Steps to follow

• Police have the legal right to stop any motorist at any time. They don’t have to give you a reason and it’s a criminal offence if you fail to stop.
• When you’re pulled over, you may be asked to produce certain documents including your driving licence, insurance details and vehicle registration document. If you don’t have them on you, you’ll be told to bring them to a police station within 7 days.
• If the police decide that you’ve committed a relatively minor traffic offence, they may issue you with a vehicle defect rectification notice or a fixed penalty notice. 
• A vehicle defect rectification notice may be issued if there is something minor wrong with your car which needs fixing. When issued with one of these, you’ll need to get the problem sorted within a time limit and bring the police proof, such as a receipt from a mechanic saying the fault has been fixed.
• A fixed penalty notice is a one-off fine, the amount of which depends on the seriousness of the offence. For non-endorsable offences (ie those which don’t result in points on your licence) the fine is usually £30. Endorsable offences like speeding usually attract fines of £60, while more serious offences like driving without insurance can attract fines of up to £200.
• You can’t be made to pay your fine on the spot by police and if you feel the penalty notice is unjustified you can opt not to pay and to plead your case in court instead. If you do pay the fine, you won’t face prosecution and no record of your offence will be retained. You must pay the fine or ask for a court hearing within 28 days otherwise the fine will rise by 50 per cent.
• You may also be issued with a fixed penalty notice if your traffic offence was caught by an automatic camera – again you have 28 days to pay it or you’ll be reported for prosecution.
• Alternatively, if you’re caught on camera committing a motoring offence, you may receive a court summons through the post. The exact offence will be stated on the summons along with the date of the court appearance. You must turn up at court on this date – if you can’t make it, ensure you let the court know as soon as you can. You might be able to plead guilty by post which means you won’t have to go to court. The summons will outline your options.
• If police stop you and suspect you’ve been drinking, they have the power to breathalyse you. You’ll need to give two valid samples of breath, and the lower result is the one on which any prosecution will be based. If you fail the breath test, you’ll be taken to the police station, charged and you’ll be required to appear in court in due course. Your car will have to stay where it is until you’re sober enough to drive it. Failure to give a breath test is an offence. If you’re successfully prosecuted for drink driving, you’ll automatically be banned from driving.
• If your vehicle is being used in an anti-social manner (causing alarm, harassment or distress), the police are allowed to seize it. This includes inconsiderate driving and unauthorised off-road driving of cars, motorbikes etc.
• If you commit enough endorsable offences to amass 12 points on your licence within a three year period, you will lose it – usually for at least six months. Endorsements stay on your driving licence for four or 11 years (depending on the offence). You can apply to remove expired endorsements by exchanging your driving licence for a new one. You will also automatically lose your driving licence if you build up six or more penalty points within two years of passing your first driving test.
• For most summary traffic offences (ie those which would be heard in the magistrates’ court) the police have six months to bring action against you. There is no time limit for more serious traffic offences such as dangerous driving.

What to watch out for

A court cannot disqualify a driver who pleads guilty by post so check your summons carefully: if the postal option does not appear on it, you should assume that the court is considering imposing a driving ban. This means you should turn up at court and think hard what you’re going to say in mitigation (ie, information given after a guilty plea which seeks to persuade the court that you should be given a lesser penalty or sentence). Good mitigation could considerably reduce your sentence so you might want to seek legal advice in helping you prepare this.

Solicitor’s top tip

There are certain motoring offences – such as dangerous driving, careless driving, leaving a vehicle in a dangerous position and dangerous cycling – which you can’t be convicted for unless you have been issued with a notice of intended prosecution (NIP). These can be issued verbally at the time of the alleged offence or must otherwise be served on you within 14 days of the offence. Receipt of a NIP doesn’t automatically mean you’re going to face prosecution; it’s just a warning that you might.

Useful links

Free advice

www.lawcentres.org.uk
www.citizensadvice.org.uk
www.communitylegaladvice.org.uk
http://www.lawworks.org.uk/

Online services

Law Society
http://www.brake.org.uk/
Crown Prosecution Service
Code for Crown Prosecutors
Department for Transport
http://www.mib.org.uk/Home/en/default.htm
http://www.biba.org.uk
http://www.cobx.org/
http://www.abi.org.uk/
http://www.driving-law.co.uk/
http://www.rac.co.uk/
http://www.theaa.com/

Useful articles

Overview of speeding laws
Overview of crime and criminal law
Penalties for drink driving
Drink driving and defences to drink driving
The points system
Contesting parking tickets
Parking tickets
Crown Prosecution Service
Do I need a lawyer? (personal)
Choices if you cannot afford a lawyer