NIP, sorry.........

[Man in the middle]

If it was a 50mph limit you should be offered a course. They are normally offered up to (Limit + 10% + 9mph), so up to 64mph. You can only do one course (of the same type) in three years, with the date of the offences being used to calculate that period.

[Man in the middle]

1 hour ago, hovercraft said:

You can't have a dual carriage way on one side!" didn't know this inspite of driving for some 40yrs. Every day a school day

 

A dual carriageway is a road which has a central reservation to separate the carriageways. If there is any dispute over whether a road is a dual carriageway or not (e.g. if you defend a speeding charge on the basis that the road you were on was a dual carriageway and the prosecution disagrees) it will be for a court to decide who is right. If you think about it you cannot have a "one sided" dual carriageway. If the road is divided by a central reservation it is a dual carriageway (in both directions) and if it isn't it's not. Could you be thinking of a situation where a single carriageway road has a "service road" along one side, divided from the main road by, say a pavement? 

 

 

[Man in the middle]

2 hours ago, hovercraft said:

Hi, thanks for the reply. No, I was definately on a 2 lane (my side) of the road (an overtaking section?), the otherside may have been a single lane.

 

Yes but did it have a central reservation separating the two carriageways, or was it just white line? As honeybee has indicated, there may be some confusion as to what constitutes a dual carriageway. The number of lanes is irrelevant. It is the dividing reservation which must be present.

[Man in the middle]

You need to keep an eye on this.

 

Obviously all courses have been cancelled UFN. However, under the normal process you would firstly be offered a course. If you failed to take it up you would be offered a fixed penalty. Finally if you failed to take up that offer you would face a court hearing and that decision is usually taken four months after the offence date

 

It's not at all clear what they intend to do in cases like yours (where a course was offered before they were all cancelled). No courses are being offered now and low-level speeding goes automatically straight to a fixed penalty. Whether they will withdraw course offers in cases like yours is not known. One would hope that common sense prevails and they simply revert to a fixed penalty. But the danger you face is that they do nothing and then you will face a court hearing by default (they have six months to begin proceedings). You are in a bit of a cleft stick because if they do nothing and the matter "times out" you're off the hook entirely. But if you "poke the hornet's nest" at about four months it may stir them into action. If the worst happens and you do face prosecution the court has the discretion to sentence you at the fixed penalty level.

[Man in the middle]

A fixed penalty is £100 and three points.

A single speeding offence is not likely to make a significant difference to your insurance premium unless you are in a particularly high risk group.

 

However it looks like they have matters in hand.

If you do take the course one thing to bear in mind is that you can only do one of any type within three years (with the date of the offences being used to calculate that period).

[Man in the middle]

Good news! Did the course mention dual carriageways???   

[Man in the middle]

Ah but then they would not have been able to charge you £100 for doing it and the only alternative would have been £100 and three points!