Herts Police announce crackdown on motorists who lie to avoid speeding tickets and courses

Hertfordshire Police have announced a plan to crackdown on motorists giving false information to avoid speed awareness courses.

Drivers who give false addresses or names when submitting details for speed awareness courses could be jailed, Hertfordshire Constabulary has warned.

It is considered perverting the course of justice to lie in order to avoid speeding fines and penalty points.

Police forces in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire have a combined 63 live cases investigating fraudulent activity taken by motorists.

Investigator Supervisor, Kevin Brown said: “Recently, we have found that a growing number of drivers across Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire are choosing to ignore paperwork or attempting to lie their way out of a fine or speed awareness course.

“One case a few years ago, ended with someone who had a clean driving licence and no convictions being handed a six-month custodial sentence and losing their job after submitting a false name and address along with a fabricated story, providing fraudulent documents in the process. Now this person has a criminal record and will fail any subsequent DBS checks.

“Obviously our advice is to drive safely and stick to the speed limits, which are in place for a reason – but if you are caught speeding, ensure that you submit the correct details to avoid a potential criminal conviction.”

Ignoring paperwork can result in six penalty points and a £1000 fine instead of a £100 fine. Providing false details can lead to a disqualification from driving and a custodial sentence. Subsequently, an offence of this nature is likely to leave the guilty party with a criminal record, which affect that person’s future employment opportunities.

Hertfordshire Constabulary advises that residents can provide feedback on which areas the force should be prioritising by using the ‘echo’ voice platform.

More information on the service can be found online here.

To receive police messages about a range of topics including burglaries, scams and missing people, citizens are encouraged to sign up to the OWL or download the ‘OWL crime alerts’ from smart phone application stores.