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Speeding fines explained at SpeedCamerasUK.com
A driving speeding fine for a speeding offence can be costly. Points on your driving licence and a monetary fine are the normal penalties issued by the Police force in the local constabulary. Whether you were caught speeding by a fixed speed camera (Gatso, Truvelo, HADECS 3 etc.) or a mobile gun (radar or laser) the result will be the same; a fixed penalty and possibly a driving awareness course. If you were speeding at quite a high speed above the speed limit for the road then you may also have to appear in court to contest your driving offence.
To uphold the driving offence, the police need to prove the following, with evidence:
‣You were the driver
‣Your vehicle was indeed on the road
‣Your vehicle speed
‣The speed limit for that particular road
speeding offences form the majority of road traffic offences. The police have targets to meet with the objective to enforce the speed limit on UK roads throughout the year.
The standard driving penalty imposed is 3 to 6 points and a fine of atleast £100. Depending on how fast above the speed limit you were driving the driving penalty will increase and number of points on your licence imposed will be greater. In a number of cases, you are also told you must represent your case in court too.
Contesting and avoiding a speeding offence
There are a number of driving offence lawyers that can help you avoid a speeding offence. They will examine the detailed documents providing by the prosecution and also consider the process by which you were caught speeding (looking at the procedures carried out by the police). The current state of your driving licence is also considered as an indicator of how safe you usually drive and may help you in court.
When you reach 12 points on your driving licence you will be banned from driving for a minimum of 6 months. You can contest a driving ban in court by claiming hardship and showing that you need your licence for your job. A court will let you plead your case before you receive a ban and there have been a number of cases whereby motorists keep their driving licence. If you can prove your career depends on being able to drive then you can avoid a disqualification and keep your driving licence and carry on driving despite having 12 points on your driving licence.The police must prove who was driving at the time of the offence. If the police cannot identify who was driving when speeding then you can contest you were not driving at the time. Some motorists inform the police that someone else was driving their car (another family member, etc) and the points are added to their licence. It is however illegal to lie about who was driving when caught speeding. In some circumstances your speed camera offence will be dropped by the police rather than providing evidence of an alleged speeding offence because often the Police do not have enough proof it was you that was speeding.
You can find motoring lawyers online to help put your case across in court.
A speeding offence and associated points on your licence will remain on your driving licence for 3 years. You can only remove the endorsement from your driving licence after 4 years.
Driver awareness course - avoid points on your licence or a driving ban
The driver awareness course is offered to motorists whom have been caught speeding. You may avoid a speeding fine penalty and you may avoid points on your licence. The speed awareness course is available from every police force constabulary across the UK. The aim and objective of the driver awareness course is to teach motorists the dangers of speeding and educate them enough to stop them from speeding in future.
The decision as to whether you are offered the Drive Awareness Course is up to the Police Force that caught you speeding. The letter you receive in the post from the police will often offer a number of options for you to choose from:
1. Speed Awareness Course
2. Fixed penalty
3. Court hearing
If you were driving quite considerably over the speed limit you are unlikely to be offered the driving awareness course instead of a fixed penalty including points on your licence and a speeding fine to pay. If you are offered the course instead of points on your licence and a speeding fine then you will be given a time, date and location to attend the driving awareness course.
The driving awareness course will last for about 4 to 5 hours. The driving course consists of classroom based theory training. Secondly you will also be taught in car by a practical driving instructor (not all driving awareness courses in the UK feature the practical driving lessons). You will also attend Workshop sessions to further educate you to the dangers of driving above the speed limit. The vehicle will be providing for training but you need to make you own way to the driver awareness course location.
After completing a driver awareness course you will not be offered another driver awareness course if you receive another driving offence within 3 years of the first course attended.
Speeding offence codes
When you are issued a speeding fine each speeding offence is known by a certain code. The code for speeding above the speed limit will be either SP10, SP20, SP30, SP40 or SP50.
SP10 - Exceeding goods vehicle speed limits
The code for your speeding fine will be SP10 if you were driving a goods vehicle under 7.5 tonnes. Such vehicles are small lorries. In some circumstance this also includes motorhomes and caravans.
SP20 - Exceeding speed limit for type of vehicle (excluding goods or passenger vehicles)
SP20 is not a code used very often. Vehicles affected include tractors and other industrial vehicles.
SP30 - Exceeding statutory speed limit on a public road
SP30 is the most common speeding code you will come across in the UK. This refers to cars, vans, motorbikes, etc. which are caught speeding at the signposted speed limit for the road.
SP40 - Exceeding passenger vehicle speed limit
Some passenger vehicles which are larger than cars are subject to different speed limits on UK roads. Such passenger vehicles may include buses, coaches, etc. These vehicles speeding fine code will be SP40.
SP50 - Exceeding speed limit on a motorway
The speed limit on most motorways is 70MPH and if you are caught speeding on a motorway the code used by the police on your speeding ticket will be SP50. Some motorways have variable speed cameras and therefore enforce a lower speed limit that 70MPH. Furthermore, some vehicles will be required to drive at a different maximum speed such as goods vehicles over 7.5 tonnes and cars towing a caravan.
Speeding Fines Questions and Answers:
Question: I drive about 40,000 miles per year got a NIP from Merseyside police. 48mph in a 30mph camera zone on a Saturday. I was actually in Tesco in Birmingham at the time!! Two weeks later the police phoned me to say sorry, they read the number plate wrong!!
Answer: Just goes to show to check, human error alive and well!
Question: I'm quite annoyed to receive a Notice of Intended Prosecution for driving at 68mph in an, unbeknown to me, 60mph zone. The A16 near Spalding is all National Speed Limit Applies signage and I have never seen a 60mph sign at all, yet a new camera has taken a photo of me! I have written to the Lincs Police, because this seems very fraudulent. How can you advise the motorist to drive at 70mph, then suddenly fine them for driving at 68mph without any speed limit reduction sign?!! Can you advise?
Answer: You've contacted the Police authority where the camera is located which is what we would recommend. You could also contact your local councillor and/or MP who may also be able to help you?
Avoid speeding fines in the future
You could drive slower and drive within the speed limit (but this is not always easy as roads are not always clearly sign posted with their speed limit). However you could buy a speed camera detector that will warn to the location of fixed and mobile speed cameras and Police speed traps.
You can read more here at SpeedCamerasUK.com about the different speed camera detectors and satnavs with speed camera alerts. One product of particular interest is the Snooper MY-SPEED XL (pictured left) which tells you the speed limit on every UK road regardless of whether there is a speed camera along that road or not. This will not only protect your driving licence, this will also save you money from the associated increased insurance premiums.
Last updated: 11th September 2023
