When you have been caught speeding, sometimes the most common thing to do is to look at the reasons behind any speeding offences, and to see if you might be able to have a court take some of them into consideration.

When it comes to speeding offences, many of them will require you to go to court, which means that you can tell your side of the story and see if you can get a reduction in your punishment. Of course, there aren’t going to be a lot of situations in which you’ll be able to get a reduction, but it is important for you to think about the various excuses you might have for speeding in order to see if any of them would qualify you for a reduction in the fines or the problems that you might have.

Showing that you had good reason behind your speeding offences (maybe you’ve been under a lot of stress) means that you may be able to demonstrate grounds to have any punishment reduced. The idea is to not say that you’re not guilty, but to show that there are good grounds for your guilt, and that these should be taken into consideration.

Many times people have not paid their fixed penalty notice and have been allowed to take their case to court. However, not all accounts are believed by the courts and a reduction in the punishment is not forthcoming. At the end of the day it is down to the judge hearing the case.

Trying to demonstrate your speeding offences were as a result of other road users do not always win over the courts. For example, saying you were breaking the speed limit to put a larger gap between your vehicle and the one following you usually gets you the answer that you should pull over and let them pass. However, saying that you thought you were in jeopardy because the car behind was chasing you may help.

Getting caught in a 30mph area can be problematic as there isn’t a law stating that there needs to be a road sign detailing the speed limit, so saying there’s no sign wont be successful. The only way to get around this is to demonstrate that it wasn’t clearly a residential area or to show that you traveled from a higher speed area and that there was no sign telling you of the speed change.

Many people challenge the speed cameras, because they say that they were caught by a speed camera and there was no posted sign telling them that they’d be under surveillance by one in the area. However, it important to note that while many police units do let citizens know that a speed camera is in use, it is not the law that they have to. Therefore, they do not need to post that there are going to be speed cameras, and they can catch you speeding if they do.

It is important to note that the police have the right to gather evidence in areas where motorists are known to speed, and it is not something that they have to do. Most police units make their speed cameras known and therefore you will know where most of them are, but not all of them do and not all of them will.

Trying to use the excuse that the mobile speed camera in use by the police was hidden and thus the ticket is not valid will not work. There is no legal requirement for the police to identify mobile camera vehicles whatsoever.

If the road signs showing the limits on the stretch of road you were caught have been covered or hidden by foliage then you may be able to argue that you were unaware of a change to a lower speed limit and use this as an excuse. However, this isn’t always successfully because the onus is on the motorist to know the limits on the road.

For more guidance on how to avoidSpeeding Offences please go click Speeding Offences

Looking at the reasons why you were breaking the speed limit to see if the courts will take them into consideration just may help you out of your issue with your speeding offences.

Having your day in court is a requirement in many speeding offences, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it allows you to give your view on the situation. Now, there aren’t many arguments which will be successful in getting you out of your speeding offences, but it is crucial that you consider the potential arguments to see if they may assist you get out of your issue.

The arguments you bring up in your defence are not to prove non-guilt, in fact you are saying that you have indeed committed the speeding offences in question, but that there are mitigating circumstances to the situation. These factors are to try to show the courts that you feel that there should be leniency in the punishment because for instance you had to get to the hospital quickly.

If you’ve already paid a fixed penalty notice then you will not be able to go to court to plead your case. If you do get to court then you are at mercy of the people hearing the case and it all boils down to whether or not they believe your story. If they do then your punishment may be reduced, but this is not always successful.

Blaming other motorists for your speeding offences do not usually work in your defence. For instance, saying that you were committing the speeding offences to give you more space between yourself and the driver behind usually result in the person hearing your case telling you that you should have changed lanes. Although you can sometimes use the excuse that you were being chased and believed that you were in danger as a mitigating circumstance.

Getting caught in a 30mph area can be problematic as there isn’t a law stating that there needs to be a road sign detailing the speed limit, so saying there’s no sign wont be successful. The only way to get around this is to demonstrate that it wasn’t clearly a residential area or to show that you traveled from a higher speed area and that there was no sign telling you of the speed change.

There isn’t a need for drivers to be informed that speed cameras are operating on a stretch of road, so trying to challenge the validity of the speeding offences using this excuse may not be successful.

The police have a duty to protect the roads, and as part of their remit they watch areas where drivers are know to break the speed limit. Most forces let you know where their cameras are, but they don’t have to and some don’t.

Generally speaking the police will make a mobile speed van known, although they don’t need to. If you are caught speeding by a mobile unit then trying to use the argument that it was hidden will not be successful.

If you want to claim that you did not see the road signs because they were covered by trees or obstructed, you might be able to try this defense. However, many courts will say that it is important for you to know the speed limit, even if you cannot see the sign, and that you should take care to understand what various speed limits are.