The offer of a 'Fixed Penalty' provides a simple means for the driver to discharge liability for the offence by paying a fixed fine and receiving points on your licence. However, the driver of the vehicle has the right to request a court hearing and should consider this option if they wish to dispute the offence and/or put forward mitigation. Before going that far, you can ask to see the photographic evidence that we have to check that it was your vehicle.
The lines painted on the road at fixed sites are there as 'secondary check marks’ and are used to check which vehicle was speeding. Again, you can check to see that we have correctly identified the relevant vehicle in any photograph. Some cameras take two photographs, half a second apart. The lines allow us to measure the distance travelled in that half second to be sure that it matches the speed the camera has recorded.
A request for a Court Hearing must be made in writing. The following arguments do not provide mitigation:
- I didn’t know street lights indicated a 30mph limit
- I didn’t see any signs/I was unfamiliar with the road
- I have a clean driving licence/it is my first offence
- I didn’t know about the cameras
- The road was clear/it was late/it was early
- The car behind forced me to speed up
- The camera enforcement vehicle was not visible/was parked illegally
- My speedometer doesn’t work/isn’t accurate
