I received a Notice of Intended Prosecution on Saturday, 9th April. It was dated the 8th April. The alleged offence ((Speed 48 mph) Exceeding speed limit - goods vehicle) took place on the 7th January on the A420, Tubney (079). I know that these notices are supposed to be issued within 2 weeks of an alleged offence, but also that extra time is allowed for the police to locate the driver. Does anyone know how long the police have before sending out a Notice? Or is there no time linit at all?
Daxi, thanks. According to the link, the 14 days applies to the registered keeper, not the driver. I was driving through an agency for a chilled distribution company, so I suppose it will be worth my while to check how long it was before they recived the enquiry. However, the firm must have accepted the NIP otherwise I wouldn’t have received ‘my’ NIP.
I normally stick rigidly to the 40mph rule, but on this occasion I had a 3 hour plus wait before receiving my run to a DC in Chepstow and a backhaul from the juice place near the Royal Mint. This led to me getting perilously close to the 15 hour limit. In future I’ll just have to call the agency or the firm and tell them I’m stopping and ask them to send a replacement driver.
If I’m on a relatively long stretch of single carriageway road in open country, I set the cruise so the needle is just below the figure ‘40’. I take care when going down hills, as it’s easy to drift to a higher speed. One of the roles I adopt when driving is that of a machine minder - the artic being the machine. Like any machine minder, I monitor its progess by glancing frequently at the dials, in this case the speedo.
That’s one of the pleasures of motorway driving when the traffic is light. I just set the cruise on the limit and then pretty well all I have to do is to check the mirrors.
I can keep it at 40, but it seems to pee a hell of a lot of people off.
What is better, ■■■■ a few car drivers off or potentially lose your license/job etc etc? It’s 40 all the way for me on a single-carriageway road, end of story.
If I’m feeling generous, I might pull in and let my followers pass. The trouble with this technique is that you can wait for ages to rejoin the carriageway. A better way is to wait for a roundabout and then go right round it and let a few people get on their way.
I’m not too bothered about annoying people behind me though. The law is clear, and I’m not going to risk my licence. With this last escapade I’ll be on 6 points, and 6 points is usually the upper limit for firms recruiting full-time permanent drivers.
I had a look at this link and in one section it states in bold letters “Never produce your driving licence at the road side”, i’ve heard this before but why?
are you sure it is the vehicle you were driving, ask the company for the tachograph or a photocopy of it then check that the speed was correct.
a driver has just got off with a speeding offence by proving that he wasn’t speeding at the time the camera took the picture. (yesterdays mail on sunday)
I can keep it at 40, but it seems to pee a hell of a lot of people off.
What is better, [zb] a few car drivers off or potentially lose your license/job etc etc? It’s 40 all the way for me on a single-carriageway road, end of story.
I’d rather have my licence too, but for example from my own experience driving up the A140 into Norwich from Diss or Kings Lynn to Ely on the A10, the queues behind can be unbelievable.
I do pull over when I can as well, but often you get horns and hand signals (from LHD) for your effort.
I am going through exactly the same I got flashed on A17 doing 53 on 10th March, got an NIP dated 29th March sent to firm I was driving for, great thinks I they are outside the 14 day limit , however the wording on the NIP says that the alleged offence “MAY” be dealt with as a FIXED PENALTY to which the the 14 days rule doesn’t apply , so I intend to ring them up tomorrow and ask them is it a fixed penalty or not as stating it “may” be dealt with as a fixed penalty is a bit ambiguous. So if it is a fixed penalty forget the 14 day rule if it isn’t you are in the clear, what does appear to be clear though, to me anyway, is that they have 14 days plus a couple to allow for postage to issue an NIP to the owner of the vehicle, who then has 28 days to respond with the drivers details, they then have as long as it takes to track the driver down.
they’re the ones who know the letter of the law and how to use it to prevent your being charged, tailored to your individual circumstances (i.e. who you were driving for, how long things must be dealt with within etc).
Shame you’re not a biker - they can get the same services for free from rider support
I am a biker I have had a bike for the last 36 years (not the same one ) currently ride a Yamaha Exup have registered with rider support thanks for the link
Andyroo:
…but for example from my own experience driving up the A140 into Norwich from Diss or Kings Lynn to Ely on the A10, the queues behind can be unbelievable.
I understand that fully, mate. When I drive from M6 J16 towards Crewe on the A500, at busy times even only a couple of minutes since I’ve left the motorway, the queue is so long as to be further than you can actually see in the mirror. Embarassing? Yes. But it’s your license and your job that can be at stake!
Well thats me blown out of the water, just rung the court and they did send out the NIP within 14 days to the registered keeper of the vehicle, a leasing company, who then forwarded it to the leasor, ie., the company I was driving for, so I will have to take it on the chin, and I will apologise now to everyone for holding them up I daren’t get any more points and with the crackdown the law is having on us all at the moment I don’t suppose I will be the only one.
