Nick-T

Dan:

I would say don't mention anything about motoring journalism.
By all means tell them you work for a mag, but don't tell them it's a car mag.
In their eyes, you are writing something that loads of drivers will see and should be setting a better example.
I found this out the hard way when I renewed my car insurance. Apparantly journalists and in particular motoring journalists pay higher insurance premiums Maybe they think we sit with a laptop on the motorway or something


I got caught doing 46 in a 40 a few months back, on a dual carriageway at 3:45 in the morning (I love this job ), luckily it was in Essex and they have one of those driver training scheme things where you go and sit in a classroom for a few hours, get told how silly and irresponsible you are for going 6mph too fast in the middle of the night on a deserted dual carriageway and then let you off the points.

I doubt you'll get a ban, I would expect just a chunky fine if you already have a clean license.

Best look where you're going in future

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

cheers nick, although i have just sealed the envelope with pretty much what i typed lol

ah well, at least the camera van didnt get me about 5 seconds before when i exited the roundabout sideways eh

Nick-T

You gotta love my crap timing.

You'll probably be fine, I just saw it as another chance for them to "make an example" of someone.

I'm off to do my speeding course on the 19th, I'm saving my ranting for the sniveling little weasel they've got lecturing people on the day

dojj

iTrader: (3)

Firstly I would like to apologise for not attending court today, but I am away with work and could not reschedule to a later date.
I am a staff writer/journalist for Fast Ford, the UK’s biggest and best-selling Ford tuning magazine and my job means that I have to travel all over the UK attending photo shoots and shows etc – so if I cannot drive, I cannot work and will lose my job.
My only defence is that I do not know the area that I was driving in and that a driving ban would have serious consequences on my career and make my home life difficult as my wife will shortly be giving birth to our first child.
I acknowledge that my actions could have had a great effect in the event of an accident, and for that, I am sorry.

thats whay you wrote

what you should be wroting are along these lines:

Firstly I would like to apologise for not attending court today as my wife will shortly be giving birth to our first child. I am normally away with work and could have had to reschedule that to a later date due to these circumstances.
I am a staff writer/journalist for the UK’s biggest and best-selling Ford magazine and my job means that I have to travel all over the UK attending photo shoots, shows etc – so if I cannot drive, I cannot work and will lose my job.
My only defence is that I had a momentary lapse of concentration and a driving ban would have serious consequences on my career and make my home life difficult, especially with the imminent birth of my child.
I acknowledge that my actions could have had a great effect in the event of an accident, and for that, I am sorry.
I have had, up until now, a clean driving license and accept that it will now be tarnished with several penalty points and I will spend the next 5 years suffering for an unchararteristic moment of law breaking.

etc etc

play to the fact that your mrs is about to drop her first sprog and thats why you aren't going to be attending, not because your job is more important that turning up to court, the fact that you are pleading leaniancy with the points is also going to be better than telling them that a ban will fuck your ife up

one of our drivers already had 3 points when he was caught doing 75 in a 50
the judge gave him another 8 sut to make sure he wouldn't fuck up again
he got done for speeding again last septmber and is now getting his brother to drop him off because he didn't learn his lesson

good luck

CalibreDan

I know of someone that got off a fine with a cracker.

IIRC, in court it's their job to prove that you got the letter in time, and if it's not sent recorded delivery there's not much they can do.

Obviously "I didn't get it in time" wouldn't hold up very well but if you get a neighbour or two to say there's often a problem with late post in the area you're on to a winner. There's a couple of case stories like that on http://www.pepipoo.com too

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

oh well, its all too late to do anything, im prepared to take it etc as obv i done it.

dojj, the isnt just about to pop out the sprog either, shes still got about 4.5 months to go, but that counts as 'several weeks' in my book

david

Most you'll get is 6 points and a fine.

I got done for 56 in a 30 - 5 points and Ł360 fine.

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

that link lynne posted up says 4 or 5 mate

what do points make......

hope the fine aint that much tho, i got no money

dojj

iTrader: (3)

but you've still got to take her to the hospital and stuff haven't you
don't forget that she can't drive and her ankles will be swollen and she won't be able to use the buss etc

try the sympathy vote, if women can get off murder charges by saying "i was a bit pissed off and my pmt had kicked in" they i can't see why it won't work for you, just say you were in a hurry to get home as she wasn't feeling well or soemthing

Crowder

As i said in leadfoots topic i was caught at 50 in a 30 and got 3 points on the spot!

MarkN

To be honest I would have thought twice about posting the above. If you were driving like this and you keep mentioning Future Publishing and the fact it was a car owned by the company you could be accused of bringing the firm into disrepute.

All it would take is the wrong person to read this "confession" and you could potentially find yourself on a diciplinary at work, let alone the speeding fine.

Nasty

Alps Pacino

My mate racked up 12 points and on his final 3 he went to coart and pleaded guilty but said he needed to drive for his job which he did. End result was banned for 6 months, they dont giv a fuck about peoples jobs or feeding there family its burn the speeder at the nearest stake unfortunatly

Benni

Anything like this will make it worse I reckon. Or they will just say 'Should of thought about that before you broke the law'.

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

i bet you read the daily star and take every word of that as gospel too?

i was simply trying to make light of the subject and take the piss somewhat...

but i guess we cant even have a laugh on the internet these days as someone will grass you up with no evidence what-so-ever and you will do time for it too

Ginge !

depends on a few things, doing 120 in a cossie the judge is not gonna belive is the first time,, and YES they will mention the car if its a highspeed performace car


but you can get away with it if theres good proof./ real mitigating circumstances


saying your missus cant use public transport aint one of em as it shows you need knocking down a peg or 2

if you got a child with special needs then thats dofferent

btw i had to take my missus to the hospital via public transport all the time and we had to take her home on the bus with my little one,,,, i belive LOTS of people have to do it aswell,,,,,

may as well use the excuse you was speeding cause you was late for work

Ginge !

oh btw i was done 30 miles from home for doing 64 in a 30 zone with no licence and no insurance and i asked for my motorcycle entitlement to be kept blah blah and said i was selling the car and other loads of bollox and i got 6 points and 100 quid fine


so they dont always screw you over


though i DID get told that if you can plead guilty by letter they aint gonna ban youand if that option aint there then they are calling you in to look into banning you


and the courts also have you ENTIRE driving history on file,, the 3 years thing dont apply when going court as unfair as it is

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

it said on the bottom of the form that if the judge decides to revoke the license then the case will be adjourned until a later date that you HAVE to attend court.

but i dont think it will go that far

i hope

as for using public transport, its a fucking joke, so unles they make it 100% better, they can fook off!

oh, plus it costs me TWICE as much PER DAY to get public transport to work!

cossie4i+

iTrader: (15)

Well it don't cost me anything to use the train

Steve.

dojj

iTrader: (3)

that's why he should highlight the fact that this was a simple mistake that will not happen again s he vaules hi license and job a great deal

Ginge !

you can only be banned when told in court,,, avoids the " sorry i never got that letter" excuse

think its the same as prison too cant get a custodial unless in court wheres if its a fine you can plead guilty by letter but not sure about the second one, the first is true though so if you DONT get the send the letter off and state circumstances its cause your due to get a ban

PhilM

Unlucky Dan!

So...the NIP I received in November that I filed in bin is now technically void? As well over 6months have elapsed....anyone claify this?

Cheers

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

Phil, dunno mate but good luck!

i think its 6 months from the 28 day period you have to send it back, or when they received it etc.

ill let you know next week

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

Well, got the result yesterday...

wife rings me up saying she 'accidentally' opened my post

anyway, she tells me all it says is that i have a Ł155 fine and Ł35 costs - so Ł190 all in, didnt say anything on the letter at all adn then goes on to tell me how lucky i am etc etc - i says, you sure there is no points etc as that sounds a bit odd, she says no, nothing....

i think fuck me, let off lightly...

anyhow, 2 mins later she rings back to tell me that she looked at my license, and that i now have 5 points added

WOUNDER - after i though it was just a fine

oh well, what do points make??

i got about Ł90 saved up so far, so got 2 weeks to find another oner

StuarTurbo

Pay it on drip , most courts let you do that , regular installments of Ł10 per week for 19 weeks

i got a similar fine for 98 on the motorway , how can they charge you Ł35 for opening a letter then picking a number out a hat tho ?

nilrem

in all fairness, what did your mate expect? he pleaded guilty and had 9 points on his license... thats an average of 3points a year...

the problem is when people use their work as an excuse to the points... in the laws eyes, if you need your car for work, then you should have been more careful, simple as... i really hate people who wont own up to what they did - i.e. speeding... granted the police can be arsey when it comes to the limits, but when you think that a head to head collision at 40mph is a closing speed of 80mph... thats worse than going into a brick wall at the national speed limit! you can see why they can be arsey at times!


gutted mate about the points! you will have to be more careful next time...

smitsturbo

i got a fine years ago for Ł500 & i still pay Ł5 every 2 weeks

Mike Rainbird

iTrader: (3)

Doesn't seem much of a "result" to me .

foreigneRS

not really, the brick wall doesn't have a crumple zone on it

shit for you dan. speeding is a bloody expensive mistake to make or habit to have these days. understandable in some places at certain times, but not always necessary to be punished so harshly

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

ok, Outcome for want of a better phrase

Nick, well i done the deed, i was doing 50 in a 30 all be it unknown to me that it was a 30 duel carrageway, but thats no excuse.

i admitted to it straight away, and i hold my hands up - do the crime, pay the time

Chip

iTrader: (3)

5 points, ouch!!!

RWD_cossie_wil

iTrader: (9)

If you had attended court and told them this, and made a case for being a responsible road user and it was a genuine mistake etc, but still held your hands up you would have prob got away with 3 or 4 points, when people don't attend they just get the magistrates guidline punishment as you show no mitigation and it looks like you are not bothered.....

ALWAYS worth turning up to court smartly dressed , your image and character and how iot appears to the Beak goes a long way in them deciding your punishment - If you look and act like a scrote you will get treated like one

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

didnt even get a fookin prize

tracktoy

get more points then

unlucky mate- better luck next time

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

first line of the mitigations was 'sorry i could not attend court today, but i am away with work and could not reschedule'

it was the TOTB qualifying at brunters lol

anyway fuck it, its done now...