It seems the minister was being disingenuous because many believe he is perfectly well aware of the true situation, but preferred to go for a bigger impact by not explaining the full picture. We do have to remember we are dealing with politicians here. (1.12.08) Text of speech given by the Minister on 14th October 2008 but note the footnote "This speech represented existing departmental policy but the words may not have been the same as those used by the Minister! More Publishers offering clever guides to getting off speeding fines There are a number of organisations that will sell you letters "guaranteed" to get you off speeding tickets. Thos one of our members has seen tell you to say you do not know who was driving the car, it could have been one of three people and that you give their details and say you have made every effort to determine which one it was, but unsuccessfully. Then they say you should only claim this if it is true, of course! The hope is that the police will give up at that point, but the danger is they may not and they may manage to collect enough evidence to prosecute you for perverting the course of justice,! One couple were fined £11,000 and other people have been imprisoned for that offence in connection with speeding tickets. See ruse backfires The guides also suggest you make a challenge claiming the police officer was not operating the camera equipment correctly or may have been pointing his equipment at another car. One of our members with experience of magistrates courts feels this challenge is unlikely to help because if the officer comes to court, he will probably say he was pointing it at your front number plate, as he has been trained to do, and is confident he took an accurate reading. If the court believes him, the fine and costs will be considerably more than the £60 fine and possibly the points will be higher too, depending on the speed. There are also challenges over the accuracy of some of the equipment, and at least one legal firm sells skeleton arguments to use in such cases. Road traffic is seen as a profitable growth area in the legal profession, and lawyers squeezed on legal aid are moving into it. Nick Freeman, aka Mr Loophole, was there first and is very good - for those few who can afford him. Be very careful about following any advice from such firms, some of it is quite inaccurate and some may encourage you to lie when submitting the forms, which could result in a heavy fine or imprisonment. By all means take your case to court if you are confident you are innocent, but do not risk perjuring yourself, and be aware that if you lose, the penalties are likely to be much higher than the fixed penalty. V8 Register - MG Car Club - the leading group for MG V8 enthusiasts at www.v8register.net