Notification of penalty points

Folco

Hello..

Does anyone know the approx. time it takes to receive a notification of penalty points if registered via these new safety cameras?

Is there a way to check online/via email/phone to see if you breached any speed limits and will be receiving a notification of penalty points and fine (ie: Not existing penalty points, but the notification that penalty points and a fine will be sent out to you at some point)?

djimi

As far as I know it will be much the same as the existing system.

No way to check that I know of.

Folco

With the previously existing system, do you know how long it normally takes for a notification to arrive - A (few) week(s)? ...A year? :eek:

Thanks!

electron

i've heard it could take up to 2-3 months...
you could try ringing up the fixed charge processing office 1890 304060 and ask them how long they believe it should be.

djimi

The guards have up to 6 months to process the case. Its unlikely to take that long but it could. Usually take a few weeks.

I dont really see what difference it makes; youre going to carry them for 3 years and they are not applied until you recieve the letter, so whether it is now or in 6 months time you will still have them for the same length of time.

TwoShedsJackson

Folco wrote: »

With the previously existing system, do you know how long it normally takes for a notification to arrive - A (few) week(s)? ...A year? :eek:

Thanks!

I got one notice about three weeks after the offence, and the other came about three months later.

cormie

djimi wrote: »

I dont really see what difference it makes; youre going to carry them for 3 years and they are not applied until you recieve the letter, so whether it is now or in 6 months time you will still have them for the same length of time.

To be fair, it makes a pretty big difference. The whole point of penalty points is to get the point, not the points by getting the point once you get your first few points at which point you might decide to adjust your driving manner to the point of not getting any more points. With these vans and other non interactive ways a driver can get points without knowing about it, for what could be up to 6 months, that's plenty of time for them to get enough points to put them off the road without them even knowing they had even 1 point in the first place.

There should definitely be somewhere you can check the status of any penalty points and to check if there are any pending points or offences.

TwoShedsJackson

cormie wrote: »

There should definitely be somewhere you can check the status of any penalty points and to check if there are any pending points or offences.

You can ring the RSA and give them your licence number and they will tell you what points you have and when any are due to come off your licence. Don't think they can tell you about pending points or offences.

cormie

Thanks It's the latter that is more necessary in my view. People will have a rough idea of when their points are due to come off but won't have a notion whether or not they have 4 or 10 points if they've passed by a few cameras a bit over the limit.

djimi

cormie wrote: »

To be fair, it makes a pretty big difference. The whole point of penalty points is to get the point, not the points by getting the point once you get your first few points at which point you might decide to adjust your driving manner to the point of not getting any more points. With these vans and other non interactive ways a driver can get points without knowing about it, for what could be up to 6 months, that's plenty of time for them to get enough points to put them off the road without them even knowing they had even 1 point in the first place.

There should definitely be somewhere you can check the status of any penalty points and to check if there are any pending points or offences.

The idea behind the points system is that you are supposed to adjust your driving from day 1, not when you are on 8 or 10 points and nearing a suspension. If you have picked up 12 points in 6 months then you deserve to be off the road, and quickly. In reality, unless you are a complete and utter plank, youre not going to pick up a lot of points in a short space of time, and certainly not enough that you wont know that you are nearing a suspension without being notified.

Also in reality it wont take months for most cases to be processed. The law is the guards have 6 months to process any motoring offense, not just speed camera offenses. Most likely youll be notified in a few weeks.

cormie

I'd agree with having to adjust from day 1, but in the case of a few sneaky speed traps on roads where it's very safe to go above the posted limit, it would be possible and quite unfortunate to accumulate enough points to put you off the road without even knowing you received 1, which would defeat the learning process of the points.

I guess it would just be nice if there was an instant way to get notified or to even check these things if you suspect you may have been caught or were unsure of the speed you were doing etc etc

djimi

Its possibe, but highly unlikely to happen to be fair. In my years of driving I dont think Ive ever seen two speed cameras less than a few weeks apart, and with the new cameras their locations are posted, so everyone should be aware of where their local ones might be and regardless of how stupid the speed limit might be there is no reason to get caught in those areas. It would be quite an effort to pick up 12 points in 6 months.

I do agree with you tho; it would be nice to be able to track what points you have pending.

Bullseye1

Wasn't there a women in Deansgrange?? who received 12 penalty points in a week? Surely these should be issued quickly so that people DO change their driving habits.