Zigzag lines

[Alzah]

I received a letter today dated 10/03/14 for a parking offence on zigzag lines in January 13th 2014

 

for me either attend a course or get 3 points and pay £100.

 

Is there a time scale for when I should've received this by

 

since the police officer said to me if I don't hear anything within 14 days

 

then I won't have to worry about anything?

 

I've never had any offences before!

 

Please advise?

[BazzaS]

I received a letter today dated 10/03/14 for a parking offence on zigzag lines in January 13th 2014

 

for me either attend a course or get 3 points and pay £100.

 

Is there a time scale for when I should've received this by

 

since the police officer said to me if I don't hear anything within 14 days

 

then I won't have to worry about anything?

 

I've never had any offences before!

 

Please advise?

 

Part of me says "take the course"

It will remind you that the zigzag lines are there so that your vehicle doesn't obstruct other drivers' views of pedestrians.

You wouldn't kill or injure them : your actions would mean other drivers might.

 

A friend who was a copper said he used discretion for any and all offences - yet he'd never met the situation that had sufficient reason to warrant his use of discretion for a 'zigzag line' offence.

 

If you can't use the '14 day rule' then take the course : less costly and no points.

 

However, what is the "issue date" on the paperwork?

The Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) must be issued within 14 days of the alleged offence.

So, you may have a "get out" - it will depend :

Are you the registered keeper? If you aren't and the registered keeper got the NIP within 14 days and then named you as driver - it is still valid.

 

Does it look like a NIP was issued in time? (Check the issue date, and are there reasons why it may have been re-issued e.g. To a corrected address.

Were you spoken to (e.g. by the police) at the time?

More info would allow a more reliable answer.

[Aretnap]

A NIP is only required for certain offences - from memory a pedestrian crossing offence isn't one of them. So the 14 day rule doesn't apply.

 

Even if this offence did require a NIP, it sounds like you were spoken to at the time by an officer who (presumably) told you that there was a possibility that you'd be prosecuted for it, in which case there's no requirement for a written notice of intended prosecution as well.

 

So no, there's no particular timescale which they have to abide by - except that if you don't do the course or pay the fixed penalty they have to start the proceedings to prosecute you within 6 months of the offence.

[Alzah]

Thanks for the info guys.