Speed awareness courses
Most police forces offer speed awareness courses, although this is entirely at the discretion of the issuing force and usually only if you have a clean licence.
If you haven’t been offered a speed awareness course, it is worth asking the issuing force to consider this as an alternative – however, they are not obliged to accept your request.
If you do get to go on a speed awareness course, you’ll avoid having your licence endorsed but you’ll have to pay to attend the course. If you have previous endorsements, you will not be offered a speed awareness course.
Appealing a speed camera penalty
You have the right to appeal a fixed penalty notice within 28 days of issue. Your case will be referred to court where, for less serious offences, a magistrate will consider your appeal.
Unless you have good grounds for appeal, think carefully before taking this route. If your appeal is unsuccessful, the fine is likely to be higher than the original penalty. Bear in mind that the usual assumption of “innocence until proven guilty” doesn’t apply for speed camera prosecutions, and it’s up to you to prove you are innocent.
More serious speeding offences
If your speeding offence is deemed to be of a serious nature, such as high-speed motorway driving, the police force has six months from the date of the incident in which to lodge papers at court.
You will be fully briefed by the pursuing police force, in writing, of the process and it is recommended that you find a solicitor and take legal advice before entering into any communication.
There is no set formula with court-heard cases, as every scenario is different. Before entering a plea of mitigating circumstances, once again it’s recommended you take legal advice.
This article was originally published in 2013, was comprehensively updated in July 2017 to cover substantial changes to speeding fines, and most recently updated in April 2021.
