How To Avoid A Fixed Penalty

Friday, 22. January 2010

Some people believe that when a ticket is issued with incorrect information, such as your name spelt incorrectly or the car registration transposed that you can avoid prosecution. I seem to recall when I was first driving that this was the case but these days it is more difficult to get away with a prosecution as a result of what a court would consider to be a clerical error. If you genuinely believe that you or your vehicle were not involved in the incident then you have the right to go to court or appeal but bear in mind that this will inevitably result in a higher fine and possibly costs if you are still found guilty. If you simply go to court and argue that the ticket does not apply to you as the name on the ticket is spelt incorrectly you will lose as the police have the right to correct clerical errors in court. If you are in the wrong simply pay up, it may end up costing you much more than the fine. By Graham Hill