Driving Law And Rumours About Ways Around Them
4:22 AM
There are several myths floating around, particularly on the Internet, about ways that you can avoid being charged if accused of committing a traffic offence. However the fact is that the vast majority of them are simply not true.
One of the most common theories people have is that if a police officer makes a mistake on a traffic offence ticket then that ticket is invalid and the charge is void, but as with most theories of this nature, there is very little truth to it.
The ticket that police officer issues you is not part of any official evidence, it is merely a summary of the incident and if you contest the validity of it if, for example, the officer had put the wrong date of offence or the wrong vehicle registration number, he will have to draft an official statement which they will be unlikely to make a mistake on and a court summons will have to be sent to you.
However, if you dont believe that you have committed the supposed offence and the officer has made a mistake on the ticket, you may be able to use it as evidence that the officer paid insufficient attention to the incident and has a sloppy approach.
However most of the time a mistake on a traffic ticket will not do you any favours. The officers job is to prove to the court beyond reasonable doubt that you have committed the offence in question and if he does this, then a mistake on the ticket will not matter in the slightest.
Another theory that has come up is that when the police ask you who was driving the vehicle at the time of the offence, you dont have to tell them because that would violate human rights. People think that if you are the registered keeper then you dont have to answer the question who was driving it as your human rights allow you to withhold this information.
The fact is that this just isnt true. Human rights have been changed to this effect because the compromise in human rights is proportionate to the importance of road safety.
Another mistake that is fairly commonly made occurs when people have insurance policies that allow them to drive other peoples cars with their permission. The mistake is that, they will buy a new car and before they are registered as the keeper of the vehicle, they believe that it officially still belongs to the old owner, therefore they think they can drive it without switching their insurance over.
This is of course, untrue. If you have paid money for the vehicle, then it is yours in the eyes of a court, which means you would not be covered on the insurance that allows you to drive other peoples cars, so you would have to transfer the insurance over to be able to drive the new car legally.
One of the most common theories people have is that if a police officer makes a mistake on a traffic offence ticket then that ticket is invalid and the charge is void, but as with most theories of this nature, there is very little truth to it.
The ticket that police officer issues you is not part of any official evidence, it is merely a summary of the incident and if you contest the validity of it if, for example, the officer had put the wrong date of offence or the wrong vehicle registration number, he will have to draft an official statement which they will be unlikely to make a mistake on and a court summons will have to be sent to you.
However, if you dont believe that you have committed the supposed offence and the officer has made a mistake on the ticket, you may be able to use it as evidence that the officer paid insufficient attention to the incident and has a sloppy approach.
However most of the time a mistake on a traffic ticket will not do you any favours. The officers job is to prove to the court beyond reasonable doubt that you have committed the offence in question and if he does this, then a mistake on the ticket will not matter in the slightest.
Another theory that has come up is that when the police ask you who was driving the vehicle at the time of the offence, you dont have to tell them because that would violate human rights. People think that if you are the registered keeper then you dont have to answer the question who was driving it as your human rights allow you to withhold this information.
The fact is that this just isnt true. Human rights have been changed to this effect because the compromise in human rights is proportionate to the importance of road safety.
Another mistake that is fairly commonly made occurs when people have insurance policies that allow them to drive other peoples cars with their permission. The mistake is that, they will buy a new car and before they are registered as the keeper of the vehicle, they believe that it officially still belongs to the old owner, therefore they think they can drive it without switching their insurance over.
This is of course, untrue. If you have paid money for the vehicle, then it is yours in the eyes of a court, which means you would not be covered on the insurance that allows you to drive other peoples cars, so you would have to transfer the insurance over to be able to drive the new car legally.
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