Speed cameras, requests for information to identify drivers, fixed penalties and endorsements are very much in the news, both nationally and, particularly, locally. I have noticed a marked increase in the number of cases where I have been called upon to advise and/or represent motorists in connection with various aspects of the current bullish policy of the Northamptonshire Police.
If you are caught speeding 'in the act' by a Police Officer, he can offer you a fixed penalty and you can thus avoid being taken to court. It is important to understand how the two procedures vary.
If a Police Officer stops you and offers you a fixed penalty, you can accept your three points and a fine 'on the spot'. If you are not offered a fixed penalty then the Officer must warn you, at the roadside, that you may be prosecuted. If he doesn't do this, you then must receive a written Notice of Intended Prosecution within 14 days and, in due course, you will receive a summons to appear in court.
If you are caught on a speed camera and the speed is such that a fixed penalty would have been offered if you had been stopped by a Police Officer then you may receive a written 'conditional offer' with the Notice of Intended Prosecution. This is, in effect, an offer to accept a fixed penalty and if you accept that offer then this will avoid the issue of a summons. Once again, the number of points which will be endorsed on your licence is three.
In the normal course of events, there are general guidelines issued to the Police as to how far over the limit a motorist has to be before receiving a fixed penalty or being prosecuted. These guidelines allow, for example, a buffer zone between 30 and 35 mph. You are unlikely to receive even a fixed penalty for doing up to 35 mph in a 30 mph zone unless, of course, the Police choose to adopt a zero tolerance policy. Generally speaking, the Police allow 10 percent plus 2 mph speed below which they will not prosecute. For example 57 mph in a 50 zone. However, you cannot bank on this and the only guaranteed way of avoiding penalty points or disqualification is to stay below the speed limits.
A conviction for driving at a speed which is 30 mph over the relevant speed limit can result in disqualification for the offence itself. The other way of being disqualified is to accumulate a total of 12 penalty points within a three year period. The two methods of disqualification will have different effects.
If you are disqualified for the offence itself then you can not also be endorsed with penalty points. However, that disqualification will not wipe out any penalty points which were already on your licence. When you obtain the new licence, those points will still be on it. However, the situation is different if you are disqualified for accumulating 12 points within three years. In that event, the disqualification does wipe out previous penalty points.
If you need advice or assistance on issues arising from this article, contact Murray Holmes on 01604 620616 or e-mail: murray.holmes@dfalaw.co.uk

Article reproduced with the kind permission of 'Business Times', August 2001 edition.
Article written by Murray Holmes - Dennis Faulkner & Alsop.