So today I was rolling along on what I thought was a 40mph road, at just over 40mph, when a car on the other side of the road flashes his lights at me. I slow down somewhat surprised, and about 300 yards further down the road, standing just in front of a 40mph sign, there’s a man in a yellow vest turning a camera around to catch my rear number plate :-(. I pull over to talk to him, and find out that he clocked me at 43mph, and that this stretch of the road is actually a 30mph limit. sigh. I try to generally stick to the speed limits, and the one time I go over because I’m convinced it couldn’t possibly be a 30 limit, I get nicked.
So - what happens now? I have a full clean UK driving license but am only provisional on bikes. Will I get 3 points and a fine in the post? Does that go onto my car license, onto some phantom provisional bike license, or are the two one and the same? Do points for going too fast (“speeding” is such an emotive term) affect insurance premiums for one or other or both?
Also, eek, if I pass my full Bike test, will I be subject to the New Drivers Act in that if I get another three points on the bike I lose my license automatically?
You’ll likely be ‘offered’ the option of taking a fixed penalty 3 points & £60 or going to court.
There is a possibility that you may be offered a driver improvement course, but you’re probably over the limit for that.
You only have one licence & that covers whatever vehicles you are licensed to drive, so yes it will affect your car insurance, but probably not that much.
The New drivers act applies from the date you get your first full entitlement so if you’ve been driving over (IIRC) 2 years it doesn’t apply to you.
Oh & somewhere a kitten is dying horribly due to your selfishness! :crying:
Do you definitely know that they are going to give you a ticket? You may be offered the speed awareness course, in which case do it as it’s a fun day out and no points.
I don’t know for sure, but the guy wasn’t very talkative and I don’t think he was in a very good mood :-(. Maybe when I pulled over and went to talk to him he thought I was going to attack him…
My understanding was that if you were caught speeding with a handheld gun, you got the ticket there and then. I thought you only got a ticket through the post when you were caught by a camera.
They do usually, but so long as they have your reg number they can send it through the post.
Just a thought, Szymon, was he actually a real policeman? ie. was he in uniform & was there a marked vehicle nearby?
If not it may well be that it was one of those volunteer community schemes were locals pretend to be coppers but don’t actually have any powers, hence his unwillingness to talk, most traffic plod will usually at least explain the procedure.
That’s my understanding too. The only time you get speeding tickets in the post is when you are caught by a camera and there is photographic proof. If you are stopped, they have to explain to you why they stopped you and explain what will happen next etc…
It was a real police officer :-(. Received a “Notice of Intended Prosecution” from the Hampshire Constabulary. Looks like I have to fill that out, tell them it was me riding the bike, and then they will punish me appropriately.
