johncrossley
Established Member
Do you have any figures on the number of people to get a criminal record through accidentally having the wrong ticket and the railway being in the wrong? How many last year? How many in the last 10 years?
The railway is normally technically in the right even if they are morally in the wrong. In those cases, I can tolerate some kind of civil penalty, but not a criminal record. So you have to look at the number of people who have a criminal record through the railway being technically in the right but the passenger accidentally having the wrong ticket. I'm not in the industry so I don't have statistics on criminal records but I can see the tales of woe on this forum. Even if few people get a criminal record, a huge problem is the anxiety faced when you have to wait until a decision on your punishment is made and the constant worrying about whether the TOC will allow an out of court settlement. I don't think I could go through that without falling into a deep depression.
Or be caught holding the device with the navigation app on just twice. Or even, just a police officer deciding that your hands free mount for your device obstructs your view four times - that also carries 3 penalty points. You don't even need to have done anything wrong for that one to be applied.
As you point out, you get at least one more chance before losing your licence. And even if that happens, you don't get a criminal record if you reach 12 points in those ways. Of course, a modern car will have Android Auto so those issues can't arise.