Good afternoon,

I would like some advice on what to do once a speeding ticket has been paid but then a driver may have evidence that could get the ticket quashed.

I have found out recently that our group fleet office has been submitting driver details for speeding tickets, bypassing my company process, and for which subsequently the drivers have been receiving the notices and paying the fines.

Some of the tickets I have found out were for the stated offence of 'exceeding the speed limit for a goods vehicle' and for which the drivers have already paid the fines but I know we could have contested these as the vehicles are not goods vehicles, although the drivers apparently did not know any better and paid up.

We have the vehicle V5s and photographic evidence of the vehicle interiors clearly showing the vehicles not to be goods vehicles,

to whom could we approach to have the fines and points quashed, would it start with the NIP issuer?

Thank you very much

Your company policy does not stump legislation.

Exactly what vehicles are they.

What does it say exactly on the V5c to the class of the vehicle.

When your employer receives a Section 172 notice (request for driver's details) they have a duty to provide details of the driver at the time of the allegation.

They have no opportunity to query the nature or credibility of the allegation

. Indeed even if it later transpires that no offence was committed, their responsibility remains the same. Furthermore, whatever "procedures" the company has do not alter this responsibility

The driver then receives his own S172 notice and after (presumably) nominating himself as driver, receives his offer of a fixed penalty (or notice of court action if the speed is too high).

At that point the onus rests with the driver to respond to the allegation.

The Company is out of the loop.

If the driver believes he is not guilty of an offence (on the basis you describe or any other basis) it is up to him to decline the fixed penalty (if offered) and plead not guilty in court.

What you are suggesting is that the Company must shoulder the responsibility for them receiving the penalties because they did not check that the allegation was valid. Simply put, it is not their responsibility any more than it would be to examine the possibility of any other defence to the allegation.

The idea of accepting a fixed penalty is that the driver agrees to have the matter dealt with without court action. In doing so he does not suffer a conviction but has to accept the allegation as it stands.

He does not have the opportunity to challenge any of the facts put forward.

This would include the fact you mention (the status of the vehicle as a "goods" vehicle and hence the prevailing limit applicable to it).

As such I would suggest that there is no avenue open to have the matters revisited.

There is no "appeal" to be had once a fixed penalty has been accepted.

There is no real difference between this and a driver accepting doing 35mph in a 30mph limit and later discovering (say, from a "black box" or something) that he was only doing 30mph.

You could try a letter to the office that issued the penalty, but have a suspicion it may fall on deaf ears.

Any vehicle with a fully laden weight above 2.0 tonnes and is not car derived (e.g Renault Clio, Vauxhall Corsa or Ford Fiesta) is classified as a goods vehicle and subject to lower speed limits.

Even a Ford Transit Connect which has a gross laden weight of 2040 kg, is classified as a goods vehicle and subject to the lower speed limits of 50 mph on single carriageways and 60 mph on dual carriageways.

Not many van men are aware of that and I have trained a good few.

Thank you all for the information. Man in the middle I beg to differ as we, the company I work for, have challenged a number of notices, whilst also providing the driver details, and had the notices rescinded. I am not suggesting either that the company shoulders any responsibility I just wanted to know what avenues are now open once a fine has been paid. I'll advise the drivers as you suggest to send a letter to the issuing office, nothing ventured nothing gained and all that.

Thank you all very much again.