Speeding

In 2022 more than a quarter of fatal collisions on England's roads were directly attributable to excess speed.

Department for Transport statistics for the same year show that half of all drivers exceeded the standard 30 mph speed limit in built up areas.

In today's article we explore the offence of speeding, which is no doubt something many readers have first hand experience of.

The rules pertaining to the implementation of speed limits are contained within Part VI of the Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984.

For the purposes of this article I shall be considering the situation in England and Wales where a speed limit is legally in force on a particular stretch of road.

Situations occasionally arise where a speed limit is not legally in force, but drivers are mistakenly prosecuted for exceeding that limit regardless. Such a situation is rare and outside the scope of this article.

The offence of speeding:

Speeding is an offence under section 89(1) of the Act, which states: "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."

Section 89(2) states that a person liable for prosecution under section 89(1) shall not be convicted solely on the evidence of one witness to the effect that, in the opinion of that witness, they were exceeding the speed limit.

Section 89(3) specifies that enactments which apply to this section, namely:

(a) any enactment contained with this Act except section 17(2);

(b) section 2 of the Parks Regulation (Amendment) Act 1926; and

(c) any enactment not contained in this Act, but passed after 1st September 1960, whether before or after the passing of this Act.

Section 89(4), in simplified terms, states that anyone who employs a driver, who exerts any sort of pressure, influence or time-constraints on the driver that causes them to exceed the speed limit, shall be considered as inciting the driver into committing any speeding offence that results.

Speeding is a strict liability offence. This means it is committed by the mere act of exceeding the speed limit, irrespective of the driver's intention or reasons why.

Penalties for speeding:

Schedule 2 to the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 states that the maximum penalty, on summary conviction, for exceeding the speed limit (on a road other than a motorway) is a fine at level 3 (£1,000). The offence also attracts an obligatory 3 to 6 penalty points. Alternatively, the court has a discretionary power to disqualify the driver.

The maximum penalty, on summary conviction, for exceeding the speed limit (on a motorway) is a fine at level 4 (£2,500). Again, the offence attracts an obligatory 3 to 6 penalty points or a discretionary disqualification.

If the driver had a particularly good reason for speeding, then they might have a valid special reasons argument.

Identification of driver:

In the case of vehicle captured speeding by a camera, the police will seek to ascertain who was driving at the time of the alleged offence. This is achieved by sending the registered keeper a section 172 notice, which is accompanied by a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP). 

Section 1 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 requires that an NIP is served on the registered keeper of the vehicle within 14 days of the offence. If the NIP is not served in time, it is likely any prosecution would be discontinued (or subsequently fail) on that point.

In the case of a vehicle stopped by the police, the officer will require the driver to provide their details at the time. This being the case there is no requirement for a section 172 notice. Depending on the circumstances, the officer might give a verbal NIP when they discuss matters with the driver.

Out of court disposals:

It should be noted that a driver has no automatic entitlement to an out of court disposal. It should also be noted that a driver could, in theory, be prosecuted for driving only 1 mph in excess of the speed limit. For all most police forces give a margin (often 10% + 2 mph) before taking action, there is no legal basis for doing so.

If a driver exceeds the speed limit by a narrow margin, then it is likely they will be offered an out of court disposal. This could be either be a verbal warning, the offer of attending a speed awareness course or a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN).

A driver offered a speed awareness course would need to pay for the course, but there would be no other penalty. A driver issued an FPN is fined £100 and has their licence endorsed with 3 penalty points.

An FPN will only be offered if the police are satisfied that the offence would not result in the disqualification of the driver.

The whole point of an FPN is to divert simple, non-contested offences away from the court. Generally speaking, if the driver admits speeding it to their advantage to accept an FPN - it is by far the cheapest and quickest way to reach a resolution.

If the driver refuses to accept an FPN, then the matter will be dealt with by the court. Should they be convicted, they will likely face a greater penalty than if they had accepted the FPN in the first instance. This is because they would have to pay prosecution costs and surcharge in addition to any fine imposed.

If the driver exceeds the speed limit by a wide margin, then they might receive a summons directly to court without the offer of an FPN.

Speeding cases are now dealt with via the Single Justice Procedure.

Sentencing of speeding offences:

An extract from the relevant sentencing guideline is reproduced below. The court normally sentences in accordance with the guideline, but is not bound by it. That said, if the court chooses to sentence outside of the guideline then it must announce its reasons for doing so. The sentence imposed cannot exceed the maximum allowed by law (e.g. level 4 fine for motorway speeding, level 3 fine otherwise).

As shown in the table, the sentence imposed depends on the extent by which a driver exceeds the speed limit. The court must endorse an offender's licence by up to 6 points. Alternatively, the court could impose a discretionary disqualification.

I have previously discussed the factors that the court might consider when making the choice between points and disqualification.

In addition to any fine imposed, the driver would also have to pay any prosecution costs and surcharge ordered by the court.

Further reading:

Traffic Law in England, Wales and Scotland (aff. link), by K. M. Hughes.