maximum time in prison for not paying a speeding fine (read description)?

25-life

Source(s):

I am a retired police officer. I retired as a sergeant, after 29 years, from a very large department, about 12,000 officers. I was a patrol officer for 4 years in a very diverse area. I was a tactical officer in the high rise project areas of my city. We called it vertical patrol in that we walked the the stairways of the high rises most of the time. I did that for 5 years and was promoted by test to detective. I worked violent crime (homicide, sex, officer involved shootings, robbery, kidnapping, serious non property incidents) for 11 years until I was promoted to sergeant. I worked as a street supervisor, a bicycle patrol supervisor and a desk sergeant/watch commander.

During my time as a tactical officer and a detective I was a unit representative for the police union.

I have a B.A in English and an M.S. in Law Enforcement Administration....

You don't get off that easy. Serving jail time instead of paying the fine isn't an option.

In the UK, they have a position known as a Bailiff that comes and TAKES property to satisfy the debt.

Firstly, if this was a fixed penalty imposed directly by the police and not by a court, not paying it on time results in a court summons so then it becomes a court case in the usual way. This is NOT a fine, it is a fixed penalty.

Now assuming this is a fine imposed by a court, not paying it results in going to court again. It would only be in extreme cases that the court would give a prison sentence instead - this would be only if the court is convinced you're deliberately not paying when you can perfectly well afford to. If the court sends bailiffs to recover the amount of the fine and there are no assets to recover, then obviously that is the end of it.

So prison is only for cases where someone is being deliberately obstructive. This is contempt of court, the maximum sentence is 2 years' imprisonment, but for non-payment of a relatively small fine it would be unlikely to be for more than a month.

Most pay the fine/take the points or NIP ( Notice of Intended Prosecution) so unless it is a direct magistrates court date because of high speed most will not end up going to court, it could be 'up'd' to county court.... the courts would be over run if they took everyone to court.

Failure to pay a speeding ticket will result in criminal charges being levied against you. As per the NIP....and it is likely the fines will be far higher in court than the fine sent in the post

So these charges will also bring about an additional fee to the fee of your ticket.

If you are charged with charges, for not paying your ticket, the court is entitled to issue a warrant for your arrest. A judge will sentence you, and sentencing can include jail time, but is generally community service hours.

Failure to pay your speeding ticket will result in the removal of your driving licence mean it is illegal for you to drive and having your vehicle impounded/crushed, should you continue to drive without a licence....also invalidates your car insurance, so another charge for that and VERY expensive car insurance if /when you get you licence back... which might mean starting all over again as having to take your theory/practical driving test and that could take years if you have more than 6 points on your licence ( 3 points for speeding) so it is easy to get 6 points and 12 points means you lose your licence

If you are pulled over with an unpaid speeding ticket on your record, the officer will arrest you, impound your vehicle ( I think £105 towing and £?? per day storage fee).

Most tickets are fine OR jail time.

The Court would just take the car