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    Lazy Llama

Driving Standards

As to driving standards, when I went to show the car to mike at the garage yesterday, I had to do a 17 point turn to extricate my tiny car from where I’d idiotically driven it right into the corner of his yard and I think he just politely pretended not to have noticed.
 
BigTom said:
Call your insurance company first, they might have an agreement with autoglass or another specialist firm who will come out and do it, they might not want you to do it at your garage.
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This. Don’t book it in with Mike. Using your insurance company’s tie-up will likely be quicker and more convenient because they’ll send a mobile unit to do it at your home. They’ll also usually pay their authorised repairer directly (less your excess) rather than you having to stump up 300-odd quid and claim it back.
 
Windscreen work is a specialist job anyway for a variety of reasons.

Also some insurers will only honour their discounted rates (e.g. £25 for a chip, £75 for a replacement) if you use their preferred supplier, which usually means you need to talk to them first.
 
And check the repair. With the last one I had done, one corner of the screen was left sitting about half an inch proud of the frame. The contractor first told me it was supposed to be like that, then said the car was twisted. A phone call to his boss had a new one fitted properly the next day and some O2 cinema vouchers left in the car as compensation!
 
I had an idiotic moment the other day and went through a red light, got caught on camera, and have been told to expect a court summons for it (they won't give me a FPN for it as the light had been red for ages). I'm quite worried that its going to be an issue at work as I do drive for work too. :facepalm:
 
sim667 said:
I had an idiotic moment the other day and went through a red light, got caught on camera, and have been told to expect a court summons for it (they won't give me a FPN for it as the light had been red for ages). I'm quite worried that its going to be an issue at work as I do drive for work too. :facepalm:
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When you go to court be sure to let them know about your previously impeccable driving history and it was just a mistake, also tell them about your job. In this climate if your job is in anyway related to healthcare or similar frontline work let them know that as well.

Going to court just for running a red light seems a bit much given all the shit that is going on at the moment.
 
Teaboy said:
When you go to court be sure to let them know about your previously impeccable driving history and it was just a mistake, also tell them about your job. In this climate if your job is in anyway related to healthcare or similar frontline work let them know that as well.

Going to court just for running a red light seems a bit much given all the shit that is going on at the moment.
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I've been told on the pepino forums that I probably won't actually end up attending court, I'll be invited to write a letter of mitigation. I do actually have a 20 year clean license, and it was just a mistake....... I'm just a bit wary about mentioning work too much as I'm a blue light driver (in healthcare), have an advanced driving license, and am worried that might encourage them to throw the book at me a bit more. I did also wonder about mentioning working through the entire pandemic, having lost 2 family members in that time (1 of them 3 days before I was caught), and my dad having 2 brain haemorrhages just months before...... but of course that may then lead them to question if I should have been driving due to the stress of it all, plus I was on my way to a (internal) job interview, and lost looking for an incorrectly plotted postcode on google maps.

I have very mixed emotions from just wanting to get it over and done with, to hoping I don't hear anything from the court in six months, ringing up and finding out no evidence has been submitted.
 
I'd definitely talk about what you do for a living and the general stress you've been under as a result. Also your good history. I'd be inclined to agree with you about the very personal stuff the work stuff should see you right. I can't see any magistrate being a dick about that. That's about as good as mitigation gets.
 
I might post my letter here for an opinion. I posted it on the pepipoo forums for an opinion, and was told it was too long, but also like every motoring forum they want to rip you a new on just because they can.

I don’t know if there is anywhere I can get affordable advice that isn’t a solicitor which I definitely can’t afford
 
sim667 said:
I might post my letter here for an opinion. I posted it on the pepipoo forums for an opinion, and was told it was too long, but also like every motoring forum they want to rip you a new on just because they can.

I don’t know if there is anywhere I can get affordable advice that isn’t a solicitor which I definitely can’t afford
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Trade Union? Doesn't seem like something they'd necessarily cover but it could be worth asking, you can't be the only ambulance driver who has found themselves in this kind of situation.
 
I don't know about red lights but I know an ambulance driver on 6 points for 2 speeding offences and they kept their blue light licence.
 
BigTom said:
Trade Union? Doesn't seem like something they'd necessarily cover but it could be worth asking, you can't be the only ambulance driver who has found themselves in this kind of situation.
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TBF my blue light driving instructor said he had 3 points. My trust policy only states you'll lose your job if you lose your license, and I hope I'm not at any risk of losing my license.
 
hash tag said:
I don't know about red lights but I know an ambulance driver on 6 points for 2 speeding offences and they kept their blue light licence.
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Its not a license as such is a level 3 qualification, which I can use to join IAM if I want to (but I don't see the point).

I've asked for advice on pepipoo and another legal advice forum and they've both said there's next to no chance my license would be taken.
 
Bahnhof Strasse said:
40mm crack anywhere on the screen is an MOT fail. 10mm crack/chip in the swept area is also a fail.
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My dad‘s car once failed an MOT for having a small crack in the swept area (I think it’s known as the ‘A’ zone?). The guy at the local garage came up with a very cheap fix for it, he fitted a shorter wiper blade so it was no longer in the area :)
 
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