Like I said, I was allowed to continue my journey even with defective lights, I put my hazard lights on. This I can only assume happened either during the journey or that day, as I would have been flashed at by other drivers the night before.

Who in their right mind is going to check that their vehicle is road worthy before every journey, no-one is the right answer.

To me and maybe I am biased but this is just cash machine for the police, should they not be protected us and our property which have higher stats rather than the mis-use of roads and vehicles on them.

No I pwas pulled over for driving too fast and they also noticed that my rear lights and one brake light was not working. Even though after checking the morning after, they were.

So basically what you are saying is you got pulled over by the Police for having no rear lights, didn't bother getting out of the car to look if they did work but instead just accepted a fixed penalty, then carried on home with no lights and the Police let you?

Obviously it was my driving at the time which alerted them to me, the West Sussex outfit. I admit that seeing the vidoe evidence that my skills were below par at that brief moment, but why did they not stop the vehicle in front of me travelling at the same pace ?

Should I have not received a copy of the form that I signed though ?

Si, if you were polite etc, then how were you driving !!!!!!!. Dont forget, that to drive an unmarked in most forces (you still have not told us which force it was) you have to be a traffic officer. All traffic cars are fitted with Provida (cctv cameras), and so any bad driving will be caught on camera. The fact you signed S59 paperwork means you have accepted that your driving skills were a little 'below par' on that occasion.

 

As many posters have said, the police generally have better things to be doing with their time, and to have stopped you to issue you with a defective light £30 ticket and S59 warning, there must of been something wrong.

 

If you really feel strongly about it, then ask to speak to the traffic inspector. Many will be happy to investigate it for you, and if you manage to phrase it as ' im not sure what I was doing wrong, how can I improve my driving', then they may let you see the video.

 

Of course, there is the option that the trafic inspector sees the video, and decides theres enough there to prosecute for careless driving / driving without due care and attention / dangerous driving etc..... so be sure if you go down this route !!!!.

I was not given the opportunity or walked to my car by the police

To be 'innocent' you would have to prove that the lights worked at the time of the offence, not next day after you had fiddled about with the bulbs and fuses!

I was not given a copy of this form either and it has now affected my driving going forward being too worried about my speed and not being aware of what is going on around me .....

What were you given in relation to the S.59 warning? This is more serious than the FPN for the lights as it will stay with you for the next 12 months. There is little room to appeal as the Act only requires that the Officer had 'reasonable grounds' to suspect that the vehicle was being driven in a manner contrary to S.3 (or S.34) of the RTA 1988. That means that for the next year you will have to drive near perfectly or otherwise risk losing your car (or the vehicle which you are driving at the time)

If you are referring to my attitude on being caught I was not verbal or aggressive, just co-operative..

Dont forget Goldlady, theres always the 'attitude test', which some people will fail when speaking to law enforcement .........

 

And then wonder why they get tickets / fines / court appearances etc etc.

The trouble I am finding now is that I am constantly watching the speedometer rather than the road now, as I am to worried about being caught again. This has affected my driving ability so I am no longer more aware what is going on around me but what speed I am doing ....!!

What were you given in relation to the S.59 warning? This is more serious than the FPN for the lights as it will stay with you for the next 12 months. There is little room to appeal as the Act only requires that the Officer had 'reasonable grounds' to suspect that the vehicle was being driven in a manner contrary to S.3 (or S.34) of the RTA 1988. That means that for the next year you will have to drive near perfectly or otherwise risk losing your car (or the vehicle which you are driving at the time)

I was stopped last night by an unmarked "flash" mercedes estate and informed that neither of my rear lights were working and one of my brake lights was out. I was issued an FPN for £30. This morning I decided to check the lights (hand on heart never changed a part). Checked fuses, looked at bulbs and then switched all the lights on for a test. Low and behold all working, so where do I stand with appealing against this FPN ?

I was also informed that my driving was reckless (no penalty issued) and signed this form to say that if caught again my vehicle (at the time) would be seized. Again where do I stand to appeal against this ? This does not give me much hope of being the law abiding, tax paying citizen that I am....