Ducati Sporting Club UK > General > Idle Chat > 112.4 mph speeding THE SUMMONS

[Road Runner]

You ride your bikes and take your chances as they say
What a Bummer !! sorry to here about it Bungi good luck mate

[Guido]

Bungi,

Sorry to hear it mate….and sorry to say you’re on a very sticky wicket.

I have some experience of this eventuality having been there twice myself.

You have a moral question to ask yourself firstly. Which is higher…your morals or your livelihood????

There may be some facts that help you answer this question, but it usually comes down to either/or at the end of the day.

To help you answer the question think about these aspects…… Do you think you were being dangerous…..?? Yes you were speeding, but were you being dangerous…???We all know Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom has lost the plot a little in that it’s not speed that causes accidents but bad driving (inappropriate use of speed falls into this category). So ask yourself….Was it a clear, dry day, was the road quiet, was it early in the morning/late at night, was everyone else doing a similar speed or were you screaming past everyone else…??? These are all things that might work in your favour..

Then comes the moral question……Do you think you were travelling at that speed?? It’s not as cynical a question as you might think, but is one that could cause your morals to quiver or falter…Why you ask…

You do have a right to contest the information given to you by the Police. Contesting this information may be genuine, but may also be because you simply want to ‘get off’ the conviction. You have to make that decision, others like me can only advise you on what options you have.

Under current law and the CPS, you have every right to request copies of the evidence and witness statements that ‘The Crown’ intends to use against you. That includes copies of police patrol car videos, calibration certificates and officer witness statements. What was the ‘time and distance recording’ equipment used. VASCAR, Pro-Vida etc. Most Pro-Vida systems rely on video evidence as do some VASCAR. If you’re going to ‘contest’ things you need to be clear on which systems you’re up against so you know what evidence to request.

As far as likely outcome goes then you definitely looking at a ban. If you have ‘previous’ speeding convictions or a ban then you could be looking at 3 or 6 months for that sort of speed dependant as ever, on the magistrate you get on the day. They don’t have to ban you as some people think over 100mph, it’s only an option to issue an instant ban. Mitigating circumstances can help but they’d have to be bluddy good to get off of a ban at 112mph. More likely they’ll reduce a 6 monther down to a 3 if you’re lucky. If you have serious previous (dangerous driving, ban etc) then you could get a year if they’re really having a bad day and don’t like you.

I don’t want to go into too much detail on an open forum Bungi cos we do have members of the constabulary in the club and it may cause some difficulty discussing this subject in too much detail too openly. Feel free to drop me a line on email and I’ll help all I can.

Have a look at www.pepipoo.com too as it will give you some ideas on your rights and possible course of action before submitting a plea etc.

Regards, Guido

[TP]

Nice post Guido ... could potentially help us all out ..

[Ozz]

Would have thought the threat of sacking would be a good defence. How many people have got off cos they needed to have a vehicle to earn a living? You see them all the time.

[guest1]

Pity your not in Manchester, then at least you could plead that you thought the Volvo was a paparazzi media geezer who mistook you for one of those football players and you were merely trying to escape his camera.

Best of luck with it.

[Festa748]

I got done last summer for doing 124.7mph Ha Ha Ha beat u
and i got
28 day ban ( and ive gotta say the best christmas Holiday ive had thanks to the FU@#ING WA#@ER that pulled me. He lied in court and lied to me at the side of the road as he didnt have me at all but there you go one rule for them TOSSERS and one for us ) feel better for getting that off my chest. I also got £140 + 45 court costs

A C A B this is true

[Monty]

Sorry you are looking at a ban Bungi but there it is, you are a biker therefore a danger to society and therefore guilty as hell. Bearing that in mind I would plead not guilty and go to court-at least that way you will have a chance to see what they actually have on you, and stand a chance(small) of getting it thrown out.
I would send a U2U to Rushjob or AndyB and ask their professional advice-they may give you a verbal slapping but may also help-it's worth asking.

John

[MJS]

I know of someone who recently escaped at 104mph with 5 points and £150 fine by going to court, had a good bried who found a technicality to do with how the vascar equipment was being used, but then he was in a car and your's is a bit quicker.. Good luck anyway

[Bungi]

thanks for the veiws peeps

its good to know others experiance of the sort of outcomes i might expect.

i was actualy asking what happens if i return the summons by ticking the plead guilty by post box, does this mean i cant be banned or will they then just write to me and tell me to come because they are thinking of banning me any way?

i am aware of the not guilty route and am considering this option also?

nice post guidio thanks, but i cant seem to acces the web page link, will try again later, might be my computer or isp.

[Guido]

Ticking the ‘plead guilty’ box will have little effect in terms of the sentence/conviction. It’s just a way of reducing admin and making it easier for you to plea. Because of the speed you’ll definitely appear in court.

In my experience, you do not want to appear as though you’re being cocky or a smart-ar$e in any way. If there’s any sniff of that then they’ll throw a big book at you.

Having said that, you can ‘request’ information if you do feel that you’re not convinced you were doing that speed, as I was, and want to ascertain that all is in order with the equipment and the manner in which it was used. Be assured, there have been cases and instances where the guidelines (which are very precise) haven’t been followed by officers (be it maliciously or as an oversight). In those instances, the case can be ‘thrown out’.

My advice is to request any information before you enter a plea (so as not to aggravate anyone in the court system). You don’t want to be changing pleas at the last minute if you can help it. Get all your information early so you can then make an educated judgement before you get to court. It will help you with damage limitation if the magistrate or CPS official were to get any kind of sniff that you might be ar$ing about.

As I said before, I can help you get the answers you want from the system but can’t help you answer the moral question posed earlier.

In my case I still got banned, but at least I went to court knowing that all was done correctly and in line with the law/CPS guidelines.

Guido