An agent caught on camera speeding as she tried to get to work on time has been spared a possible driving ban.
Nicole Robinson, 27, was doing 72mph in a 40mph zone, as she endeavoured to get to her job as a negotiator at Jordan Fishwick, in Manchester.
She was driving her own BMW 116i Sport but told magistrates that at work, she drove a company car.
She had faced a possible disqualification of up to 56 days under rules targeting drivers who travel at 45% above the limit.
But at Manchester magistrates court Robinson, who has a clean driving record in ten years of motoring, escaped with six penalty points after telling the court that a ban could mean her losing her job.
She told the court: “I will never do it again – all of my life I have been an estate agent and I don’t know what else I would do.”
She said: “I have been an estate agent for five and a half years. I need my car to drive for work. I will lose my job. I drive to viewings and take clients to various properties. This is a significant part of my job. I go to seven or eight viewings on a given day.
“If I lost the job, I could not pay rent to my parents. I live at home and they need the money. I know my actions are inexcusable. The BMW is my car and I drive a separate company car. It was lunch time. I was driving into work and I was late. I was starting on a half-day – I know that it’s not an excuse.”
She was fined £400 and ordered to pay costs of £125.
Comments (4)
“this story is not a story”
Actually, PP – it is a story. Sadly, one which has involved our industry and dragged it along with it.
This person – who should have received a ban in my opinion (and that of many others it seems) – launched a lethal weapon at lethal speed in an area where the maximum speed was restricted for safety reasons.
She was not at work – she was on her way to it. She was nothing other than a commuter. Yet the tabloid headline screamed
Estate agent, 27, caught doing 72mph in 40mph zone in her BMW when she was late for work avoids speeding ban
And the reader comments that followed picked up that particular baton and ran like mother***ers with it:
“She could have killed someone but typical estate, agent lied…”
“One of the first and most useful things my father taught me. Never trust estate agents.”
Makes you wonder what the comments would have been if the guilty party had been a nurse or paramedic running late on their way in for a shift – or worse again, following one.
And – would it have even made the press if it had been a journo charging around like an utter @r$e?
We will never know the answer to that one, I guess.
I don’t have experience of the road in question but 72 mph in a 40 zone is ridiculous. The fact you’re an estate agent has allowed this piece through so whilst I’ve got the chance. Nicole, slow down girl before you kill someone!
No it isn’t really , but it should serve as a warning to us all. A driving licence is a privilege and a necessary tool for us to be able to do our job.
this story is not a story