A Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) for speeding, is an administrative alternative to prosecution before a Magistrates’ Court. If you accept the Fixed Penalty Notice you will be required to pay a penalty of £100.00 and 3 penalty points will be endorsed on your driving licence. There is no obligation to accept a Fixed Penalty Notice and you may reject it and request that your case is heard by a court.

You should only accept a Fixed Penalty Notice if you accept that you have committed the offence. If you do not accept that you have committed the offence then you should reject the fixed Penalty Notice.

If you accept that you have committed an offence of speeding then it would be our advice to attend on any course offered to you. The Speed Awareness Course is offered in the alternative to a Fixed Penalty Notice or formal prosecution before the Magistrates’ Court and does not in itself impose any penalty.

The Speed Awareness Course takes the form of a 1/2 day classroom session (approximately 3 hours) and ranges between £80 and £120. If you do not accept that you have committed the offence, then as a matter of principle you may wish to reject the offer and request that any case is heard before a Magistrates’ Court where you can challenge the charge against you.

If you have been offered a Speed Awareness Course and don’t know what to do, please call us for advice and a no obligation consultation on how we can help.

In various motoring offence cases, the magistrates have a discretion not to endorse penalty points for the offence if they are satisfied that there were “special reasons” in connection with the offence. For instance if you were driving at excess speed owing to an emergency, subject to the facts, it may be argued that penalty points should not be endorsed.

We have successfully avoided the endorsement of penalty points on behalf of a number of clients for reasons ranging from rushing to get to a toilet to having a genuine and honest misunderstanding of the speed limit in force. If you believe that you may have “special reasons”, please contact us for advice a no obligation consultation on how we can help.

We provide clear lines of communication with our clients, so you will be able to receive updates on your current legal costs at any point, speaking to one of our motoring legal team for information.

It is good to know that if we are successful in defending your case, you will be entitled to a Defendant Costs Order, which entitles you to recover the costs of your legal representation (amount awarded subject to assessment). We can inform you of your legal options at whatever point this becomes relevant.