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Caught doing 55 in 30-zone....


kenpark35
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I'm hoping for some advice or encouragement here....

My 8-yr-old daughter was sent home from school (next to my house) having been hit on the head by a football. She had COMPLETELY lost her sight.

I immediately put her in the car and drove to A&E, about 6 miles away on the other side of town.

On the way, I kept asking how she felt and, as she became more distressed and began crying with the pain in her head, I drove faster (going through a couple of red lights for good measure.)

We got to hospital and, within an hour, she vomited a couple of times, fell asleep and woke up with her sight restored. Relief! Stayed the night then went home.

A week later I got "a notice of intended prosecution"... Can't deny speeding but will the circumstances carry any weight in court?

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Welcome to Tyresmoke Ken +++

Possibly, but it's expensive to do and you have to be able to demonstrate to the court that your speeding was necessary (I know from what you say that it was, but a magistrate needs convicing, not me!.

If you've no points now, then I would take the 3 points and £60 fine and be done with it - it'll be a lot less hassle.

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Hi Ken,

I'd suggest that at those speeds you are probably looking at a court appearance anyway. I went to court earlier this year for doing 58 in a 30 and got 6 points and £600 fine. I represented myself and considered mine a good result - i.e. I wasn't banned. I'd have thought, through my experience, that you could have a good case as I suppose the hospital will have evidence of your visit and the condition.

Andrew.

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Mook,

Why does he have to lie down and take it? I definitely wouldn't. There was an emergency situation and the reason why he did what he did. A letter from the hospital indicating what happened and times should help in factoring the reasons for his excess over the speed limit. I'm not saying it would get him off, but these are extenuating circumstances aren't they?

I have been in the same situation before, having to rush my younger brother to hospital in a life/death situation and even though I knew I was going over the limit, the choice was I got him to a hospital pronto or the possibility of losing him. I even had it in my mind mentally that if I was stopped by the police, I wouldn't stop till I got in front of the hospital.

Some people might think that silly, but it was a risk I was willing to take.

Edited by S3Bangs
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I've done it as well when Mook Jnr cut off the end of his finger - and it was way more than 55 in a 30. A 3 year old screaming his head off in the back of the car when your other half is trying to calm him down makes the whole idea of driving slowly go right out the window.

I guess it comes down to hassle versus long term cost - one SP30 makes minimal difference to your insurance costs, compared to the cost of hiring a good lawyer to help you get off the fine etc.

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This happened to me some years ago when my daughter was taken urgently into hospital and I did 48 in a 30 limit, as has been said get timed documentation from the hospital and school and it may well help you. I was let off but it was a very long time ago and the views of the court maybe less lenient now.

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If you get offered 3 points and 60 quid fine (I doubt it) then take it. You can plead your case in a letter to court you will still get the points (as speeding is an absolute offence) but hopefully may get a reduced fine for mitigating circumstances. These for example could be proof from the school & A&E, stating the road was clear and dry (if it was) and your driving was under control and weren't being reckless (driving like a headless chicken to A&E).

Other stuff to include:

Describe the situation that led to you speeding.

Your good driving record, and that you had pleaded guilty so as not to waste the courts time etc.

You are aware that they may consider a ban and ask them not to because of the other people this would affect. You can explain this in some detail. How it would affect your children, your employees etc. I think that this is one of the key elements in avoiding a ban ie the affect on others.

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Hi Ken,

I'd suggest that at those speeds you are probably looking at a court appearance anyway. I went to court earlier this year for doing 58 in a 30 and got 6 points and £600 fine. I represented myself and considered mine a good result - i.e. I wasn't banned. I'd have thought, through my experience, that you could have a good case as I suppose the hospital will have evidence of your visit and the condition.

Andrew.

Spot on.

Go to court (if summoned), represent yourself and plead the mitigating circumstances but admit guilt and take the fine and points.

I was caught doing a 3 figure speed that should have meant an immediate ban 2 years ago. I got away with 6 points and a large fine by going to court myself. I told them of my clean license, the fact I was in the last 90 minutes of a 6 hour drive and I had apologised to the officers immediately upon being caught.

A half decent magistrate will give you 3 points and a fairly low fine in my opinion.

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A clean license is always a great start, hopefully you have one. You can explain that you don't normally speed (as per your clean record) but due to the circumstances etc etc. I showed up in court many moons ago, suited and booted did what I had to do to plead my case (grovel, naughty boy, won't do it again) and received 6 points and large fine when I could have been banned. I would say you have a good case mate

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All good advice about admitting guilt as there is no doubt you were speeding, as well as explaining the circumstances be sure to explain the consequences of a ban which needs to be exceptional hardship to others not you will lose your job, but can't take granny out once a week (have actually heard this one used by an Elise owner !), work will go bust without you etc. & offer some alternative eg short ban could just manage but long one would have severe consequences for entire family/others. Good luck !

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be sure to explain the consequences of a ban which needs to be exceptional hardship to others not you will lose your job

Brilliant advice and a part I'd forgotten about. Ultimately that is what got me off more than my sad pleas and apologies - it was the fact I said it could impact jobs beyond my own earnings (i..e if we lost contracts I'd make redundancies).

They don't want to be seen to be responsible for job losses unless lives are lost or at serious risk and you'll seldom get banned if you can utilise it as an argument.

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Thanks for the link, thought would quote this excellent piece of advice here by Andrew too - "They seemed to have all the letters I'd sent in to the police initially asking for a photo so it is worth bearing this in mind - thankfully mine read well and suggested the driver probably was me, but I wanted to check as the car is registered for business mileage".

When wording the letter is worth bearing in mind anything read out in court sounds 200 x as bad as when you read it - is easy enough to word the letter accordingly but something I would not have thought of as at the time would be trying to get off so the "probably me" angle is a great way of playing both angles.

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I can't remember exactly but the officers statement in my appearance started off something like...

"The BMW 6 Series approached at high speed...blah blah blah...recorded 102 miles per hour...blah blah blah...beginning to decelerate for the junction with...Blah blah blah..."

It was the slowing to 102 mph that I thought had me completely fecked. I shall never, ever, be so lucky again. If they'd not been on the corner they'd have clocked me on the 2 mile straight and I suspect I would have been put in the back of a van and carted off for a stay at her majestys pleasure. I have never even got close to thinking about ever doing it again. It certainly made me think.

Edited by MrMe
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They're not as quick as me and they probably aren't too hot on the diagnosis and treatment of brain injuries.. Would you wait for an ambulance at the risk of permanent damage?

:) My comment about the ambulance was a little tongue in cheek - it's terribly easy to say from here, but in that moment I can't honestly say which course of action I'd take. You made the call in an instant, and thankfully it turned out not to be the wrong one in terms of your daughter's health - which is by far the most important thing.

On the speeding charge, I can only echo much of the advice already given, especially by those who've been to court themselves. Go to court, admit the charge, be open, be apologetic and trust that a reasonable magistrate will take your mitigating circumstances on board. +++

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I would rather walk away from court with 6 points knowing that I tried, than simply accepting the 3 points. I'd like to think that magistrates are there to apply some common sense to the given situation. If you were pulled over by traffic police at the time you would have probably got off, in fact you might have even been given an escort to the hospital.

Anyone else would have done exactly the same thing in your situation, including the magistrate.

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