The Law on Speeding

English law is, by its very nature, complex. It has been around in one form or other for well over 1000 years and we have by far the most complex legal system in the world. It is important to realize that the law relating to speeding offences is different to the law relating to furnishing information to identify the driver. Because of the use of speed cameras the two offences often tend to become entwined.
One thing remains certain. For the foreseeable future both offences will be fertile ground for legal argument.

We will focus on four distinct areas of law:

  • Fixed Penalties
  • Speeding Law
  • Notices of Intended Prosecutions (Including Conditional offer Of Fixed Penalties)
  • Failing to Give Details of the Driver

Fixed Penalties

The fixed penalty system is intended to speed up the administration procedure for the prosecution of certain road traffic offences. The process is initiated by serving the person with a FPN, attaching it to a stationary vehicle (non endorsable) or through what is known as the conditional offer system. The purpose of the system is to avoid court hearings for the listed offences but at the same time to ensure that those committing offences receive the appropriate punishment including endorsement of their licence.

Definition – A notice offering the opportunity of the discharge of any liability to conviction of the offence to which the notice relates by payment of a fixed penalty in accordance with this Part of this Act.  For the purposes of this section we will concentrate on “Endorsable Offences” which include speeding offences and the offence of failing to supply details of the driver.
 
The relevant legislation is the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988:
 
52(2) a fixed penalty notice must give such particulars of the circumstances alleged to constitute the offence to which it relates as are necessary for giving reasonable information about the alleged offence.
52(3) a fixed penalty notice must state:
(a) The period during which, by virtue of Section 78(1) of this Act, proceedings cannot be brought against any person for the offence to which the notice relates, being the period of  21 days  following the date of the notice or such longer period (if any) as may be specified in the notice, (Referred to as the suspended enforcement period)
(b) the amount of the fixed penalty, and
(c) the designated officer for a magistrates court to whom and the address at which the fixed penalty may be paid.

In plain speaking what this means is that for certain offences and speeding is one of these offences you have the opportunity to avoid court by surrendering your licence paying the fee and having you licence endorsed.
1) The officer must be in uniform to give the fixed penalty
2) The notice can only be given if the person surrenders his/her license AND the penalty will not that take that person to or beyond 12 points
3) If that person does not produce the license at the scene, the person will be issued with a notice to produce the license (along with any requested driving documents) within 7 days at a police station. If that person then surrenders the licence the points total at 2 above applies.

Speeding Law

The legislation – Road Traffic Regulation Act, 1984.  There is a plethora of law regarding speed limits. However we will concentrate on the two main areas- Speed limits on restricted roads where by the general construction of the road defines its speed limit and speed limits on roads other than restricted roads where a local order is required.

Section 81 of the Act creates an offence of speeding on a restricted road. Section 82 defines a restricted road and allows traffic authorities to set other limits.

Restricted Road

Subject to the provisions of this section and of section 84(3) of this Act, a road is a restricted road for the purposes of section 81 of this Act if:

a)  In England and Wales, there is provided on it a system of street lighting furnished by means of lamps placed not more than 200 yards apart;

(b) in Scotland, there is provided on it a system of carriageway lighting furnished by means of lamps placed not more than 185 meters apart and the road is of a classification or type specified for the purposes of this subsection in regulations made by the Secretary of State.
 
The traffic authority for a road may direct:(a) that the road which is a restricted road for the purposes of section 81 of this Act shall cease to be a restricted road for those purposes,
(b) that the road which is not a restricted road for those purposes shall become a restricted road for those purposes.
 
A special road is not a restricted road for the purposes of section 81 on or after the date declared by the traffic authority, by notice published in the prescribed manner, to be the date on which the special road, or the relevant part of the special road, is open for use as a special road.

Speeding other than restricted roads

Section 84 of the Act provides for speed limits on other than restricted roads.
84(1) an order made under this subsection as respects any road may prohibit
(a) The driving of motor vehicles on that road at a speed exceeding that specified in the order,
(b) the driving of motor vehicles on that road at a speed exceeding that specified in the order during periods specified in the order, or
(c) the driving of motor vehicles on that road at a speed exceeding the speed for the time being indicated by traffic signs in accordance with the order.

What this means is quite simply that if the local authority wish to vary a speed limit the need to apply for a local order. For example
They require a speed limit of 40 mph from the restricted road limit of 30mph. Also it works in reverse. If they require the limit to be lowered again they would require a local order (revocation) to do so.

Speed Limits- General Offences

The Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 provides traffic authorities with the authority to regulate traffic within their area. Section 89 of the Act creates an offence of speeding in a motor vehicle. It states:-

89(1) a person who drives a motor vehicle on a road at a speed exceeding a limit imposed by or under any enactment to which this section applies shall be guilty of an offence.
89(2) a person prosecuted for speeding shall not be convicted solely on the evidence of one witness to the effect that, in the witness’s opinion, the person prosecuted was driving at a speed exceeding a specified limit.
The rules for the construction and positioning of traffic signs and road markings are governed by law. However, the evidence of two police officers, unsupported by a speed device, can be sufficient in the right circumstances – R (on the application of Graham) v Crown Court at Chi Chester 2003.

The Notice of intended Prosecution

The registered keeper of the vehicle has a legal obligation, under Section 172 of the Road Traffic Act, to provide the name of the person who was driving their vehicle at the time of the alleged motoring offence.  This legal obligation is not restricted to just the registered keeper. If any person has it within their power to give information that may lead to the driver’s identification, then they are bound by the same requirement. This is sometimes overlooked by prosecutors and defense solicitors. However do not feel dismayed because this process offers solid ground for a successful defense and even for avoiding a summons in the first place.

As ever, first what the law says. Section 172(2) Road Traffic Act 1988

(2) Where the driver of a vehicle is alleged to be guilty of an offence to which this section applies:-
(a) the person keeping the vehicle shall give such information as to the identity of the driver as he may be required to give by or on behalf of a chief officer of police, and
(b)Any other person shall if required as stated above give any information which it is in his power to give and may lead to identification of the driver.
(4)A person shall not be guilty of an offence by virtue of paragraph (a) of subsection (2) above if he shows that he did not know and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained who the driver of the vehicle was.

Note: The above defense is not available to a company or body corporate unless the offender shows that no record was kept of the persons who drove the vehicle and that the failure to keep a record was reasonable.
(7) A requirement under subsection (2) may be made by written notice served by post; and where it is so made-
(a)It shall have effect as a requirement to give the information within the period of 28 days beginning with the day on which the notice is served, and
(b) the person on whom the notice is served shall not be guilty of an offence under this section if he shows either that he gave the information as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of that period or that it has not been reasonably practicable for him to give it.

Information as to the Identity of the Driver


For section 172 of the [1988 c. 52.] Road Traffic Act 1988 there shall be substituted—
“172 Duty to give information as to identity of driver etc in certain circumstances
(1) This section applies—
(a) to any offence under the preceding provisions of this Act except—
(i) an offence under Part V, or
(ii) an offence under section 13, 16, 51(2), 61(4), 67(9), 68(4), 96 or 120,
and to an offence under section 178 of this Act,
(b) to any offence under sections 25, 26 or 27 of the [1988 c. 53.] Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988,
(c) to any offence against any other enactment relating to the use of vehicles on roads, except an offence under paragraph 8 of Schedule 1 to the [1989 c. 22.] Road Traffic (Driver Licensing and Information Systems) Act 1989, and
(d) to manslaughter, or in Scotland culpable homicide, by the driver of a motor vehicle.
(2) Where the driver of a vehicle is alleged to be guilty of an offence to which this section applies—
(a) the person keeping the vehicle shall give such information as to the identity of the driver as he may be required to give by or on behalf of a chief officer of police, and
(b) any other person shall if required as stated above give any information which it is in his power to give and may lead to identification of the driver.
(3) Subject to the following provisions, a person who fails to comply with a requirement under subsection (2) above shall be guilty of an offence.
(4) A person shall not be guilty of an offence by virtue of paragraph (a) of subsection (2) above if he shows that he did not know and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained who the driver of the vehicle was.
(5) Where a body corporate is guilty of an offence under this section and the offence is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to neglect on the part of, a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he, as well as the body corporate, is guilty of that offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(6) Where the alleged offender is a body corporate, or in Scotland a partnership or an unincorporated association, or the proceedings are brought against him by virtue of subsection (5) above or subsection (11) below, subsection (4) above shall not apply unless, in addition to the matters there mentioned, the alleged offender shows that no record was kept of the persons who drove the vehicle and that the failure to keep a record was reasonable.
(7) A requirement under subsection (2) may be made by written notice served by post; and where it is so made—
(a) it shall have effect as a requirement to give the information within the period of 28 days beginning with the day on which the notice is served, and
(b) the person on whom the notice is served shall not be guilty of an offence under this section if he shows either that he gave the information as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of that period or that it has not been reasonably practicable for him to give it.
(8) Where the person on whom a notice under subsection (7) above is to be served is a body corporate, the notice is duly served if it is served on the secretary or clerk of that body.
(9) For the purposes of section 7 of the [1978 c. 30.] Interpretation Act 1978 as it applies for the purposes of this section the proper address of any person in relation to the service on him of a notice under subsection (7) above is—
(a) in the case of the secretary or clerk of a body corporate, that of the registered or principal office of that body or (if the body corporate is the registered keeper of the vehicle concerned) the registered address, and
(b) in any other case, his last known address at the time of service.
(10) In this section—

  • “registered address”, in relation to the registered keeper of a vehicle, means the address recorded in the record kept under the [1971 c. 10.] Vehicles (Excise) Act 1971 with respect to that vehicle as being that person’s address, and
  • “registered keeper”, in relation to a vehicle, means the person in whose name the vehicle is registered under that Act;

And references to the driver of a vehicle include references to the rider of a cycle.
(11) Where, in Scotland, an offence under this section is committed by a partnership or by an unincorporated association other than a partnership and is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance or in consequence of the negligence of a partner in the partnership or, as the case may be, a person concerned in the management or control of the association, he (as well as the partnership or association) shall be guilty of the offence.”