A friend thinks they got flashed in the UK at “120-ish mph”.

Conditions were good on a motorway but they don’t argue for a second they were “driving like a ****”.

They live in China.

They rented a car using their Chinese licence.

They used their (rented out) UK property as the address at the rental agency.

They had (many years ago) a provisional UK licence but this is well expired. I assume their details are still on a DB somewhere.

They will be back in the UK in March and are planning (as they always do) on renting a car.

They think they saw a flash in their rear view mirror. They don’t know if there was a camera there. There’s one roughly in the area but they can’t narrow down the stretch of road (M6 Southbound) to within 75 miles.

If they were caught, is it likely to have an effect on their renting a car in March. He has fears of the police waiting for him at Heathrow when he lands and packing him off to Guantanamo Bay.

I said I’d ask STW as they have the answer to everything.

Shit, I’ve got no biscuits.

I’d hope it’d have an effect and quite a long lasting one as well.

Advice not judgement

You’re having a laugh

Advice not judgement

You must have clicked the wrong URL 😉

…but it’s a bit of a grey area them being a foreign national. Assuming he did get flashed, then he will be contacted via the rental company in due course. He could ask them ‘hypothetically’ what might happen if this imaginary event had happened.

Probably want to use a different company next time, tho.

What would chris martin do

hyperventilates

I’d have thought 120mph-ish would be looking at a custodial sentence. So perhaps the fuzz would be quite interested.

Tea and hobnob in hand

you could lend him a bike yeah?

If they got a flash a letter will be sent to their UK property. I’m sure their tenants will let them know if something turns up.
But using that address to rent a car and not living there could be a whole can of worms !!

He is in a whole heap of trouble – wrong address, non uk resident so insurance not valid on hire car.

Go straight to Guantanamo Bay, do not collect £200.

the rental co. will just return the completed form to the dvla they have no interest after that.. the dvla will send a form.. no reply they ll eventually take you to court you ll be asked to appear you fail an arrest warrant will be issued you ll be ( sorry your friend) pulled upon landing as the passport will trigger an alert.. do you like porridge?

Obviously total **** …

Why would he give his UK address with a Chinese licence ? What credit card did he use ?

IME the Swiss are very organised about following up tickets internationally. Rest of Europe much less so.

Police will go to rental co first obviously, your friend should check his credit card for extra charges as rental co will add an admin charge £25-50 ? for giving the police the licence / rental details

Cameras can flash but film is “out”

Finally motorway speed cameras are generally not “on” unless there is a rediced speed limit in force, this is changing though.

IMO zero chance Police waiting at airport in March and a very very low chance his name / licence is blocked for rentals – use different company, in any case the ticket / court case wouldn’t be processed that quickly.

Wait for the ticket.
There’s no point worrying about it until it arrives and you say that they don’t even know whether they were flashed or not.
I’ve thought that I’ve been flashed many times and no tickets arrived. They could get lucky too.

imnotverygood – Member

I’d have thought 120mph-ish would be looking at a custodial sentence.

Since when did speeding carry a custodial sentence?

They used their (rented out) UK property as the address at the rental agency.

Whoops.

there are too many IFs to predict the outcome. It is theoretically possible in England to be prosecuted in absence without you ever receiving notice of the case, and then to be stopped at immigration for failing to pay a fine. Realistically it would probably be a year after the offence before that was likely to happen.

The hire company probably has a copy of the licence with a Chinese address on it?

FYI Their UK provisional likely won’t have expired (they last to age 70). regardless dvla just create a ghost record for overseas license holders to record points/bans.

anything over 100 mph custodial sentences are considered 120 is a fair chance of getting one.

thing is as the OPs friend has a UK provisional his Chinese license is not valid in the UK and by using a address that is not his he has falsely claimed to be UK resident.

No license, no insurance – the speeding is the least of his issues.

Its well more than a bans worth of points in one hit

anything over 100 mph custodial sentences are considered 120 is a fair chance of getting one.

More like 6 points and a couple hundred of a fine.

This genuinely is for a friend. I didn’t go above Bristol or 75pmh.

But using that address to rent a car and not living there could be a whole can of worms !!

I’ve had to do something similar. When I couldn’t remember the flight details for leaving the country I gave my MIL address. I used my real (Thai) address when booking the car and taking out insurance on the excess*. I made it clear to the rental girl I didn’t live at that address.

pulled upon landing as the passport will trigger an alert

Really?

Beyond contacting his tenants, is there any way to find out if he was flashed before landing and being detained.

Most rental companies charge an administration fee if they receive a ticket so he can keep an eye out for this.

Can he contact the local constabulary?

thing is as the OPs friend has a UK provisional his Chinese license is not valid in the UK and by using a address that is not his he has falsely claimed to be UK resident.

No. Absolutely not. I have a copy of the legislation (not to hand) as I have a full Thai licence and provisional UK licence.

I got the legislation when looking to see how taking lessons and getting a full UK licence would go, still being entirely legal to drive on my foreign licence. We are perfectly entitled to drive in the UK on a foreign licence in the short term despite being ‘known’ to the DVLA. It was given to me by a policeman who said something along the lines of “this is my area so keep this handy in case you’re pulled and the officer isn’t aware.”

We (him and me and many of my friends, as we frequently rent) use our non-UK licences entirely legally and don;t claim to be UK nationals. Far from it as I usually have photocopies of my Visas taken.

His offence is speeding. Nothing else.

They’re mid-40s and got their licence at Uni so around 25 years ago.

The hire company probably has a copy of the licence with a Chinese address on it?

Yes. And an official English translation of this.

Why would he give his UK address with a Chinese licence ? What credit card did he use ?

I’ve done and do the same although substitute Thai for Chinese. Wife and I use MIL’s address for our banking. When renting a car, we write our nationality, country of residence etc correctly. We hand over the card we used to make the booking, our passport, our foreign driving licence and the international driving permit.

They usually ask for 2 addresses, 2 contact numbers etc when you don’t live in the UK. They clearly aren’t expecting you to be resident at both.

As I said, he’s guilty of driving stupidly. No fraud, without a licence, insurance or any of that.

*which I used successfully for a chipped windscreen

I got a parking ticket on our rental in a beach car park on Vancouver island. I just ignored it but 3 months after I got back to the UK a letter arrived from Canada. I couldn’t believe my luck, i ripped it open thinking it was from a lass I met on the trip. Wrong! Rental company spanked my card for the fine.

You can run but you can’t hide.

anything over 100 mph custodial sentences are considered 120 is a fair chance of getting one.[/I]

Yer, right – if it’d been 150 then maybe.

The rental company might follow it up, but if they didn’t have a copy of his passport no way will he get pulled at Heathrow and just make sure next time he brings a different credit card and use their Chinese address.

He’s non-uk resident with a chinese license. The DVLA site implies he’s allowed to drive for 12 months on this. So, regardless of the UK provisional license, he does have a valid license.

The rented property is just a place that the rental company can contact him. I see no issue with this.

Offences committed then seem to be purely speeding. (stupidity is not yet criminal).

I would assume a summons would be issued, delivered to his rented property. If he gets the summons he then deals with it as required – either plead guilty by post if that option exists or have to attend. Not sure what happens if he is not able to come. Maybe then a warrant for his arrest.

If banned, he won’t be able to drive in the UK even though he’s not got a UK license. If he does he will then commit a whole host of offences that would incur a capital punishment in Beijing.

I don’t think the option of a speed awareness course is likely to be offered in this case.

I couldn’t believe my luck, i ripped it open thinking it was from a lass I met on the trip

🙂 Look on the bright side it could have been recommending an HIV test.

mikey3 – Member
What would chris martin do

[video]https://youtu.be/iv6F5aZU34I[/video]

anything over 100 mph custodial sentences are considered 120 is a fair chance of getting one.

Eh no, North of the border >100mph is commonly prosecuted as dangerous driving, but south of the border speed alone is not. Even then someone with no previous offences would be unlikely to get a custodial sentence for 120mph on a motorway without some other agrivating factor.

thing is as the OPs friend has a UK provisional his Chinese license is not valid in the UK

can you cite the law on that? the issue as I understand it is the permanence of the licence holders residence – If he meets the requirements for temporary residence then he is fine.

and by using a address that is not his he has falsely claimed to be UK resident.

Depends what the form asked for – it might be an address he can be contacted via, or even his temporary address in the UK. It’s unlikely he claimed to be a permanent UK resident as the hire Co would then have expected a UK license.

No license, no insurance – the speeding is the least of his issues.

Its well more than a bans worth of points in one hit[/QUOTE]You don’t get more than one set of points for multiple offences committed simultaneously. Of course 120mph is right in discretionary disqualification territory, but a totting up ban will not happen.

tjagain – Member

anything over 100 mph custodial sentences are considered

Anything to back this up?
I’ve been off the roads for a little while but I was under the impression that speeding does not carry a custodial sentence.
I certainly can’t find any examples of anyone doing bird for the offence of speeding.

I certainly can’t find any examples of anyone doing bird for the offence of speeding.

I think the charge would have to change from speeding to dangerous driving and driving at over a ton is possibly/likely to be considered dangerous by some judges/prosecutors. So yes, when speed is the factor that determines that the driving is dangerous, you can get jail time for speeding.

Finally motorway speed cameras are generally not “on” unless there is a rediced speed limit in force

The one that got me on the M5 was most definitely “on” despite it being 6am and no reduction in the speed limit. Luckily I wasn’t doing 120mph though.

Non issue … me bro-in-law (non-EU person) was clocked for speeding in his rented car.

All foreigners are allowed to drive using their home license for 12 months.

After that if they wish to continue driving they can get an international license from home to drive in UK for further 12 months. Drive with their home habit like bat out of hell …

The bottom line is the car rental company will pay the fine then charge it to his credit card.

That’s what happened to me bro-in-law just a monetary fine.

The bottom line is the car rental company will pay the fine then charge it to his credit card.

That’s what happened to me bro-in-law just a monetary fine.wow the amount of nonsense in this thread is exceptional.

poly – Member

The bottom line is the car rental company will pay the fine then charge it to his credit card.

That’s what happened to me bro-in-law just a monetary fine.
wow the amount of nonsense in this thread is exceptional. [/quote]

I don’t know what speed my Bro-in-law was fine for in London or just outside of London, the fine was not a lot just £60 I think so he just paid it when he returned his car.

I, on the other hand many years ago, just over took a Police Jaguar at M1 where everyone slowed down … me just drive pass them. Then they chased us for a bit and I finally stopped. God knows what the flashing light was behind me … I was driving with foreign license then. I received a letter and pleaded guilty whatever by saying we thought the speed limit was 100mph or something silly … told court (reply by writing a letter) we’re wrong etc by admitted guilt. Also in the letter agreed to all form of punishment etc. Guess what … nothing happened. Not even a single letter to ask us to attend court. The court let us go … There I guess it depends on your luck … 😛 (yes, we received court letter so we replied accordingly …)

Yeap, no fines no nothing … On M1 overtaking Police Jaguar at 100mph where everyone slowed down and we hadn’t a clue why other drivers slowed down. Looked that the police (they were on middle lane I think) and thought they might just driving about so what … then overtook the police … 😆

I remember over taking the Jaguar and looking at the Police like ” … you are slow matey … ” Then flashing lights behind me. : 🙂

True story. We were driving from London to Coventry during the day. At night our speed were 123mph to 130mph in a rented Peugeot 309 GR (surprising good car to drive).

P/s: I will double check with me Bro-In-Law later on coz he was fine.

My advice; don’t speed then you won’t get caught.

My judgement; don’t speed, it’s disrespectful.

bodgy – Member

My advice; don’t speed then you won’t get caught.

My judgement; don’t speed, it’s disrespectful.

Yes, I was very young then as it was first time for me in a foreign country etc.
Agreed I was foolish then so not doing that again.

Nowadays that would get me into serious trouble …

Flash “singular” No camera in the box.

Flashes IE two in quick succession, details, Speed/time/distance have been recorded. The exception to this is a red light camera.

In case of the former ignore, for the latter speak to Mr Loophole

Occasionally threads on here offer sound opinion backed up by first hand experience of the subject matter.

Only occasionally

Genuine question.

If you are a non-EU citizen caught speeding in a rented car with a foreign license what can the British govt do? If you have left the country the following day.

If you are a non-EU citizen caught speeding in a rented car with a foreign license what can the British govt do? If you have left the country the following day.

What’s EU got to do with it?