Could Have Been One Of Many Drivers

Question:

Speeding 40 in a 30

Hi, my partner has recently received a letter with regards to a speeding offence and asking to nominate the driver at the time of offence. My partner is one of several drivers who have constant use of the vehicle which is registered in his name.

Having returned a letter advising that he does not genuinely know who was driving the car at the time and to request a copy of the photo taken from speed camera in question. Photos were sent with no clear picture of the driver and a letter attached advising if no-one is named the onus and blame falls on the registered owner of the vehicle. Is this the case?

My partner has time sheets from work to prove he was working at the time of the offence which he uses a different vehicle for (works van) . Will he still be prosecuted for an offence he has not committed? Would it be worth asking for the calibration of the camera? Thanks in advance for your reply

Dominic Says:

The photos rarely help when it comes to identifying the driver I’m afraid. Has your partner got any points on his licence already? Has he named all potential drivers? Can you tell me why there are so many potentials?

The primary responsibility lies with the registered keeper but the police often fail to mention the statutory defence of using all reasonable diligence.

If the keeper can show that he/she did their best to figure out who was driving and its believable that they would not know then they have a defence.

There is no point in asking for the calibration certificate at this stage. The issue here is not that you dispute the speed alleged but that you simply don’t know who was driving at the time.

Your partner is at risk of 6 points if he does not manage to resolve this matter without a court summons.

We have been getting involved in these types of cases very early over the last 6 months and out of the last 55 cases that we have taken on only 5 resulted in a court summons – the others were dropped.

Would you like my help with this matter.

I charge a fixed fee for this service. (see our fees here)

At court I defend over 95% of these allegations and get over 83% withdrawn without trial so we really do know what we are doing.

Come back to me if I can assist further