Safe Speed Forums

Hi,

A friend of mine (genuinely not me, though I could easily have made the same mistake) bought a secondhand motorbike. It is an import (which he knew) and has a speedo showing kmh. He put stickers on the lens to show the equivalent mph reading at 30, 50 and 70mph.

On his second ride (after 20 years of not having ridden a bike), he was flashed going through a 30mph zone Gatso. He was flashed but thought it couldn't have been him.

A while later, he received a letter asking who was riding (I assume the NIP) and returned it saying he was driving.

He swears he was doing @ 45kmh (28mph) at the time. I suggested he use his GPS to check the speedo calibration. It comes to light that even though the clock is in kmh, the actual speed is mph - he was doing 45mph.

Some would question how can you mistake 45mph for 30mph. I would sympathise with him, as I would expect the sensation of speed to FEEL faster on a bike than in a car - particularly returning to the bike after a 20 year gap.

The question is................ Would an incorrect speedo be grounds to defend the NIP?

Would he have a case against the previous owner of the bike?

I would appreciate any comments.

Thanks,

No defence whatsoever. It it ALWAYS the responsibility of the rider / driver to remain within the limits. Speeding is not a misreading, forgot to look or blame it on faulty equipment, it's exceeding the limit regardless of what ANY user device may tell you. Riding with no, or a knowingly defective speedo is also an offence so I wouldn't 'mention when questioned'.

I do find it highly unbelieveable in that OK, 45mph is not a great deal faster than 30 - but in an urban setting it's pretty obvious as you pass every other vehicle.
By extension, 'thinking' he would be doing 110kph (70mph ish), when in fact he would be doing 110MPH is just as dubious a defence.

He may however have a civil case with the last owner - but probably only if it was an authorised motor trader. Private sales are normally subject to "You bought it, YOU should have checked the merchandise - it's yours."

ps. I'm not being unsympathetic - just maybe a bit too blunt!! No offence intended

I am the rider in question and have just joined this forum. Thank you for your interesting response. At the time the road was completely clear so I had no other traffic to go by, unlucky for me. The NIP states I was doing 39mph not 45. I thought I was doing 45 kph which would have been a safe speed. As I suspected I'll just have to accept the fine and points.

Whoa there! He never said that!

I would never advise just accepting the fine and points, or at least not without first investigating all the legal methods by which you might defend the allegation.

Get yourself over to our very good friends at PePiPoo, post the details on their forum and I'm sure some very good advice will be forthcoming.

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Hi Guys,

Thanks for the responses provided.

I've definately learnt something from this and thankfully keep my clean licence. It's just a shame my friend will have to fight to keep his.

Cheers,