Speeding 

The type of penalties (fines) you get depend on things like:

• Whether you plead guilty or not guilty
• How far above the speed limit you were
• How many points you already have on your licence.

Possible outcomes include:

1. A fine of £100 and 3 penalty points on your licence
2. Attending (and paying for) a speeding awareness course
3. A larger fine, between 3 and 6 points on your licence, or a short driving ban
4. A driving ban (if you have built up 12 or more penalty points within three years)
5. A permanent driving ban if you have built up 6 points in the first 2 years after passing your driving test.

If you decide to get a lawyer’s guidance, we can skilfully argue for things like:

• There was a medical emergency that caused you to speed
• There was a faulty speed camera or speed detection device
• The speed limit wasn’t clear (no road signs or poor street lighting)
• The Notice of Intended Prosecution wasn’t given to you within 14 days
• You weren’t charged within 6 months of the date of the alleged offence
• The speed limit didn’t apply to the part of the road you were travelling on
• The officer conducting the speed enforcement wasn’t trained to the proper standards.

If your case doesn't qualify for a Fixed Penalty Offer, or if you fail to accept a Fixed Penalty Offer in time, court proceedings will likely be started against you.

You may need to plead guilty or not guilty. If you plead not guilty, the court will list your case for a trial. This is where we can prepare your defence and come to court to support you.

If you’ve been caught by a speed camera, you should receive a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) and Section 172 Notice within 14 days of the alleged offence.

A Section 172 Notice requires the registered keeper of the vehicle to provide the identity of the driver at the time of the alleged offence. You’ll need to complete the required information and return the document to the police within 28 days.

Depending on the speed alleged and the speed limit, you’ll either get a Fixed Penalty Notice or court proceedings will begin. This is usually by way of a Single Justice Procedure Notice within six months of the alleged offence.

A Fixed Penalty Notice will include an offer of penalty points and may include an offer to complete a speed awareness course as an alternative to accepting the penalty points. You can’t be offered a speed awareness course if you’ve completed one in the last three years.

If you’ve been stopped by the police, you’ll be given a verbal warning of an intended prosecution for the offence. As a result, you won’t get a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP and Section 172 Notice) in the post. Instead, you’ll receive a Fixed Penalty Notice or court proceedings will be started against you.

You could be disqualified from driving if you build up 12 or more penalty points within a period of three years. This is called a “totting up” disqualification.

If you tot-up 12 or more penalty points within a three-year period (measured from the date of the offences), you’re liable to be disqualified from driving for at least six months.

If you receive a Fixed Penalty Offer, which if you accept will take you to 12 penalty points or over, you can’t accept the offer.

If you receive a Single Justice Procedure Notice and confirm a Guilty Plea, you need to review the points the court could impose against you. If there’s a possibility that the court could impose an amount of penalty points which would take you to 12 penalty points or over, you must attend court to try and avoid a disqualification being imposed against you.

You’ll need attend court and try to persuade the court to allow you to continue driving with 12 or more penalty points on your licence.

The court will only allow you to continue driving and choose not to impose a six-month driving disqualification if you can prove that such a disqualification would cause you exceptional hardship.

Simply losing your job won’t satisfy grounds of exceptional hardship. We can help you establish whether you could meet the strict criteria around exceptional hardship.