Section 144A(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988

[Anthony_sims]

Hello,
back in August/September 2013, I brought myself a new car after driving an old car for several years, i then left it of the road outside my friends barn, and i forgot the 'sorn' the car. back on the 4th of December I recied at letter from the Drivers and Vehicles Lincensing Agency stating my failure to insure and i have a fine of a £100 to pay which i did then still forgot to sorn the car.

then i received a letter for a court summons for not having insurance on my vehicle under the Section 144A(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988.

the car is still off road and is in an undrivable condition (as in it has no windows the lights arent working and the doors are damage beyond repair.

is the anything i can do or is the best course the plead guilt in the attempt to reduce the fine?

[LEY1990]

Re: Section 144A(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988

i have a similar situation what did you end up doing?

[stevemLS]

Re: Section 144A(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988

Whether the car is being driven or not, you are guilty of an offence if it is registered and not insured or SORN'd.

You shouldn't usually face the £100 FP and the prosecution for an offence on the same date.

However, I am pretty certain the date named in the FP will be different to that in the summons.

TBH it is pretty careless to forget to SORN the vehicle after having had to pay a fixed penalty.

It is a strict liability offence meaning that there are very limited grounds on which you can defend it and from what you say, you have no grounds.

I would suggest your best option is to plead guilty and plead in mitigation that the vehicle was undrivable etc, if you have any personal circumstances which may go some way to exusing your lengthy period of forgetting to deal with it, it might have the effect of mitigating the fine.

[kellee]

Re: Section 144A(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988

hi guys im wondering if you could help me also, i brough a car with a friend for work and he got insured and used it for over 5 months untill my friend brought a van so he changed his insurance over from the car to the van and thought nothing of it, after a month he disappeared and iv heard nothing since whilst this happened i received a penalty for not insuring the car so i rang the number on the letter to argue the point that i cant insure it as i have no licence and that i didnt know it had to be insured to be on the road as it had tax and mot but as i went through the relevant options as to what i was ringing for it went to an automated service and basically said pay the fine so i left it for a while hoping my financial state would change relatively soon, where i could get a job. i then weighed in the car due it just sitting on my brother in laws drive causing more trouble than what it was worth, now i have a court date and letter, i dont have a job and i dont get benefits as i look after my mother in law and im not ready to move in with my partner as of yet, can you help me please kind regards kellee

[sean5302]

Re: Section 144A(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988

Anthony,
Hello and welcome to LB.

As Stevem has said, the failure to sorn is indefensible. You have no real defence to a matter of fact. You either have sorn or tax, mot and insurance. That part seems to have been dealt with by FP.
The second part is VERY MUCH more serious. The vehicle needs to be insured if it is parked or used on a public road or an area of land to which the public has access. Failure to comply with this leads to summons, 6 points on the licence and £600 fine.
If it truly is "off the road", and please read my definition of "road" above, you have no case to answer other than payment of another FP.

LEY1990, 1 topic per thread please. If I have not answered your query, would you please start a new topic?

kellee, likewise. You're in big trouble for this. You will end up with a "ghost licence" at DVLA with the 6 points on and then might have to navigate the new driver licence revocation by DVLA. Accumulate 6 points in your first 2 years as a new driver and you have to retake your test again.

[wales01man]

Re: Section 144A(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988

The rules seem clear to the rest of us maybe we think they are wrong but its the law its so easy to SORN a car no problem is there?