Speeding Summons - Pay up or attend Court and plead a case

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NeoJuris Rex

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hello there,

I got done speeding last June - going 109km in 100km zone just past Kill - N7. The speeding fine notice was sent to my rental accommodation and landlord sent it on to my work - As I work as as a teacher I didnt get to open it until 1st September. I have since gotten an email from him to confirm that I had moved out and he sent it on the post.
I have since received a summons last week for a court date in December. (the summons, which I signed for, aslo had the wrong eircode).

So my query is should I got to court and contend that I didnt get the fixed penalty notice and therefore had no option to pay the initial 80 euro fee and take my chances ....or drop into the local garda station up to 7 days before the court date and pay 160 euros plus the 3 penalty points.

Any feedback from those of you in the know would be sincerely appreciated.

Thanks

Neo
 
NeoJuris Rex said:
So my query is should I got to court and contend that I didnt get the fixed penalty notice and therefore had no option to pay the initial 80 euro fee
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You mean should your perjure yourself?
I think you the answer to that question.
NeoJuris Rex said:
or drop into the local garda station up to 7 days before the court date and pay 160 euros plus the 3 penalty points.
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Sounds like a better option to me.

Even better would be to get legal advice from a solicitor who deals with such offences.
 
ClubMan said:
You mean should your perjure yourself?
I think you the answer to that question.
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She didn't get the original Fixed Penalty Notice because s/he had moved out of their accommodation and the landlord had sent it on to their school (which was presumably closed for the Summer holidays).
 
Páid said:
She didn't get the original Fixed Penalty Notice because s/he had moved out of their accommodation and the landlord had sent it on to their school (which was presumably closed for the Summer holidays).
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The original post doesn't make the timing chart and, in particular, if the FCPN arrived when they were still renting or after they left.

The court might take the view that it's the individual's responsibility to have post forwarded properly when they move residence. But I'm not a lawyer. Which is who the original poster probably needs to talk to.
 
@Leo - clubman and paid …
I moved out of the house in March - the Notice was sent to the house in May - the landlord posted it in June - and I got it on my first day back to work in September - I have updated the change of address ( which you can’t do online if your motor tax hasn’t run out)

My query is basically can I make a case that I did not get this notice to pay the lower amount of 80 euros as I didn’t open the post until September - I have no problem paying the 160 but would like to k now if I just turned up and told the truth - would the thing be dropped …

Incidentally when the summons did arrive at my new address last week the eircode was wrong but I’m not splitting hairs on that one.

All advice , comments and suggestions sincerely appreciated.

Thanks

Neo
 
NeoJuris Rex said:
- I have updated the change of address ( which you can’t do online if your motor tax hasn’t run out)
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You can't send back the registration cert online... I just brought that up as your case will likely be dealt with more sympathetically if you have all your documentation in order.
 
If it were me I would just pay it. Is the €80 worth taking a day off work to go to court?
 
Páid said:
If it were me I would just pay it. Is the €80 worth taking a day off work to go to court?
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If you go to court it could be dropped, but as likely the judge will decide you pay 160 and the points are increased. (The points increase is the disadvantage in going to court, it goes from 3 to 5 for speeding offenses.)

Also the courts blast through these cases in seconds - there's very little time to be explaining to the judge. Also if you bring a solicitor with you - they will cost more than 160e.

On one hand I think the system of initial notification is guaranteed to often fail. On the other hand the cause of the problem is you were unusually (for most workers) 1/4 of year out of your workplace that happened to be the forwarding address for the landlord, I'd just pay and be happy there's an option to pay up to 7 days beforehand without the pain of extra points.
 
ashambles said:
If you go to court it could be dropped, but as likely the judge will decide you pay 160 and the points are increased. (The points increase is the disadvantage in going to court, it goes from 3 to 5 for speeding offenses.)

Also the courts blast through these cases in seconds - there's very little time to be explaining to the judge. Also if you bring a solicitor with you - they will cost more than 160e.

On one hand I think the system of initial notification is guaranteed to often fail. On the other hand the cause of the problem is you were unusually (for most workers) 1/4 of year out of your workplace that happened to be the forwarding address for the landlord, I'd just pay and be happy there's an option to pay up to 7 days beforehand without the pain of extra points.
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I agree, just pay up.

It's too risky and if you lose the extra points will effect your insurance.
 
Is there any option to appeal a speeding fine, if you got the notice but haven’t paid as yet. Say if you were rushing to see a sick relative ?! Are there any ways to appeal ?
 
Mamamia22 said:
Is there any option to appeal a speeding fine, if you got the notice but haven’t paid as yet.
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Yes, you go to court.

The penalty points system in Ireland

How the penalty points system works. How penalty points are incurred and how long penalty points last for. Cancelling and appealing penalty points.
www.rsa.ie www.rsa.ie
Can penalty points be appealed?

Yes.

When you are issued with a fixed charge notice for a penalty points offence, you can opt to pay the fine and accept the penalty points or you can go to court and have the matter decided upon there. 

On payment of a fixed charge notice or on foot of a Court decision the penalty points are applied to the licence record of the driver concerned and remain on the record for three years. An appeal against a court decision can be lodged within 14 days of the decision with the Courts. The Road Safety Authority has no power to remove penalty points and can only do so on the direction of a Court or An Garda Síochána.
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Mamamia22 said:
Is there any option to appeal a speeding fine, if you got the notice but haven’t paid as yet. Say if you were rushing to see a sick relative ?! Are there any ways to appeal ?
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That sounds like the adult version of "the dog ate my homework, sir." If I were a bored district justice processing dozens of traffic cases I'd simply ask the applicant to point out to me the section in the Road Traffic Acts that makes an exception for "rushing to see a sick relative"!

Wife/partner going into labour, maybe - but sick relatives are ten a penny!
 
If you had changed address on VLC and driving licence, this may not have happened.
 
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