no mot, out by 3 days fixed penalty help!!!

[davross23]

Hi i was driving the other day and was pulled over for the way my car looked, saxo vtr (big stupid exhuast etc) they asked me the usual, where you goin, lookin at the people in my car blah blah spent 10 mins looking around the car and found nothing wrong, gave me one of those things where you have to take your documents into the station, no probs i thought, had 7 days to present but i went straight down, officer took my documents and all was ok EXCEPT my mot had expired by 3 days, i bought the car in november 07 and the dealer said it had a year (my first car so never checked, dumb) they said "thats a shame but we have to caution you" they said they didnt think anything would happen due to it being only 3 days, just got a letter today saying i have a fixed penalty of £60 i am willing to pay it but was wondering if any of you guys or gals knew what would be my likely outcome of any kind of appeal? and also how i would go about such a thing?

[Dieselman]

Is this just a fine or is it points as well.

I doubt you have any grounds for appeal so would pay it, especially if it's just a fine.

I hope you've had your car MOT tested now.

[nick mercedes]

Originally Posted by davross23

Hi i was driving the other day and was pulled over for the way my car looked, saxo vtr (big stupid exhuast etc) they asked me the usual, where you goin, lookin at the people in my car blah blah spent 10 mins looking around the car and found nothing wrong, gave me one of those things where you have to take your documents into the station, no probs i thought, had 7 days to present but i went straight down, officer took my documents and all was ok EXCEPT my mot had expired by 3 days, i bought the car in november 07 and the dealer said it had a year (my first car so never checked, dumb) they said "thats a shame but we have to caution you" they said they didnt think anything would happen due to it being only 3 days, just got a letter today saying i have a fixed penalty of £60 i am willing to pay it but was wondering if any of you guys or gals knew what would be my likely outcome of any kind of appeal? and also how i would go about such a thing?

I thought the days of producing documents were long over?

Isn't all the mot/insurance/licence stuff on computer that can be accessed before they even pull people over?

[television]

Originally Posted by nick mercedes

I thought the days of producing documents were long over?

Isn't all the mot/insurance/licence stuff on computer that can be accessed before they even pull people over?

This is only done on number plate recognition cameras.

Pay up you have no choice, but no points for that, so thats something

[Howard]

Originally Posted by nick mercedes

I thought the days of producing documents were long over?

Isn't all the mot/insurance/licence stuff on computer that can be accessed before they even pull people over?

Yep , most police cars have a little computer thing in them , they check , then pull you over and see if you lie .....

[gbjeppm]

Pay up and put it down to experience.

[Gucci]

Originally Posted by Howard

Yep , most police cars have a little computer thing in them , they check , then pull you over and see if you lie .....

I saw a programme show this system (Police, Camera, Street War, Traffic cop etc) and they sometimes switched it off as it was picking up too many cars to deal with . The system initially just tells them to pull the car over - the officers said they don't always know why at first.

[PAPA]

I have a trader insurance and that bloody think keep saying my car is not insured

[whitenemesis]

Originally Posted by PAPA

I have a trader insurance and that bloody think keep saying my car is not insured

But it is ,,, so no problem.

A slight delay in your journey nothing else

[davross23]

thanks for the speedy responses everyone, yeah of course i got it mot'd straight away, just angry i never checked before taking it in. had 7 days to get it mot'd!

[Dieselman]

Originally Posted by whitenemesis

But it is ,,, so no problem.

A slight delay in your journey nothing else

Technically it's not. It's covered under a blanket personal policy but isn't specifically insured like a personal car is.

[whitenemesis]

Originally Posted by Dieselman

Technically it's not. It's covered under a blanket personal policy but isn't specifically insured like a personal car is.

But insured, unlike some others "road users".....

[kjay]

Unless there are obviouse defects, it's not a serious offence. ( with only 3 days outstanding )
60 quid is a good reminder for next year.

My bank has a similar policy when I forget to earn enough.
.
.

[Swiss Toni]

You asked about an appeal;

If you were en route to get the car tested when you were stopped, you have a defence in law and so would not have commited the offence - clearly this is not what happened in your case and the chances of an MOT station wanting to pervert the course of justice (imprisonable offence) to lie and save you £60 is pretty slim.

If you appeal and say "I forgot", then it makes no difference and you are admitting the offence (which is an absolute offence - either you did or you didn't have the valid certificate). An appeal would mean a trip to the Magistrates Court where the fixed penalty would be the starting point for the fine they would impose, they would also add costs (which could be more than the fine) and could impose more points too.

Get legal advice if you want it (ie face to face, not some bloke on t'internet) but the penalty is a good reminder to spend time ensuring your car is safe and legal.

[fredfloggle]

Originally Posted by Swiss Toni

You asked about an appeal;

If you were en route to get the car tested when you were stopped, you have a defence in law and so would not have commited the offence - clearly this is not what happened in your case and the chances of an MOT station wanting to pervert the course of justice (imprisonable offence) to lie and save you £60 is pretty slim.

If you appeal and say "I forgot", then it makes no difference and you are admitting the offence (which is an absolute offence - either you did or you didn't have the valid certificate). An appeal would mean a trip to the Magistrates Court where the fixed penalty would be the starting point for the fine they would impose, they would also add costs (which could be more than the fine) and could impose more points too.

Get legal advice if you want it (ie face to face, not some bloke on t'internet) but the penalty is a good reminder to spend time ensuring your car is safe and legal.

Of course you are the expert on this, but whilst the offense is absolute, it is non-endorsable assuming of course that the vehicle is roadworthy. Now that all MOTS are computerized, then the defense of not being able to find the ticket and not remembering where it was MOT'ed on an otherwise roadworthy vehicle would get you a fiver fine for failing to produce.

The OP might like to check the dates on his old MOT , the MOT isn't required to be valid when produced, but it is required to be valid when you were stopped.

You could have an MOT but an unroadworthy vehicle, this is when points make prizes.