4 speeding tickets and facing ban

[Bakerboy27]

Hi,  I am hoping someone can direct me to the best outcome for my problem.

 

I received 4 speeding tickets in a short space of time last year, just over 3 weeks actually,  same place very similar speeds going through roadworks on the A1 the limit was signed at 50 and I was caught doing 61, 60, 62 and 61, no point denying it,

 

Couple of reasons for it, non of which will make a difference I don't suppose but I had a lot on my mind with some domestic health issues and quite honestly I thought they were average speed cameras so wasn't too concerned of that as I would have have had no problem if they were.

I wasn't overtaking anything and just moving with the traffic. Again that's no defence.

 

The vehicle I drive is a standard van which is leased to me so therefore I did not receive any notification until about a month after the first offence and so by the time found out my mistake I was already "stuffed".

I replied and admitted it, which brings me to present time.

 

I have 4 notices of Summons on Referral to Court in very early February.

My driving license is my way to earn money, I am self employed in construction and it would be impossible for me to earn any money without being able to transport my tools and goods to whichever site I work on and these can be literally anywhere in the UK.

I wouldn't be able to pay the rent or any associated costs etc.

 

I understand the idea that a penalty needs to inflict some sort of deterrent but a long ban would destroy my life I'm a bit concerned !

I also have my 84 year old disabled father living with who would be impacted by a ban and the company that I do most work for is a small company and if I was unable to work there would be a significant impact on that company too.

 

I think I have covered everything there except to say that I cover over 40,000 miles a year and have no other blemishes on my license with the exception of a speed awareness course about 2 and a half years ago.

 

Thanks in anticipation.

[Man in the middle]

You need to prepare an "Exceptional Hardship" argument to put before the court. As I'm sure you know, you will get twelve points for these offences and that will see you face a "totting up" ban of six months. This can reduced to zero if you can show that "Exceptional Hardship" will follow for you or others if you are banned. Here's the Sentencing Council's guidance to Magistrates on the mater:

 

3. ‘Totting up’ disqualification – Sentencing (sentencingcouncil.org.uk) 

 

You will note that loss of employment by itself is not usually considered "exceptional."  However, the additional info you have provided can well tip the scales in your favour -  In particular your father's circumstances. Your employer suffering from having to "let you go" together with the effect that may have on your remaining colleagues is also a good angle. You need to prepare your argument and be ready for questions from either the Magistrates or the prosecutor. In particular you need to be prepared to show that alternatives to you driving are either not available or are impractical. Any proof you may have to support your arguments will help (e.g. letter from your father's doctor explaining his circumstances and his dependence on you for care; letter from your employer  explaining whether or not he could continue to employ you and the effects it would have on the business if you were banned or had to leave).

 

A final bit of advice is that if you are successful you will keep your licence but it will have the twelve points remaining on it. This means that any offence you commit before the three year anniversary of the first of your recent speeding offences will see you face a totting up ban again. You cannot use the same reason(s) to argue exceptional hardship again within that period. So you may care to keep some of your powder dry by restricting your latest argument to just one aspect (and I would suggest the care you need to provide to your father is your best chance of success). The choice is yours - the more you egg the pudding this time the greater the chance of success, but the less material you will have to use should you be unfortunate enough to face a ban again. On that topic, I note you have done a speed a awareness course 2.5 years ago. You will become eligible for another when the third anniversary of the date of that offence is passed. Courses are normally offered up to and including (Limit + 10% + 9mph).

 

Hope this helps. Let me know if you need any further info.

Edited January 10, 2021 by Man in the middle

[Bakerboy27]

Thank you for your reply, it's helpful and I already have a letter from my employer along those lines, the thought of those points over my head is quite disconcerting but that is out of my hands.  I had a colleague some years ago who received a ban for speeding but got a short ban ( can't remember the duration )  at the end he had no points and ironically I got a ticket while on my way to pick him up !

 This might make me sound like a habitual offender but the reality is that doing the kind of mileage that is involved with my job carries a higher risk than for most people, this however has me being VERY careful.

If I had the option of a short ban to clear everything I would probably think carefully about taking it rather than the other option of points being there for years, with that in mind I wonder if it would be beneficial to gain the services of a solicitor to see if that would be a possibility.

6 months that's a whole different ball game.

[Man in the middle]

The option of a short ban is a forlorn hope, I'm afraid. 

 

Although a ban can be imposed for any offence which attracts an endorsement and points, any one of your offences would normally only attract 3 points (in fact every one of them is within the range where a course would be offered). To ask the court to ban you for any or all of them would be asking the Magistrates to sentence you considerably outside their guidelines and there is no justification for them to do so. Furthermore, Magistrates have supplementary guidance which suggests that where they have an option of points or a ban and points would lead to a "totting up" disqualification, then points should be imposed.

 

Appointing a solicitor to represent you will cost you at least £300 and probably more. My view is that you would be wasting your money. I do not believe (s)he will be able to persuade the court to impose a short ban for any or all of the offences. In theory it is only necessary to succeed in persuading the court to impose a ban for one, leaving you with nine points for the other three, but there is simply no justification for the court to do so. You may want to consider representation to present your EH argument but if you are capable of speaking to the court that is all that's necessary. You can write down what you want the court to hear if you like and either read it out yourself or ask them to read it rather than speaking. But you should be prepared to answer questions. Some solicitors give a free 30m consultation where you may be able to get an opinion. But beware of those who promise you the Earth if you engage them. They get paid whatever the outcome.

 

If you want, post your EH proposals up here and I'll let you know what I think.

[Bakerboy27]

Thank you, it is very much appreciated, not what I wanted to hear but that's life. I will save the money on that advise and deal with it myself, I don't relish speaking in court but it's not something I am going to have a great problem with either.

 I will get to work on the EH angle and see how it looks. ( I have a couple of parties that are fairly good at that kind of thing.)

The solicitor fee will help with whatever fine I get !

Thank you very much.

[Bakerboy27]

Thank you for your help so far and apologies for not getting to this earlier, I have a quick draft letter from my employer as a starting point, there are a few things on it that I would probably change but I am a great believer in getting more than one opinion.

 I would probably add to this that I have a work colleague who doesn't drive ( he has a foreign licence but hasn't driven here) who I work with most of the time, so effectively if I am banned it would have a great impact on him too.

 I understand what you say about restricting the argument so in this instance will leave my Fathers disability out of it just in case !

 

I look forward to your comments. Thank you.

 

 

Dear Sirs,

 

RE: Bakerboy 4 Traffic Offences

 

Bakerboy has been known to me for over 22 years and I can assure you he is a person of the highest order and principals.

 

He has been working away from home at a new large distribution centre in Somewhere on our behalf since May 21/05/20 and continues to do so. At the time of the offences he had to travel to and from his home to Somewhere every day and work a long hours on site. Frankly he became exhausted. I believe that Bakerboy has not intentionally broken the speed limit, although this doesn’t make the offences acceptable, we would hope knowing that it has not been done intentionally but whilst under great fatigue, pressure and stress, that you might be able to show him some leniency on this occasion.

 

He has put in great effort and worked long hours running the contract for us at the Distribution Centre. His work ethic has ensured our company on going work in these difficult times. Moving forward we are fortunate now having work for other Sites with the same company (In various places) in addition we have work for another client who are aiding the governments in getting the unemployed get back to work and have been given works at several offices around the country

 

Without doubt Bakerboy is vital for us to carry out these contacts works moving forward and can not do so if he is not able to drive.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

[Man in the middle]

Two quick and immediate points:

 

1. Do NOT get your employer to suggest you were exhausted. You shouldn't drive whilst exhausted and it aggravates the offences. But in any case, since you are pleading guilty to them it doesn't matter. The circumstances of each offence are not relevant when the court considers your EH argument. By that time you have been convicted of them and how or why they happened is not a consideration. 

 

2. Instead your employer's letter to the court should concentrate on the "Hardship" that others (e.g. the company or your colleagues) will suffer if you are banned. It should also cover why no alternatives are available to them (e.g. are your skills and knowledge scarce such that they cannot easily be replaced; can they not train somebody else quickly to do your job). That sounds harsh but your employer will be asking the court to accept that they will suffer hardship. Part of doing that is to demonstrate that no practical alternatives are available.

 

Remember, you will get three points for each offence whatever mitigation you offer for them - that is the minimum. So you don't need to concentrate on that. Concentrate on explaining the exceptional hardship that you or others will suffer.

[Bakerboy27]

Thanks for that, point one just confirms what I thought, I will get back to work on it with those suggestions in mind.

Cheers