Speeding litigation letter

[Andyp1212]

Hi

I have been a silly sod and was caught speeding in August last year doing 50 in a 30.

I have today received the court letters and plan to plead quilty by post.

I have never had to write a mitigation letter before and wondered if Someone would mind reviewing to see what you think?

Draft letter:

Dear Sirs


In order to reduce the courts time I plead guilty to my speeding offence and accept full responsibility for my actions on that day.


Whilst I accept responsibility, I would ask if you would take into consideration my mental health on that day as a factor.


Last year was somewhat of a difficult year in terms of my health with frequent visits to various specialist for scans and investigations, this proved a worrying and challenging time for me and my family, so much so I was referred to Newcastle taking therapies for help and support. On the day of my offence I had a meeting with my talking therapist which was making me more anxious then usual, it was due to this that I took my eye off the speedometer and used my own judgement to deem that the speed I was traveling to be acceptable.


I am not using the above as a plea to belittle my speeding, however I feel it is important for you to understand my mental well being on that day.


Further more I would would like you to consider my driving record to date of over 21 years with not one cause of accident in this time and my current clean driving license as confirmation of my usually high standard of driving with care and consideration to other road users and pedestrians alike.


I regret my action on that day and my error of judgment, I know only to well the dangers of driving above the limits and know I have now tarnished my driving record.


I have enclosed an income and expenditure drafted by the Debt charity, Step change direct and would ask if this could also be considered when setting the fine and length of time I have to pay.


I am no longer under the care of the NHS or talking therapies and am 100% focused on my driving each and every time I get behind the wheel.






it's this on or too long?

Thanks

[Openlaw15]

Re: Speeding litigation letter

Hi

I have been a silly sod and was caught speeding in August last year doing 50 in a 30.

I have today received the court letters and plan to plead quilty by post.

I have never had to write a mitigation letter before and wondered if Someone would mind reviewing to see what you think?

Draft letter:

Dear Sirs


In order to reduce the courts time I plead guilty to my speeding offence and accept full responsibility for my actions on that day.


Whilst I accept responsibility, I would ask if you would take into consideration my mental health on that day as a factor.


Last year was somewhat of a difficult year in terms of my health with frequent visits to various specialist for scans and investigations, this proved a worrying and challenging time for me and my family, so much so I was referred to Newcastle taking therapies for help and support. On the day of my offence I had a meeting with my talking therapist which was making me more anxious then usual, it was due to this that I took my eye off the speedometer and used my own judgement to deem that the speed I was traveling to be acceptable.


I am not using the above as a plea to belittle my speeding, however I feel it is important for you to understand my mental well being on that day.


Further more I would would like you to consider my driving record to date of over 21 years with not one cause of accident in this time and my current clean driving license as confirmation of my usually high standard of driving with care and consideration to other road users and pedestrians alike.


I regret my action on that day and my error of judgment, I know only to well the dangers of driving above the limits and know I have now tarnished my driving record.


I have enclosed an income and expenditure drafted by the Debt charity, Step change direct and would ask if this could also be considered when setting the fine and length of time I have to pay.


I am no longer under the care of the NHS or talking therapies and am 100% focused on my driving each and every time I get behind the wheel.






it's this on or too long?

Thanks

Why did you require frequent scans and investigations? Does this affect your ability to drive as in a medical condition type? What fine have they offered you currently and how many points to settle? What law have they cited for the speeding offence? What is the section/ statute of the law has broken to commit the offence. What time of day was the speeding, what was the visibility like, ie clear, or was it raining. If it was not raining etc, were there any pedestrians nearby on the pavement, was it near a school etc? All these things are important as to how you're treated. It's not just a speeding offence, they take lots of things into account.

[wales01man]

Re: Speeding litigation letter

Bit over the top Opemlaw the OP wants to admit the offence the evidence is probably spot on if they wish to challenge it on the grounds you say well that would be hard for most of us laypeople .
Time to find a way to get the minimum points and fine think that's the advice they want

[Openlaw15]

Re: Speeding litigation letter

Bit over the top Opemlaw the OP wants to admit the offence the evidence is probably spot on if they wish to challenge it on the grounds you say well that would be hard for most of us laypeople .
Time to find a way to get the minimum points and fine think that's the advice they want

My point is I want to find out the details so if there are no adverse issues, he can use them to mitigate his circumstances. I am not remotely telling the Op to plead not guilty when they are guilty, am trying to help them to persuade the court to be lenient. This is why these offences are strict liability ie no intention required for the offence, it's so that the court has power to be lenient where it can, but will only do so if it is made aware of those circumstances. Otherwise the fine could potentially be anything up to a £1000.

[Andyp1212]

Re: Speeding litigation letter

Thanks for your replies, in answer to your questions:
Why did you require frequent scans and investigations? Does this affect your ability to drive as in a medical condition type?
I had issues with my stomach and Pancreas which needed investigation, it didn't affect my ability to drive other than suffering from "urgency" to suddenly need to bathroom.

What fine have they offered you currently and how many points to settle? What law have they cited for the speeding offence?
They have not offered me a fine or points as the letter states it could only be dealt with by the courts.


What is the section/ statute of the law has broken to commit the offence. What time of day was the speeding, what was the visibility like, ie clear, or was it raining. If it was not raining etc, were there any pedestrians nearby on the pavement, was it near a school etc?
The time was early morning at 8:50am on a "A road" which has two lanes in each direction, parts of the road are 40mph whilst other parts drop to 30mph. The weather was clear and dry (as far as I can remember) It is not near a school or anything but there are houses set back from the road.

[des8]

Re: Speeding litigation letter

You can plead mitigation regarding the offence itself eg there was not much traffic on the road or it was a momentary lapse of concentration
or plead mitigation on the basis of a clean licence over many years and you drive many miles each year.

I personally would not plead health (mental or physical) problems because that might be read as you realising you had a problem which affected your driving ability (no matter how slightly) and so perhaps you should not have got behind the wheel.
Might be counter productive!

[Openlaw15]

Re: Speeding litigation letter

Thanks for your replies, in answer to your questions:
Why did you require frequent scans and investigations? Does this affect your ability to drive as in a medical condition type?
I had issues with my stomach and Pancreas which needed investigation, it didn't affect my ability to drive other than suffering from "urgency" to suddenly need to bathroom.

Unless this is linked to a medical condition that affects your driving to the extent that your you're a danger to your self and other road users, this in my view should not be an issue, otherwise it would be a case of the state (ie the courts) abusing their power as lots of people have sicknesses but their driving licences are not affected. In your circumstance, my view is your health problems type are not the sort to be a DVLA, Traffic Commissioner issue. Are you saying, your health problems had such an affect on you/ your bladder that you speeded to get home quickly to relieve yourself? Criminal law defences do not have be reasonable as they're called subjective tests for a reason, ie what the defendant their self thought at the time. As far as you're concerned, you believe this to be true so there is no problem using it as a partial defence.

What fine have they offered you currently and how many points to settle? What law have they cited for the speeding offence?
They have not offered me a fine or points as the letter states it could only be dealt with by the courts.


What is the section/ statute of the law has broken to commit the offence. What time of day was the speeding, what was the visibility like, ie clear, or was it raining. If it was not raining etc, were there any pedestrians nearby on the pavement, was it near a school etc?
The time was early morning at 8:50am on a "A road" which has two lanes in each direction, parts of the road are 40mph whilst other parts drop to 30mph. The weather was clear and dry (as far as I can remember) It is not near a school or anything but there are houses set back from the road.

Was there even a small central reservation between the four lane carriageway? You could say that the speed limit was difficult to maintain as it was inconsistent in terms of it appeared (appeared is used as you're not lying; at best you're potentially exaggerating the truth if there were longer stretches of 30 than 40 mph) to be largely 40 mph although with sudden drops in speed limit to 30 mph at short notice. You could also say I was so desperate to visit the toilet that although I would normally better regulate my speed in this unique situation I could not do that. In addition there were no public toilets to use and of course, I could not exactly just stop anywhere and do my business as it were, as that would have been a criminal offence. I now absolutely regret my actions but were it not for the urgency to relive myself I would not have done what I did, and more to the point this will not happen again. There is not a public interest in my circumstance to deal with self in such a harsh way as this is simply an isolated incident.

[Andyp1212]

Re: Speeding litigation letter

Thanks for your replies.

I have drafted the letter and have noted below, do you think this is convenient.

Dear Sirs


In order to reduce the courts time I plead guilty to my speeding offence and accept full responsibility for my actions on that day.


I accept that this was a grave error of judgment and a lapse in concentration. I would like you to consider my driving record to date of over 21 years with not one cause of accident in this time and my current clean driving license as confirmation of my usually high standard of driving with care and consideration to other road users and pedestrians alike.


I regret my action on that day and I know only too well the dangers of driving above the limits and know I have now tarnished my driving record.


I have enclosed an income and expenditure drafted by the Debt charity, Step change direct and would ask if this could also be considered when setting the fine and length of time I have to pay.


Yours

[wales01man]

Re: Speeding litigation letter

IMO that's brilliant gets to the point and tells them your regrets and financial details

[des8]

Re: Speeding litigation letter

:okay::okay::okay: