How to Get Out of Speeding Tickets

Recently I had a chat with an experienced Road Traffic Defence Lawyer.

He reckons the way I’ve explained the benefits of being a Member of DriveProtect might make it all sound “too good to be true”, potentially putting new Members off!

So I thought I’d write this article to explain how you really can get out of a speeding ticket*

* Important: Even though this is me speaking, I know that the lawyers we use to represent Members will have a heart attack if I’m talking about “getting out of speeding tickets” without any qualification, so here goes:

If you know that you are guilty of a speeding offence then you must tell the truth. Your lawyer will then work to get the best possible outcome (mitigating circumstances).

You should not seek to “get out” of your speeding ticket by any dubious or illegal means.

If you tell your Lawyer that you are guilty of any offence, they are duty bound by the law to advise you to plead guilty.

And finally, the views expressed in this article are those of the Author (me) and DriveProtect, not necessarily the lawyers we use.

No let’s get on with it…

How do you Get Out of a Speeding Ticket?

So you’ve been accused of breaking the speed limit…

You now have 3 options:

Option 1-
Accept the NIP with the fine and penalty points on your licence, or ban

A driving ban would leave you with no personal transport, a reduction in freedom and a big shock when you come to renew your insurance once you get your driving licence back.

I don’t know about you, but it’s definitely not an option that appeals to me!

Option 2-
Try to defend it yourself

I’m taking a flyer here, but I would wager that you either know someone — or know someone who knows someone — who’s been caught speeding, and then tried to get out of the speeding ticket by defending themselves at Court?

And I’m taking another flyer that they lost at Court, right?

There are two reasons for this;

(a) no matter how smart you are, the law doesn’t usually work on reasoned, rational arguments, but instead more on technicalities and;

(b) this is the important one – the vast majority (I’m talking 99%+) of speeding cases are heard in a MAGISTRATES court.

Magistrates are generally people with good intentions – upstanding members of the community who want to do good. The problem is that they are not legally trained, hard as that is to believe for many people!

Magistrates have a Legal Adviser in the court but this legal adviser has no particular interest or obligation in helping your defence. They are not there to help you get out of a speeding ticket! They are just there to offer legal advice and guidance to the Magistrates should they ask.

If you have a General Criminal Law Solicitor then this is better than representing yourself at a court hearing for a notice of intended prosecution.

This is because your case will carry more weight in the minds of the Magistrates. They will consider the chance of you appealing much higher, and also be more concerned not to make a stupid mistake in dis-regarding evidence that they should have considered.

The problem with using a General Criminal Law Solicitor, however, is that they won’t know the intricate detail of the Law regarding speeding offences — and believe me, it is intricate!

And so they may not be able to point out the exact points of Law needed to contest a speeding ticket to the Magistrates (who can then confirm them with their Legal Adviser).

Put simply:

– If you try to defend yourself you have little credibility and little knowledge.

– If you use a General Law solicitor you have reasonable credibility and vague general knowledge about your section 172 notice.

So if there is some glaring loophole that anyone with half a brain could spot, you’ll get out of your speeding ticket. But if your defence relies on intricacies that only a specialist lawyer in the field of Road Traffic law would know about then you likely won’t get out of it.

Which brings me on to the third option…

Option 3-
Instruct a specialist Speeding Lawyer to defend you

Assuming that you have just read above then you will need no convincing that you need a SPECIALIST in the field of Road Traffic Law.

It’s pretty obvious when you think about it. I mean you wouldn’t hire a specialist in Family Law to represent you on a property dispute, and road traffic law is no different.

A good specialist Lawyer should have a success rate of greater than 75% in my opinion.

The problem is the cost of hiring a specialist in ANY field, never mind speeding.

With speeding, the ‘market rate’ is driven up by an abundance of wealthy individuals willing to spend any amount of money within reason to get out of a speeding ticket.

The other problem is that unless you know someone who has actually successfully used a specialist speeding lawyer to represent them, how will you know if they are any good before actually using them?

Anyhow, I am getting a bit off track here…

I wanted to point out why becoming a Member of DriveProtect is NOT “to good to be true” as I was concerned some people may think.

So here’s how it works:

Step # 1- We try to get your speeding ticket / NIP cancelled if there has been a procedural error

This is done by i) spotting any procedural errors with your speeding fine; ii) casting doubt that the alleged speeding offence actually happened; iii) casting doubt that it’s possible to discover who was driving at the time the speed camera was triggered.

For this we pay the speeding lawyers we use a monthly retainer which means that Members get unlimited access and consultation with them when you receive an NIP.

Step # 2- Your Case Is Taken On

Once you receive a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP), if your case needs to go to Court (with your agreement, of course) then the Speeding Offence Solicitors we use will take your case on.

The full bill is paid by DriveProtect, except for a £100 (inc vat) excess which you can pay directly to the Solicitors.

If you have an outstanding NIP at the time of becoming a Member, the excess for representation at Court is just £600, again paid directly to the Lawyers.

As you will probably be aware, this is extremely inexpensive for representation by a firm of top speeding lawyers, and we are only able to do it due to the co-operative nature of DriveProtect.

We also get highly subsidised/preferential rates for Members because of the amount of business we put the Lawyers way, and the monthly retainer we pay them to advise and represent Members who’ve received a speeding ticket.

Step # 3- If Your Case Is Successful

Then the Solicitors can claim some of their fees from “Central Funds” which basically means the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) have to contribute to their costs.

The amount of legal fees the CPS pay in cases they lose was (very wrongly in my opinion given that they are bringing the cases against citizens!) reduced drastically a few years ago and doesn’t usually get anywhere near paying the Lawyers bill!

The shortfall is paid in full by DriveProtect.

Step # 4- If Your Case Is Not Successful

If you do lose and decide not to appeal, or you decide to plead guilty to speeding for whatever reason, the Lawyers are excellent at pleading “Mitigating Circumstances”.

The idea is to drastically reduce any fine, points or ban duration.

The Lawyers we use are expert at this.

Often, they will aim to get you on a speed awareness course if that is the best course of action for your individual case.

Again, DriveProtect cover all the legal fees.

I want to stress again that you have an excellent chance of winning, however.

This article has gone on way longer than I intended but I hope I’ve been able to show you how we are able to offer you expert and highly competent legal representation at a fraction of the cost of finding, interviewing and hiring a speeding lawyer yourself.

If you are now convinced of the benefit then I’d love to welcome you as a Member!

You can get help with your speeding ticket by joining here

Alternatively, you call our Membership Team on 01843 232 791 (they are usually there during business hours between but you can leave a message out of hours and they’ll call you back).

Or just email us your number with any details of your speeding case and we’ll give you a call within 24 hours (usually much quicker).

All the best,

Adam Blair
Founder, DriveProtect

How to become a Member of DriveProtect:

You can Become a Member online here

Or call the Membership Team to have your questions answered on: 01843 232 791