Forum Topic

URGENT: Solicitor for road traffic offences

Please could someone recommend a local solicitor to help my son who has inadvertently clocked up 3 speeding offences.

Sara Ioannides ● 1d14 Comments

Suggest you look for a specialist road traffic offence lawyer - not necessary a local solicitor. Plenty via Google.  Local lawyers are unlikely to cover that kind of thing in detail.

Jackie Elton ● 1d

Thank you, Jackie.  I didn't word my request very well.  I was hoping to find a solicitor specialising in these cases who also is quite local.  Google had left me rather confused, though I have subsequently spoken to one not too far away who was quite helpful.

Sara Ioannides ● 22h

Thinking to the future, if his car has cruise control...use it.  If not then change it for one that does. Skoda does cruise control starting at 15mph.

James Petri ● 9h

Better than cruise control, which is about staying at a particular crusing speed, is the limiter, which means you can go at any speed up to the limiter speed set. As a suitable legal speed in town is often below the limit (it's a limit, not a target) and you're always slowing and stopping it means you don't have to reset the cruise control all the time, just leave the limiter set.A car I drove had both, and I used the limiter in town, but cruise control, with automatic distance keeping, on motorways.

Paul James ● 8h

It might be easier just to use Waze or another satnav app which gives warnings of when you are over the limit and speed cameras. I use it now even for short journeys because new cameras are appearing all the time.  On the legal question — put the details of the offences into AI and ask if it would be worth getting legal representation. That would circumvent the possibility of you paying for a consult and being told your son is bang to rights.

Francis Rowe ● 8h

Waze and iPhone maps are both good at giving you advance notice of cameras, however they aren't 100% reliable about what the speed limit is. Sometimes they will inform you the speed limit is higher than it is.

Andrew Jones ● 7h

Many thanks, all: some helpful advice here.  He is generally careful re speed limits but got caught out on the A316 after they reduced the previously 40 MPH stretch to 30.  Does anyone remember when exactly they did this?

Sara Ioannides ● 6h

Probably not very helpful, but I got caught out in the same place for the same reason. I was going 37mph, without realising the limit had been reduced. I contested it, arguing the signs were not clear, and at the time there was only one. I argued it didn't give one enough time/notice to safely slow down to the new limit, but unfortunately they rejected my challenge and I had to pay the fine...

Mark Edwards ● 6h

WHy do you need advance warning of cameras? Are you speeding all the time?

Paul James ● 6h

Check the signage, Paul, before you ask yet another daft question.There are plenty of examples where the camera sign appears before the trap. Which is something I always found quite funny. But hey ho, that's how you guys roll. In fact, given the prevalance of them, one would think legally the precedent has been set by authorities so it is a reasonable expectation to find such signs at every location.As for technology being accurate, I think that's part of the problem. Your car could be doing 30 and you could get caught out doing 31. There is no margin of error for something not in your control. The other day I was was using cruise control and rather than the car reading the speed for the lane I was in, it read the speed for the exit lane and overpass which would cause one to slow down prematurely/unnecessarily and cause risk where risk needn't be.

David Lesniak ● 6h

Thanks for this, Mark.  I am sure you and he are not the only ones to have got caught.  He was going 35 or 36 (2 separate occasions) but just did not notice that the previous 40 mph sign had been removed.  Your failed challenge does not bode well for him!

Sara Ioannides ● 6h

>Check the signage, Paul, before you ask yet another daft question.How is "are you speeding all the time" to somebody said they need to know where the caemea are a daft question?>Your car could be doing 30 and you could get caught out doing 31. Pretty sure not. If a speed camera reads you at 31mph I very much doubt it would go further, even if you were going at 31mph, which is illegal, but...>The other day I was was using cruise control and rather than the car reading the speed for the lane I was in, it read the speed for the exit lane and overpass which would cause one to slow down prematurely/unnecessarily and cause risk where risk needn't be.I've never seen a cruise control that changes the set speed from the road signs it reads, is that what you're suggesting? If so what car does this?

Paul James ● 5h

>I've never seen a cruise control that changes the set speed from the road signs it reads,Hmmm, apparently it is a feature in some cars, never driven a car that does that though.I would turn that off sharpish. I see even Tesla say its car can do it but you shouldn't use it as it can get things wrong.

Paul James ● 5h

Hi Sara,Sorry to hear about your son’s situation, it must be incredibly stressful. While seeking professional legal advice is a wise step to fully understand his options, please be aware that taking this to court might not be the best or cheapest option unless he has a highly specific legal loophole.The Legal "Norm": Why Court is RiskySpeeding is a strict liability offence. Legally, it doesn't matter if it was inadvertent or a genuine mistake—if the camera caught him over the limit, the offence is proven.• Fixed Penalties (The Safer Route): For driving 35–36 mph in a 30 mph zone, each offence typically carries a £100 fine and 3 penalty points. If he accepts the fixed penalties, he will accumulate 9 points and £300 in fines.• The Danger of Court: Going to court without a concrete defence risks significantly higher income-based fines (up to £1,000), victim surcharges, and heavy court costs, on top of receiving the exact same penalty points.• The 12-Point Limit: Accumulating 9 points puts him very close to a "totting up" driving ban, which triggers at 12 points. Additionally, if he passed his driving test within the last two years, his licence will be automatically revoked if he reaches 6 points or more.The "Maybe": The Specific A316 Local CircumstancesThe only reason to consult a specialist road traffic solicitor is to see if he can exploit the chaotic rollout on the A316 stretch, which TfL recently reduced from 40 mph to 30 mph. A solicitor would need to check the exact dates on his Notices of Intended Prosecution (NIPs) against this timeline:• The Streetlight Trap: Richmond Council publicly criticised TfL for poor signage, but legally, because that stretch of the A316 has streetlights, it is classified as a "restricted road." By law, permanent 30 mph repeater signs are actually prohibited here. Drivers are legally expected to know the limit is 30 mph purely because the streetlights are there.• The Signage Timeline: TfL only put up temporary "New 30mph Limit" warning signs, and these were officially removed on 19 September 2026. If he was caught after that date, there were no warning signs left at all.• The Enforcement Date: While the limit changed earlier in the year, the Metropolitan Police didn't actually start issuing fines on the A316 average speed cameras until July 2026 after a grace period.If a solicitor cannot find a technical defect in the official Traffic Regulation Order or the camera calibration, fighting this is highly unlikely to succeed. If there is no loophole, accepting the fixed penalties is usually the safest way to cap the financial damage, though he will need to drive incredibly carefully moving forward.Best of luck to him.

Hans Lund-Sorensen ● 2h