Got The Wife A Present!

@Wessa, yet another example--and a stunning one--of how the same word in the same language can have completely different meanings! What you call an endorsement in the UK is what we in the US call a ticket or citation. Tickets come with a fine here, too. There are several ways you can approach handling a ticket.

You can just pay it outright and then "points" go on your insurance and your rates go up. If you don't get another ticket for a set amount of time (typically two years), the points go off and (hopefully) your insurance rates go back down.

You can go to court and fight the ticket if you feel you have a case that you were cited in error. Most don't opt for that as it's time-consuming and you stand a good chance of losing your case anyway.

You can go to what we call "traffic school". This has typically been in person on a weekend for the whole day. Now it's also done online--and it has only been online during the pandemic I think. Didactic teaching and a test at the end. This is often the preferred way because the citation doesn't go to your insurance company so no points and no increase in rates. It's as if the citation never happened.

The one time I did fight a ticket is a funny story. Not so funny at the time but in hindsight... For six years I was a horse & carriage driver in San Diego when I lived there some years ago. I was working one weekend evening and had a couple in my carriage who were celebrating their anniversary and was stopped for a red light at a major intersection down along the waterfront. When the light changed I quickly got my horse trotting through the intersection but the light cycle was short and we wound up in the intersection through the yellow light. We were exiting the intersection just as it turned red and a cop saw that and pulled me over. Long story short, I was so incensed at getting a ticket for this (as were my passengers who wrote a letter and had it notarized on my behalf) that I went back to the intersection after my shift that night and timed a bunch of light cycles and measured off the distance on the intersection so I had data to bring to court with me. When I went to court the first time which was simply to plead guilty or not guilty and get a court date, the judge doing that did a double take on the citation and said, "You were driving a WHAT??? Wow, it's a good thing I just came off of a vacation." Anyway, I went back to court to make my case and the cop actually did show up to defend his actions. I won. And it turns out that this particular cop had it in for the whole carriage business from the get go. My boss talked to his boss who gave the cop "a talking to".

 

Yes we also have a speed awareness course that you can take to avoid endorsements on your licence, you still get a fine though.

 

Interesting that you still have a fine to pay even if you take the course, Wessa. Does the speed awareness course have a fee? Is the course only for speed infractions or is it for other sorts of endorsements / tickets, too? I went to traffic school years ago for a ticket that wasn't related to speeding. There were probably 20 or more people in the class and I think there were only a couple of us that weren't there for a speeding ticket.

Sorry to hijack your thread about Mrs. V's motorcycle and her journey towards licensure, @Vulpes. I'll stop sidetracking now. Well, after I read @Wessa's response to my questions about the speed awareness course.

 

Yes the speed awareness course does attract a fee…. And I got it slightly wrong if you pay for the course you do not have to pay the fine and you don’t get the endorsement points on your licence…
Now back to Mrs @Vulpes and her bike test

 

Yes the speed awareness course does attract a fee…. And I got it slightly wrong if you pay for the course you do not have to pay the fine and you don’t get the endorsement points on your licence…
Now back to Mrs @Vulpes and her bike test

 

OH POO!

Ah well - live and learn. Hopefully the retake won't be anything like as nervewracking as the first and she'll sail through it, Fingers crossed.

 

Sorry to hear that Wim. I’m positive she’ll do next time. It took me 2 goes to pass my bike test.

 

Feel for her. Hope she makes it next time

 

Sorry to read that Mrs. V didn't pass on the first go-round, @Vulpes. But I'll bet that she'll pass the second time around, too. She will have a good idea of what to expect which should help with the nerves.

I have a friend who was so anxious during the riding class before she even got to the testing part that she wound up doing the class and road test privately. Then she passed with flying colors and since clocked thousands of miles over the past decade!

If you think such an example will help our your wife, please feel free to share my friend's experience. And please give her my best and let her know we're all confident that the next time will be smooth as silk.

 

That's a shame Vulpes, but when she goes the next time the fear of the unknown will be gone. The latest British Army recruitment catchphrase is Fail, Learn, Win and reckon it works well in this situation. Fingers crossed for the 23rd

 

I'll be thinking of Mrs. V (and you) for her upcoming test on the 23rd, @Vulpes! Please give her my best and let her know I'm sending test passing wishes her way. Please let us know how it goes!

 

Vulpes.
Poor Lady must be really annoying for her. To much red tape these days. Still tell her we are all routing for her and yes keep us in the picture please.
Joe

 

How frustrating this must be for her, Vulpes. Hopefully things will change and she will be able to return again...and hopefully sooner than later. Please tell her to hang in there. And thanks for keeping us posted.

 

Oh that’s disappointing Wim. I’m sure she’ll do it when she tries again. Bloody red tape