Speeding Fine

samonwalkabout

I recently recevent a lovely letter in the post telling me that i was caught speeding in Cork in the middle of september. A fine and 2 points! I was never pulled over, some people say that i dont have to pay unless they stopped me, others say i should. If i go to court and lose i get 4pts!! Why should i get a higher penalty for expecting the guards to prove im guilty?

Fudger

if it was a gatso van or car camera tripod yoke they have ya. I think you can request to see the picture ???????

impr0v

You already have four points, and will keep these if you go to court and lose. If you save the state the time and hassle of going to court you get a two point discount for being a good citizen.

If the closest you can bring yourself to denying the charge is 'I wasn't pulled over' I'd accept the slap on the wrist and move on.

samonwalkabout

Not sure what they used, i never even saw them, and was so long ago...how do i request the photo?

samonwalkabout

2 point discount.. that seems to make sense, will the points follow me onto a full license (still awaiting test)?

Im my defense the road goes from 60 - 30 on the brow of a hill which is where i must have been got going 36, probably holding up the traffic behind me

Also what if the letter had got lost in the post? Surely they should call you and let you know, or something more immediate than "you were caught 2 months ago" i hope to god i havent been caught since will have to watch the post

Fudger

never had to request one try

http://www.penaltypoints.ie/

Provisional to full i don't know, the whole thing is very iffy. The myth is if you pay the fine but quote a different driver licence number they can't put the points on your licence because the gardai can't access the drivers licence records in the dept of the environment or whatever dept holds them these days to see if the number is correct, but this is most likely to be from the fountain of myths where if you pay your fine by cheque with an extra euro on it they have to send you back a refund cheque of the one euro and once you dont cash the cheque the points dont go on your licence, by the way incase i got your hopes up that doesn't work. Try and get a pic though but most likely you'll have to just bite the bullet and take the points.

samonwalkabout

Wow! very intresting site Cork is 2nd only to Dublin for points issued!

http://www.penaltypoints.ie/index2.php?fn=how_it_operates.html

and 1 person in KERRY didnt have insurance...you know who you are!

Will just pay my fine and take the points..

Unless anyone know's any other hair brain schemes to get off??

A few years back I heard that they sent a guy in the UK a picture of him speeding and a fine letter, so he posted back a picture of some money...the police responded with a picture of a pair of hand cuffs.....he paid the fine the same day

BrianD

2 point discount.. that seems to make sense, will the points follow me onto a full license (still awaiting test)?

The points will be added to your full licence in theory as do any other endorsements/convictions etc.

If its a gatso the fine document normally has a picture of the nmber plate as well. We got one in the office the other day 6 weeks after the offence took place. While there is no excuses for speeding the punishment should be swift and a motorist should not have to wait 6 weeks to receive an infringement notice.

narommy

BrianD wrote:

The points will be added to your full licence in theory as do any other endorsements/convictions etc.

If its a gatso the fine document normally has a picture of the nmber plate as well. We got one in the office the other day 6 weeks after the offence took place. While there is no excuses for speeding the punishment should be swift and a motorist should not have to wait 6 weeks to receive an infringement notice.

Since one of the main reasons is to slow people down, by acting as a deterrant surely it would work better if the notice was issued as soon as possible and slow the people down faster. (But I hovered on the limit lately and am behaving these days in case something pops up from a few months ago, still it doesn't seem fair)

Afaik they have to issue it within 6 months in ireland, it is two months in uk.

I would have a problem with no limit being placed on private contractors responsible for implemtnting the system. They could easily do a check on a road once a week and put numerous drivers off the road within two months without them having a clue. they could also hold back on issuing notice to even out their monthly figures.

My two points were incurred on St Stephen's day 2002. Who would be out on the day after christmas. Anyways i got it the following day.

Fudger

BrianD wrote:

While there is no excuses for speeding the punishment should be swift and a motorist should not have to wait 6 weeks to receive an infringement notice.

Very true. This country is madness, I believe that the period of time of the points only starts on the day they receive your payment aswell, so that would be X amount of weeks/months that isn't even coming off the time you have the points on your licence.

narommy

Fudger wrote:

Very true. This country is madness, I believe that the period of time of the points only starts on the day they receive your payment aswell, so that would be X amount of weeks/months that isn't even coming off the time you have the points on your licence.

Are you a boards stalker You just replied to another post of mine in fed back..........you engineer.

Anyways my points didn't start until march. But you could manipulate it in your favour if you were gettin close to the end of your 3 years with 10 points

Fudger

narommy wrote:

Are you a boards stalker You just replied to another post of mine in fed back..........you engineer.

jasus i didn't even notice but now i know your an arch..... CLOSE THIS THREAD !!!!!

daymobrew

I was caught driving like a mad bastard one Sunday morning (37 in a 4 lane 30 zone). I think it was posted out within 3 weeks. I requested a photo by ringing the Fixed Penalty Office. It too a pathetic 3 weeks to arrive. From the pic I could figure out where they were hiding in the van.

I wrote to the Garda Commissioner asking why the Gardai were hanging out on stretches of road where there is little or no danger and not at locations where I've reported multiple incidents (and other cyclists have too, according to the Gardai I reported them too!!!). No response yet.
I wrote to Minister (at-the-time) Brennan asking when that stretch was going to have its limit increased to 40 (it was on the list from Dept Transport a while back). Long response but no hint that action would be taken.

daymobrew

Fudger wrote:

Very true. This country is madness, I believe that the period of time of the points only starts on the day they receive your payment aswell, so that would be X amount of weeks/months that isn't even coming off the time you have the points on your licence.

Actually it's worse that that.
My incident occurred on 13 June. I paid up within the required time(end of August I think). I got a letter dated 2 September telling me that the points would be applied on 29 September. Pathetic.

Seth Brundle

@ daymobrew - "gardai were hanging out on stretches of road where there is little or no danger and not at locations where I've reported multiple incidents" - by doing this they increase their visibility but also raise loads of money.
The Dept. of transport has no control over the limits AFAIK - it is the plod and local aithorities IIRC.

Victor

samonwalkabout wrote:

Wow! very intresting site Cork is 2nd only to Dublin for points issued!

Simply because Cork CoCo is the second biggest licencing authority.

Nuttzz

Get the picture to see if they have one

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/motoring/2004/0526/1577508336MOT26LEAD.html

Meanwhile, the Government's efforts to crack down on speeding have run into new problems with legal difficulties emerging on radar guns. Cork District Court Judge Con O'Leary dismissed a case because radar guns used by the Garda do not give print-out readings of the speed in question. The Government could amend the Road Traffic Bill before it is goes before the Dáil, or it could introduce separate legislation. It may also challenge any rulings in the High Court.

Brennan's spokesman said the Department would be monitoring any similar cases and may challenge their outcome in the High Court. "We need to rectify this quickly," he said. "We will monitor the outcome of these cases".

A flood of new claims was not expected, he said, as most people who have already been given points, have admitted guilt by accepting the lower two-point penalty instead of going to court.

Fine Gael's Denis Naughten says "the entire points system is at risk now that radar guns have been revealed as legally unreliable". Labour's Róisín Shortall says "a spotlight has been thrown onto the shortcomings of the Minister's road safety strategy. He must move immediately to rectify this anomaly by introducing the new Road Traffic Bill, which he has frequently promised yet failed to deliver thus far."