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[mantahatch]

My son (18) has been stopped for speeding, somewhere between the M25 and Kings Lynn. I am mad as heck with him and we are barely speaking now.

Anyway he was stopped by police car which was parked at side of road, he can't tell me if it was a radar gun or whatever. I asked to see the paperwork and he says they gave him no paperwork but mentioned a speed awareness course.

Question is, will he get paperwork through the post or what ? Apparently the road is national speed limit, then drops to 30mph to pass by 3 houses (his words) then national speed limit again. He reckoned he was doing 40mph, to which I said you wo't get the speed awareness course you will get points and a fine.

I am still confused as to the no paperwork bit though.

I would like to say I don't condone speeding and he has never seen me speeding, I am no angel and of course have drifted above speed limits at time.

[tigers_gonads]

I'd have thought if he was pulled, he would got a writen notice if they intend to prosecute whether its points or speed awareness corse.
If it was "just a word", you will get no paperwork providing any checks carried out on there computer come back ok 

I'm sure one of the serving / ex rozzers on here will clear it up for you

[Bionic]

 
My m8 has just doen one......
Depending on how long the paperworking shufflers take, up to 6 weeks in some areas, you will get the papers as appropriate and they will contain the charges, an option to pay the fixed penalty, an offer to attend court and the offer to attend a course which will cost you £90.00 but wil award you no points or fine.
The course takes half a day and is totally freekin boring, boring, boring and teaches you nothing you do not already know (or should).
Bonus is that you get a free copy of the highway code!
Remember that you only get the offer of the course each 3 years so the next time, if there is one, you will be fined and given points.

Mate is still going on about the most boring day of his life too..............

[Andy B]

  .....
Bonus is that you get a free copy of the highway code! .......

....... and a pen! 

you say that the course contains nothing that you shouldn't already know, it was surprising the number of people on my 'course' that didn't know the most basic elements of driving. 

[Dishevelled Den]

I'd have thought if he was pulled, he would got a writen notice if they intend to prosecute whether its points or speed awareness corse.
If it was "just a word", you will get no paperwork providing any checks carried out on there computer come back ok 

I'm sure one of the serving / ex rozzers on here will clear it up for you

Yes I would have been expecting a formal caution and a declaration that the matter would be reported with a view of prosecution but, in this new (revenue generating) dawn of absolute offences for which fixed penalties can be issued, the simple compact between the individual officer detecting the alleged offence and the person allegedly committing it can be dissipated into an entirely new regime of faceless individuals pushing buttons in a remote location – with all the possibility for delay that it holds.

Still, for what it's worth, he must be well pleased that he was dealt by a living breathing police officer rather than as a result of the baleful stare of an inanimate, impersonal camera lens.

[GastronomicKleptomaniac]

  .....
Bonus is that you get a free copy of the highway code! .......

....... and a pen! 

you say that the course contains nothing that you shouldn't already know, it was surprising the number of people on my 'course' that didn't know the most basic elements of driving. 

Depends entirely on who's doing the course - and whether they have any enthusiasm for the subject.

[Bionic]

M8 was caught by hand held camera doing 33 in a 30 zone. The charge sheet proved the speed! That is hardly speeding and I would have expected he got a lecture rather than a non option of retaining a clean license but having to pay the highway robbery £90.00.
He then tells me (his words) that the 'instructors' are either apparently off duty officers or driving school instructors willing to make a bit on the side.
My own opinion is that it is but another easy option for the local councils to generate extra income. There again it is the drivers lot just to suffer the wallies behind desks that arew full od self importance.
By the way....What do you do when you observe a driving school instructor regularly and very blatantly disregarding all of the rulles he teaches? Does this fool not know the rules of the road which govern lane positions, roundabout priorities or those yellow box junction ? Reporting it to the DSA did no good at all and all they could do was to offer an apathetic excuse that there were not enough witnesses! In other words it would appear that driving school instructors are themselves above the rules the rest of us try our hardest to stick to 

[mantahatch]

Thanks for the guidance chaps. We are kind of speaking now. He was caught with the hand held speed gun (type unknown).

I hope he gets the course, not because of the no points issue, but to waste his time and hopefully teach him a lesson.

I could throttle him for this. He has had it drummed into from day one of learning to drive that speeding is not worth it, especially in 30 zones.

[Andy B]

.... but to waste his time and hopefully teach him a lesson. ......

He's 18 .......... he already knows everything! 

A few years ago, my lad won himself 3 points for speeding (fixed camera) and then a few months later got stopped by a real copper for doing something like 90 on the motorway. When the copper found out that my lad already had points (within 2 yrs of passing his test) he bollocked him & told him not to do it again rather than 'do him' so that my lad could keep is license. Months later, my lad went through a Gatso & earned himself another 3 points anyway. Hence no license! You can't tell kids lads anything!

He's still not got his act together and done anything towards re-sitting his test.

[JamesV6CDX]

If he was stopped for speeding and dealt with at the roadside, most likely one of two things would happen:

1) If he was eligible (Eg, he didn't have to many points on his licence) then he may have been offered an Endorsable Fixed Penalty Notice (E-FPN), which is basically a conditional offer of £60 fine and three points as an alternative to attending court. Newer E-FPNs do also have the option for speed awareness courses on them as an alternative to points, if the issuing officer deems it appropriate.

When the officer writes the ticket, it's carbonated, so two copies are produced. One is given to the person being dealt with, and the other copy the bobby would sent to his/her Central Ticket Office (CTO). The CTO (usually manned by civvies) then make the relevent arrangements for the licence endorsement / course.

2) In some cases an Endorsable FPN isn't suitable - examples include if there are more than one offence, (eg, speeding and on the phone) - or if the speed is so excessive it's only appropriate for a court to deal with it. If this was the case, the person stopped wouldn't usually be given any paperwork, simply a verbal 'NIP' - "you will be reported for the consideration of the question of prosecution for excess speed etc"

All forces are slightly different, it may well be that the officer simply recorded your sons details in his Pocket book, said the magic words to him, and will then make the background arrangements for the speed awareness.

In both cases, he would have been 'cautioned' - eg given his rights, before being spoken to and dealt with. (you don't have to say anything, etc....)

The good news is that Speed awareness is only usually offered to people who are not too far over the limit. So take some comfort from that fact - it's unlikely he is in serious trouble.

We have all without exception done it. He was just unfortunate enough to get zapped.

Get him to take it on the chin, it won't be a biggie for him

[the alarming man]

ACPO guidelines for a speed awareness course

 minimum 10 % + 2mph

maximum is 10 % + 9 mph

[OOMV6]

Thanks for the guidance chaps. We are kind of speaking now. He was caught with the hand held speed gun (type unknown).

I hope he gets the course, not because of the no points issue, but to waste his time and hopefully teach him a lesson.

I could throttle him for this. He has had it drummed into from day one of learning to drive that speeding is not worth it, especially in 30 zones.

Give him a break . He's young and just 'cos Dad doesn't speed it doesn't mean he can't choose to, and as such, be responsibile for his actions and take whatever punishment is due. It ain't the end of the world and, frankly, it really does not help him one iota if Dad is p1ssed off about it. Life is about learning. Just look at AndyB's comment for e.g. He'll learn, or maybe he won't. That'll his choice.  Advice, yes, go ahead and give it - we can all do with that from time to time.
Anyway good luck with the outcome. 

[big mel]

I got done for speeding with just my tractor-unit at 5.30am on a saturday morning. a few years ago, 56mph on 50mph bi-pass, totally empty road, where he came from i don,t know. Anyhow i got £60 & 3points. about 4yrs later the policeman, & i take no pleasure about this was killed doing over 75mph on a 40mph road, the thing that was ironic was that he hit one of our employees backing out of his drive. a pity he did,nt practice what said to me.

[Lazydocker]

SWMBO has actually done one of the speed awareness courses today I was only annoyed she got caught because she knows that the camera van is there 2/3 times a week

She actually came away from it shocked by how little a lot of the numpties on the roads know

It was a waste of her time, yes. But it has probably given her some useful knowledge

TBH, had it been a real officer she probably would have gotten away with a telling off. The lady running the course was surprised she was there as she was doing 44 in a 40.

As for giving your lad a hard time... I'm afraid it's not worth it.

[davethediver]

I did the course last weekend and found it to be a worthwhile half a day out as it saved me three points reminded me of a few of the things id forgotten (like to watch out for big yellow vans)