speeding convictions

August 15, 2009

Speeding Offences Arguments

Looking at the reasons why you were breaking the speed limit to see if the courts will take them into consideration just may help you out of your issue with your speeding offences.

Having your day in court is a requirement in many speeding offences, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it allows you to give your view on the situation. Now, there aren’t many arguments which will be successful in getting you out of your speeding offences, but it is crucial that you consider the potential arguments to see if they may assist you get out of your issue.

Showing that you had good reason behind your speeding offences (maybe you’ve been under a lot of stress) means that you may be able to demonstrate grounds to have any punishment reduced. The idea is to not say that you’re not guilty, but to show that there are good grounds for your guilt, and that these should be taken into consideration.

If you’ve already paid a fixed penalty notice then you will not be able to go to court to plead your case. If you do get to court then you are at mercy of the people hearing the case and it all boils down to whether or not they believe your story. If they do then your punishment may be reduced, but this is not always successful.

When it comes to the court, arguments about other drivers being the reason for your speeding are not usually arguments that hold up. If you claim that you sped up because you wanted to widen the gap between you and another automobile, the courts will tell you that in that situation, the best thing to do would be to slow down or move to another lane so the automobile could pass you instead of trying to get away from it. Therefore, this usually will not hold up in court. There are, of course, some exceptions. For instance, if you believe that you were being chased and were, therefore, in danger, you might be able to convince a court that you should not be punished as severely for your speeding.

If your argument is that you were caught speeding in a 30 mph zone, and you did not see a sign for that zone, and it was not a clearly residential area, you might feel that you have an argument. However, there is no law that states a 30 mph speed limit must be posted. It only needs to be posted when you are entering that speed limit from another speed limit, which means that if the speed limit has stayed constant, you should know it is 30 mph because that is the national speed limit. The only way that this argument will work is if you can prove that you had been in a higher speed limit area, and moved to the 30 mph area, and there were no signs to show you that the speed limit had changed. Otherwise, this is an argument that is probably not going to hold up.

There isn’t a need for drivers to be informed that speed cameras are operating on a stretch of road, so trying to challenge the validity of the speeding offences using this excuse may not be successful.

Keeping an eye on areas which are notorious for speeding, the police do actively collect evidence. Although they are not compelled to make their speed cameras known some will allow you to know their location, however sometimes they don’t and you can easily be caught out.

Trying to use the excuse that the mobile speed camera in use by the police was hidden and thus the ticket is not valid will not work. There is no legal requirement for the police to identify mobile camera vehicles whatsoever.

If the road signs showing the limits on the stretch of road you were caught have been covered or hidden by foliage then you may be able to argue that you were unaware of a change to a lower speed limit and use this as an excuse. However, this isn’t always successfully because the onus is on the motorist to know the limits on the road.

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Filed under law by Christina Parker Jones

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August 13, 2009

Speeding Offences

When you have been caught speeding, sometimes the most common thing to do is to look at the reasons behind any speeding offences, and to see if you might be able to have a court take some of them into consideration.

When it comes to speeding offences, many of them will require you to go to court, which means that you can tell your side of the story and see if you can get a reduction in your punishment. Of course, there aren’t going to be a lot of situations in which you’ll be able to get a reduction, but it is important for you to think about the various excuses you might have for speeding in order to see if any of them would qualify you for a reduction in the fines or the problems that you might have.

The arguments you bring up in your defence are not to prove non-guilt, in fact you are saying that you have indeed committed the speeding offences in question, but that there are mitigating circumstances to the situation. These factors are to try to show the courts that you feel that there should be leniency in the punishment because for instance you had to get to the hospital quickly.

Many times people have not paid their fixed penalty notice and have been allowed to take their case to court. However, not all accounts are believed by the courts and a reduction in the punishment is not forthcoming. At the end of the day it is down to the judge hearing the case.

Trying to demonstrate your speeding offences were as a result of other road users do not always win over the courts. For example, saying you were breaking the speed limit to put a larger gap between your vehicle and the one following you usually gets you the answer that you should pull over and let them pass. However, saying that you thought you were in jeopardy because the car behind was chasing you may help.

Getting caught in a 30mph area can be problematic as there isn’t a law stating that there needs to be a road sign detailing the speed limit, so saying there’s no sign wont be successful. The only way to get around this is to demonstrate that it wasn’t clearly a residential area or to show that you traveled from a higher speed area and that there was no sign telling you of the speed change.

There isn’t a need for drivers to be informed that speed cameras are operating on a stretch of road, so trying to challenge the validity of the speeding offences using this excuse may not be successful.

Keeping an eye on areas which are notorious for speeding, the police do actively collect evidence. Although they are not compelled to make their speed cameras known some will allow you to know their location, however sometimes they don’t and you can easily be caught out.

Another argument that will not work is the argument that you did not see a mobile van, and therefore it must have been hidden, so the ticket is not legal. Although many police play fair and identify the mobile vans used to catch speeders, there is no obligation for them to actually do so, which means that they might catch you without you knowing it.

It may be possible to claim you were unaware of any change in speed limits if the signs have been obstructed in any way, say by low hanging trees or overgrown bushes. Although this may not always be successful as it is the driver’s responsibility to know the rules of the road, including the speed limits in force on the highways.

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Filed under law by Tom Matthews

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August 1, 2009

Speeding Offences Arguments

When you have been caught speeding, sometimes the most common thing to do is to look at the reasons behind any speeding offences, and to see if you might be able to have a court take some of them into consideration.

When it comes to speeding offences, many of them will require you to go to court, which means that you can tell your side of the story and see if you can get a reduction in your punishment. Of course, there aren’t going to be a lot of situations in which you’ll be able to get a reduction, but it is important for you to think about the various excuses you might have for speeding in order to see if any of them would qualify you for a reduction in the fines or the problems that you might have.

If you were stressed out, or running late, or even if you had a sick family member, you might be able to have a defence. This means that in these situations, you might be able to talk about the reasons behind why you were guilty. These are defenses for speeding in which you talk about the fact that you are actually guilty, but that you had a reason for it. What this means is that you are saying you were guilty of speeding, but you did so for a reason, and that you believe you deserve to have less of a punishment because of the reason.

Many times people have not paid their fixed penalty notice and have been allowed to take their case to court. However, not all accounts are believed by the courts and a reduction in the punishment is not forthcoming. At the end of the day it is down to the judge hearing the case.

Blaming other motorists for your speeding offences do not usually work in your defence. For instance, saying that you were committing the speeding offences to give you more space between yourself and the driver behind usually result in the person hearing your case telling you that you should have changed lanes. Although you can sometimes use the excuse that you were being chased and believed that you were in danger as a mitigating circumstance.

Trying to argue against speeding in a 30mph zone can be tricky. There isn’t a law which says that a 30mph sign must be posted, as this is the residential limit. The only requirement is to have a sign when moving from one speed zone to another, so if you can demonstrate that there was no sign informing you of the change of speed limit you may be successful.

Attempting to overturn your speeding offences from a speed camera by demonstrating that there were no warning signs informing you of speed cameras in operation are not usually successful. This is because there is no legal requirement for any warning signs, the speed limit is the speed limit, and the cameras are there to enforce it.

It is important to note that the police have the right to gather evidence in areas where motorists are known to speed, and it is not something that they have to do. Most police units make their speed cameras known and therefore you will know where most of them are, but not all of them do and not all of them will.

Generally speaking the police will make a mobile speed van known, although they don’t need to. If you are caught speeding by a mobile unit then trying to use the argument that it was hidden will not be successful.

If the road signs showing the limits on the stretch of road you were caught have been covered or hidden by foliage then you may be able to argue that you were unaware of a change to a lower speed limit and use this as an excuse. However, this isn’t always successfully because the onus is on the motorist to know the limits on the road.

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Filed under law by Tom Matthews

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