In many cases, you may not be stopped on the side of the road by police and will find out you are being charged with an offence through a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) which arrives through the post. This will often be accompanied by an S172 notice which requires the vehicle owner to provide details of who was driving the vehicle at the time of the alleged offence.
In such cases, you are legally obliged under section 172 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 to provide police with information about who was driving the car at the time of the offence.
This situation may arise in cases of speeding, for example, where you speed and licence plate number were logged by a ANPR camera and a NIP was automatically issued.
You typically have 28 days to respond to a NIP. If you do not reply within this limit, you may be charged with failing to provide information about who was driving at the time of the offence.
Penalties
Penalties for failing to provide driver details can be surprisingly severe, so it is important to take these charges seriously. Speak to us today for a no obligation consultation to decide what to do in your case. 3330 096 275
If the maximum penalty is imposed, you could receive a driving disqualification and a fine of up to £1,000.
Fines are usually calculated based on 150% of the driver’s weekly salary.
Police could also issue a fixed penalty notice for £200 and the imposition of 6 penalty points.
Defences
If you are legitimately unable to ascertain the identity of the driver this can provide an effective defence. Being unable to ascertain the identity of the driver is not the same as not being able to remember who was driving. To use this defence, we have to prove that you made reasonable efforts to find out the driver’s identity.
Other defence strategies may include highlighting that you did not receive the NIP, or highlighting significant errors in the NIP.
As with all our cases, we will look carefully at whether police followed regulations and dealt with your case in accordance with your statutory rights.
