Speeders let off in mail strike chaos

It looks like the postal strike might not be bad news for everyone. Auto Express has discovered that thousands of motorists could get off speed camera convictions thanks to the mail delays.

An estimated 35,000 speeding tickets are issued by post each week, according to the latest Ministry of Justice figures.

So that’s how many drivers could find that their Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) is caught up in the Royal Mail backlog, slowing the document’s delivery and taking it beyond the two-week deadline by which it has to arrive on an offender’s doormat.

Road traffic lawyer Emma Patterson of Patterson Law explained: “If the police serve you a notice of intended prosecution in the post and it arrives after the 14-day deadline, then section one of the Road Traffic Offenders Act says you shall not be convicted.”

Police will not simply rip up the ticket, however. Patterson added: “You have to name the driver, then argue that section one hasn’t been applied and ask for a court hearing to raise your defence. The magistrates would have to be convinced that the PCN didn’t arrive in time, but right now that is believable.”

However, the strike could actually cost drivers who receive their fines in time and try to pay them before the end of the reduced-rate period. Penalties are usually slashed by half if settled within 14 days, but postal payments could be delayed.