He wasn’t in a speed van but was standing at the roadside with a laser gun on a tripod. I then got a Notice of Intended Prosecution in the post; I named myself as the rider. The issue is I already have nine points. However, all nine are about to fall off my licence, so a mate has told me to delay the court hearing so I can keep driving! What do you think?
Answer
Whoopsie. No judgment as this is easily done. Let’s start from the beginning. The police need to have sent a NIP within 14 days. If they don’t, there is an argument that they cannot prosecute you for this offence. The 14-day rule only applies to certain offences, not all of them. It does apply to speeding. The speeding offence itself will attract a punishment of anywhere between four to six points OR a disqualification of between seven to 28 days. If you get the points, your concern is the Totting Up procedure.
This happens if you get 12 or more points in a specified period. Your mate has suggested delaying the court hearing to let your nine points ‘drop off’ but I am afraid this won’t help you. The court will always look at the date of the offence (not the date you appear in the courtroom) and how many points you had at that time, therefore, delaying a hearing isn’t going to assist in avoiding a Totting Up procedure. The relevant period is ‘within three years,’ which is how long points are active for. There are two ways you can avoid a ban here. The first is to get a disqualification for the offence itself. The guidance states between seven to 28 days. However, magistrates are not silly people. They will know what you are trying to achieve by ‘asking’ for a disqualification, as it means no points, and a seven to 28-day ban is much better than a six-month ban.
This is only ever an option if there are aggravating factors about your speeding offence, i.e., it happened outside a school at 3pm. The court may take such a dim view of such speeding that they deem points unsuitable as a punishment and disqualify you instead. Also, don’t forget if you get a ban of more than 56 days, you will get your licence back with zero points. The other way you can avoid a ban is by arguing for something called an ‘exceptional hardship.’ This only applies if you’ve been given points and are facing a Totting Up ban. This is very case and fact-sensitive, and any hardship needs to be to other people and genuinely . exceptional. It cannot consist of ‘it is difficult to get around,’ as that is the whole point of a ban! It is meant to be difficult. You should definitely take legal advice if you find yourself in this situation as there is much at stake.
Gavin Grewal
Fast Bikes – June 2025
