 Driving home from work today was ambushed by the local constabulary..... - about 20 of them waiting down a road - with I assume one or two further up the road in an unmarked...... People were queieing up to get nicked - myslef included. The crime (which i am not proud of) was holding my phone to my ear whilst driving - technically not speaking as the number wasn't even ringing....... however yes i know i shouldnt have been doing it. My question is though, the fixed penalty notice I have been given (7 days to produce paper bit of licence and 28 to pay the £60) has my address incorrect even though PC plod copied from the photo licence? Is this grounds for a technicality or am i guilty as charged? Can find loads about NIP's but none on Fixed Pens
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 Do both parts of you license have the same and correct address on them? Did plod copy it down incorrectly?
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yes plod copied down incorrectly - he wasnt the brightest, nor the best sense of humour - was already writing the ticket out, so no chance of talking him out of anything. Got a bit upset when asked a) "is the car taxed? " "why don't you walk round and check" b) "Does the car have an MOT? " "no" one swift check of DVLA later, "Sir the car is not three years old" "yes, I know. Thats why there is no MOT" (Private plate) I only had the photo id bit with me, which has the correct address. The other bit also has the correct address. He round 82 XXX instead of 22 XXX
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| Edited: 02/06/08 21:07 |
As much as I do not condone what you have done, I will give you my advise based on what I know to have happened to a friend with a similar situation. A Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) is merely an invitation to pay the fixed fine rather than go to a Magistrates' Court. You could take the chance, not pay it and await the summons. If the Court Summons has the wrong address on it then you may have grounds to have the case struck out, but not the FPN. As far as I am aware this "how it is" as it were. I have a friend who got off with something similar on a technicality, but as I am not in law you may be better to get a second opinion. Spend the money on a handsfree kit and use it!!
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yes i know that! However if the court was switched on, they would get the correct address form the reg no, not from the FPN......... Interestingly, asked plod why so dangerous with a phone - because conversation is in ear, and not in the car.... he told me to get a bluetooth handsfree. Had to ask then, so if i have the bluetooth in my ear, where is the conversation? No answer.
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 Go over to Pepipoo.com ( i think) and aks the question. It's full of plad, magistrates and lawyers answering these types of questions as well as 5000 other people who will tell you what to do without ever having been in this siuation!
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Yeah its yet another case of the nanny state not properly considering why it does anything it does!!!
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 Fen, you ask why so dangerous with a phone ? Wether the conversation is in your ear or not,would you play a round of golf with a hands free kit and have conversations whilst playing ? I`m guessing no and before I get jumped on about rules,etiquette etc my point is, if you cannot concentrate fully to play golf,how on earth can you concentrate enough to drive a car ! just a thought
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 Pay up, quit moaning and be grateful that you didn't have an accident. Do you seriously think it isn't dangerous to use a phone whilst driving? How did the phone magically get your ear and who pressed the buttons? People who use a mobile whilst driving should be treated with the same contempt as drink drivers in my opinion.
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 my point is, if you cannot concentrate fully to play golf,how on earth can you concentrate enough to drive a car !
Good point Tinkerbell,
Sorry Fen, But using a Mobile phone whilst Driving is a pet hate of mine! I have been involved in an accident where the Driver was not only Speaking on her mobile, But Applying lipstick as well. She Was Driving a £50,000 4X4! So £40 for a hands/Bluetooth free kit was well within her means! Luckily she didn't actually hit me but that was more down to me and not her! Needless to say she recieved the full verbals from me and also the Driver of the car who she did actually hit! what made it worse was she had 2 kids in the car and didn't think there was anything wrong in her actions!
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Will not get you off, if you were driving and you had the phone to your ear then the offence is complete...............Sorry. As has been said though some of the Nations Summons Offices are not the best, you run the risk, if you get a summons and you have to attend court you are generally looking at a minimum of 50% added to the fine plus costs, generally a minimum of £120 depending on your income
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 Is this grounds for a technicality or am i guilty as charged? If you get off on a technicality,don't kid yourself your not guilty.You seem to be in denial,almost as if you think that it's alright,and shouldn't be an offence by your comments. The only reason your 'not proud' is because you got caught. Pay up and learn your lesson.
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 You know that what you did was wrong, you got caught, so pay up! Sorry, but I have no sympathy whatsoever, especially having been hit in my car by someone doing exactly what you were doing. The plum then had the audacity to suggest that it was my fault for stopping so quickly (to avoid hitting the car in front of me that had braked to avoid squishing a suicidal moggy)..... I'll leave it to your imaginations how I responded to that....
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 Did me for doing 67 in a 60 zone made all the worse that a) they give a 10pcnt error margin (so 66 would've been fine), b) it was on a bit where the 70mph dual carriageway turned into the 60mph single carriageway.
I paid the 60 + 3pts (only 3 I've ever had & I'm on the roads more than the tarmac and... let's just say, not much passes my on the road - ahem).
Basically Fen it's just another form of taxation targetting white-collar folk who they know will invariably pay up. That is opposed to tracking down thugs stabbing folk for fun, Bin Laden types, dysfunctional tw*ts wi' nowt better to do wi' their time than harass old-age pensioners - not to mention arresting said pensioners when they have the audacity to fight back!
Nah, there's no money in that. But your easy "oh he's bound to pay up" traffic offences... ££££'s.
Sorry bud, join the club or face the prospect of a ONE THOUSAND POUNDS fine (notice how that bit is 450 times larger than the rest of the drivel).
I neither condemn nor condone mobile phone usage, certainly less distracting than a blazing row with the Mrs while driving - which is perfectly acceptable!?!
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 I find phones very distracting while driving, I use hands free kit but it is still pretty bad. So anyone having only one hand on the wheel as well should really be punished as I always say. How do you turn the wheel fast and more than 180 degrees with your left hand. (I guessing left hand as most people on phone will use right hand because gears on are left). I got a fine for driving down a road which I was not meant too so just pay up and be glad its not more. CC - There is normally a 10% allowance on speed. 5% for camera and 5% for your speedo been out. (So I think I was told)
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Fen, just seen this thread. I have never worked in this particular area of law, and in all honesty i was going to suggest what someone has already suggested, and that is to visit pepipoo on the web. Very good site. Someone has already posted that a fixed penalty notice is just an offer which you can choose to accept if you wish, and that you have the right to go to court if you want. By not paying the FPN that is the risk you would be running, and I don't think the address thing would help. However, that is not a particularly informed view, but it sounds right. It was rather predictable that your post would provoke some sanctimonious responses. I'm sure all those people feel better about themselves now that they have publicly trumpeted their virtue. whereabouts was this by the way, was it in Norfolk?
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CC completely agree with you - how i wish i could sit on the moral high ground like some of the posters in this thread!!!! Was basically a session for pulling as much cash in the time as possible! Lawman - thanks for your reply - yes on ipswich road where the old Esso garage used to be, down near trusthouse forte hotel. I can only assume there was an unmarked further up the road near the shell garage, (near houses on the left) as driving out of norwich all and sundry were being pulled into Locksley road. Whilst i was being "processed" heard over the radio "Speedy Gonzalez in a black FTO" and then 30 secs later, black FTO being pulled in. To all the sanctimoniius and self righteous out there who are squeaky clean - i asked plod, why so dangerous? He didn't know but assumed that because conversation in my ear (as opposed to what other body part) and not general noise in the car. Advised me to get a bluetooth earpiece. I then asked him where the conversation would be then. No answer. Tinkerbell - no not hands free, but often when practising have ipod plugged in. Oldboy - i can think of a lot worse!
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DS3 accidents like that happen even without phone but yes that will make it more likey  so just pay and be happy not too have any points. Which it is meant to carry?
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I find it quite unbelievable that anyone replying to say that you should just pay up is being described as sanctimonious and self-righteous! Whether you agree with the methods that the Police employed to catch people on this occasion or not, the fact is that using a mobile phone whilst driving is illegal. You know that it is and were caught. Why tie up "Plod" for even longer by disputing the fact over a technicality?
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