speeding fine convictions (wales)

[ant1]

with the introduction of 20mph law that has come to wales, do think there will be a large increase of people with sgc and fac licenses having to declare there speeding convictions on there next renewal over the next five years.

[old'un]

Yes.

[Scully]

There is no conviction if you do the speed awareness course. 

[HantsRob]

It's worth noting accepting a driving awareness course (this covers more than just speeding, but also things such as no seatbelt or mobile phone usage, depending on where in the country you are) and also accepting a fixed penalty (endorsable and non-endorsable) is an out of court disposal to prevent needing to appear in front of a judge. These do NOT show up on a criminal record and are fully out of court disposals.

If you require to go to court because it is too severe (e.g. over 94mph on a motorway, drug driving etc) and are found guilty, this then becomes a criminal offence, and is more likely to impact on your (re-)issuance of a SGC/FAC, depending on offence.

Now, out of court disposals do not show on your CRO, so from a work point of view this is handy. But, I believe most if not all forces have a box that says "you must disclose all offences", they do not ask for all convictions. It is partly to show honesty and integrity, and also someone who disregards the law and was caught doing 93 on a motorway could be considered as reckless with their due care and safety with a shotgun. Many may think that's nonsense that they are a great gun keeper and shooter, and speeding has nothing to do with it, and others will feel that if you feel it acceptable to break the speed 'so recklessly' that there is an increased risk. I don't know of anyone I've seen that handles a gun badly thinks that they are bad, self perception is an odd thing. 

I'm not trying to lecture, but more comment on the OP. Bottom line is if you speed and get caught (the offence after all is getting caught!) then it's safest to declare. I think where this is going to be tough is that 20mph can seem like a crawl when coming off the motorway, and I hope there's a period of adjustment and education!

 

Side note: it's worth noticing that your conviction may appear as spent from a courts/legal point of view, but if an employer wants to check your driving licence history that it may still show up on there for any convictions/points. That's to say, some offences like drug driving may appear as spent criminally after up to 5 years (may be longer if the ban is longer, but it won't be on a first offence), but will remain on your licence records for 11 years from date of conviction.

 

Finally if you're curious, have a look at your own licence info of what's held:
https://www.gov.uk/check-driving-information

[ShootingEgg]

I think the convictions will be for vandalism first.. most signs have been defaced or smashed down haven't they?!