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Tens of thousands of drivers who were caught speeding during December could escape fines and points because of the impact of the postal strikes, a leading motoring lawyer has warned.
Industrial action by Royal Mail workers last month caused major disruption to deliveries with some letters and Christmas cards taking weeks to be delivered.
Under the current law, anyone caught speeding must receive a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) within 14 days of the alleged offence.
But if they can successfully argue they did not receive the letter within the two-week window the case is likely to be thrown out by magistrates.
Nick Freeman, the motoring lawyer known as Mr Loophole, said the chaos caused by the strikes means thousands of drivers could potentially challenge their prosecutions by claiming their speeding notice did not arrive in time.
If a driver opts to plead not guilty in court they will be asked to swear on oath that their NIP did not arrive within 14 days and then it will be up to the prosecution to prove it did.
In normal times a letter sent first class is guaranteed to arrive within two working days, but during the Royal Mail strike there were no guarantees when post would arrive.
Some 2.4 million speeding tickets are issued each year, meaning around 200,000 drivers are caught each month.
As well as receiving a fine, a motorist can get points on their licence, which under the totting up system could see them banned from driving for a period, giving them all the more reason to challenge a prosecution.
Despite having used postal delays in the past to get celebrity clients off motoring offences, Mr Freeman is calling for authorities to close the loophole and begin notifying people by email and text as well as by mail.
‘Urgent change’ needed
He said: “Sending out letters in this day and age really does not make any sense especially when the Royal Mail is going out on strike.
“It is possible lots of alleged speeders are slipping the net because of vagaries of our postal strike. The system needs to be changed and urgently – especially with more industrial action planned.”
He went on: “There is a very simple solution that would solve this problem and close the loophole. In this electronic age, it should be a legal requirement that when anyone registers a vehicle with the DVLA they should have to provide both an email and mobile phone number as well as postal address.
“That way notification of an impending prosecution for speeding can be sent out by text and email – so circumnavigating any postal loophole.”
In 2010 the former England cricket star, Andrew Flintoff, was acquitted of speeding after his lawyer was able to show the prosecution notice had been sent two days late.
Retired footballer David Beckham also had a case thrown out when Mr Freeman was able to show that the NIP had arrived one day outside of the 14-day limit.
Mr Freeman said: “Wanting to close a legal loophole may appear like I am shooting myself in the foot.
“But although these loopholes are perfectly legal defences – based on law – road safety is my primary concern.
“Every time I expose a legal loophole in a successful defence. I hope the Government seizes the opportunity to close it down.
“That is what I want to happen here. With strikes threatening to further disrupt our postal services, unless changes are made to the way an NIP is sent out, many speeders may well benefit from this loophole.”
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