It'll come down to whether the road is actually private or not - if the police were out with a speed gun they must have "reasonable suspicion" that the road was public

The Road Traffic Act applies to private roads if the public can access them.

This was a private road.

The police thought the limit was 30 but it is 60 because there is no signage and the only adjoining road is unrestricted - i.e. 60.

The issue is if he challenges the validity of the speeding ticket, they will clobber him with another offence like due care and attention.

I thought there is a time limit for the offence to be charged but I cannot find a reference to it on the web - perhaps I am using the wrong terminology.

If the private road has regular public access normal rules of the road can apply.

Dalby Forest drive is a private road, but if I drive like Colin McRae and kill someone I can't use the fact its a private road as a defence.

He will have to wait and see what offence he is charged with.

Sorry, I'm missing something. What were the police doing with a laser gun in a private road?

There have been some speeding incidents leading to crashes on the nearby public road. I guess they mistook the private road for the public road.

And what grounds would they have to prosecute your neighbour for driving dangerously / without due care?

He suspects that when they realise that the speed limit is higher than they think, they will look for another offence like driving without due care and attention. Apparently that is what happened on that road before.

If they want to change the charge to Careless of even Dangerous driving they have two problems:

1. They would have to show that some other aggravating features apart from excess speed were present.

2. A NIP must be either given at the time or served within 14 days of the offence. A NIP alleging speeding is not sufficient to cover an allegation of Careless or Dangerous driving. He needs to check what he was warned for.

It seems they would struggle to secure a conviction for speeding (because of the lack of signage or street lighting) so I would let them run with that if they want to. All he needs to do is to ignore the offer of a fixed penalty and let them prosecute him.

Just out of interest, how long is this private road?

Edited by Middleman on 22/08/2020 at 16:12

Thinking this through, either the speeding charge is a goer (i.e. the road is subject to a 30mph limit) or it is not. It is impossible to give an opinion on that without further details or perhaps a Google Maps location. The fact that the road was "private" (whatever that might mean) is not an issue. If other drivers have general "unfettered" access to it it will be regarded as an "other public place" where most of the Road Traffic Act, including speeding, careless and dangerous driving all apply.

I'm not too sure what this is all about:

The worry is that they realise this and change the charge - but speeding has a 14 day limit.

The only 14 day limit there is in any of this is for service of a Notice of Intended Prosecution (a NIP). But where a driver was stopped and warned at the time that he may be prosecuted no further warning is necessary. The Road Traffic Offenders Act says this:

"A person shall not be convicted of an offence to which this section applies unless:

(a) He was warned at the time the offence was committed that question of prosecution for some one or other of the offences to which this section applies would be taken into consideration or

(b) Within 14 days of the commission of the offence a Notice of Intended Prosecution specifying the nature of the alleged offence and the time and place where it was alleged to have been committed was [served on him]."

He was stopped and warned at the time but presumably this was for speeding only (but I'm only guessing). If it was intended to prosecute him for Careless/Dangerous Driving I would suggest that a warning for speeding alone does not meet the requirements above, i.e. that he should be warned of the "...nature of the alleged offence". Careless or Dangerous Driving are offences completely different in nature to speeding. If they intend to prosecute him for either of those a further (written) NIP would have to be served within 14 days. As I said earlier, in England and Wales (though not in Scotland) excess speed along would not normally support a careless or dangerous driving charge unless the speed was manifestly excessive. A speed of 45mph in a 30mph limit is only just above the threshold where a course would be offered as a disposal and is well below the Fixed Penalty threshold (which is up to 49mph).

So, two questions need to be answered:

1. Was the road subject to a 30mph limit?

2. What was the driver warned for at the roadside?

If the road is subject to a 30mph limit then speeding will stick. If it wasn't it won't and Q2 comes into play. If he was not warned that careless and/or dangerous driving was to be considered he needs a separate NIP which must be served within 14 days. Of course disputing what exactly he was warned of at the roadside could prove immensely tricky. The police may well say he was warned that he may be prosecuted "for some one or other of the offences" to which the section applies and not specifically and/or solely speeding.

Edited by Middleman on 23/08/2020 at 14:51