When you get inadvertently caught by either a camera or the police committing a traffic offence, it is essential that you get the best professional advice as soon as possible. The issue many people have with this is that in order to get the best advice, a lot of the time you will have to pay a consultation fee.

This need not be the case as good quality advice is available online, and consultations are often free of charge. We all stray over the speed limit from time to time, it is difficult not to in today’s busy world when you have so much else to think about. Many people accidentally commit minor offences, often through a moments lack of concentration and are then faced with potential points on their licences, large fines or even disqualification.

Unless you are very familiar with the intricacies of motoring law you will either plead guilty or try to fight your case if you feel that you have been unjustly prosecuted. It is very important that you seek advice as the law is very specific on the terms of each and every prosecution. If all of the correct procedures have not been fulfilled then your case may even be thrown out of court.

If you are looking for legal advice, its always best to look for a professional in the field of motoring law. You wouldn’t want a divorce specialist defending your case regarding motoring law. A lot of solicitors will more or less end up paying for themselves in the savings on fines and general inconvenience, although each case will obviously be different, but in most cases a good solicitor will be able to sway the outcome in your favour to some extent.

The important thing, when accused of a traffic offence is not to stick your head in the sand, which will only make things worse. If you are proactive about the accusation process then you will stand a far better chance of changing the outcome. Acting as early as possible will give you solicitor maximum chance to achieve the results you want. Even if you are going to represent yourself, it is always best to seek free professional advice to be as prepared as possible entering the court.

A courtroom can be an intimidating place so by going in fully prepared you will give yourself the right ammunition to defend yourself effectively. Alternatively, you can seek out the free advice and then decide that it would be best to get a professional to represent you.

The Highway Code is widely known by many as the set of laws and guidelines that govern the way we all use the roads, whether you are a pedestrian, a driver, a cyclist, a horse rider, or any other kind of road-user.

Around a decade the motorcar was born, there were two million of them on the roads and in 1930 there were around 7300 deaths by road accidents. Considering that in 2006 there were around 3000 deaths by road accidents and over 20 million cars on the road, the 1930 statistics needed sorting out.

So, probably as a (direct or indirect) result of this, the Highway Code was born. Launched in 1931, it celebrated its 75th birthday in 2006, it has undergone many changes and updates over those years. For example the original version of the Code was a mere 24 pages long and contained information such as how to indicate when turning in your horse drawn carriage.

There was no mention of why driving drunk or tired was dangerous or any road signs or stopping distances and it cost one old penny. Included in the second edition, released in 1946, was advice on why you shouldn’t drive drunk or tired, and the first fifteen road signs to be put out on British roads made the debut appearance, only two of which we still use today.

Braking distances did not come into the equation until the second version either. Even then they were just in a plain chart type display. Images were not used to show stopping distances until the 1954 version, along with another 16 roadsigns, bringing the total to 31, which compared to today’s 170, who knows what road signs will look like in another 60 years.

The sixth edition was out in 1968 which included 3D images and photographs to show stopping distance. The 1978 version contained these as well. It also contained the Green Cross Code for pedestrians and orange badges for disabled people. Due to a huge increase in car crime, the government made an update on this version to so that it contained advice on how to keep your car secure.

The Code was updated in the 90’s to include informational guidelines to new drivers about passing their theory test. This information was subsequently included in the code itself.

The Highway Code has been adapted over the 78 years that it has been with us to become the comprehensive book on road advice, guidelines and law. One of the newest of which being the fact that you cannot use mobile phones while driving, and considering mobile phones weren’t invented when the Code was originally brought out, it just shows how the laws of the road have adapted and changed with society.