Section 172 request to name driver

Hello there. I can certainly help you understand Section 172 requests. The short answer is yes, you almost always have to name the driver, and ignoring the request can lead to a harsher penalty than the original traffic offence.

The law on Section 172 requests:

Under the Road Traffic Act, if the police suspect a vehicle has been involved in a traffic offence like speeding or running a red light, they can legally require the registered keeper to tell them who was driving at the time. This is known as a Section 172 request. It comes as a formal letter, often bundled with a Notice of Intended Prosecution.

The consequences of not naming the driver:

If you are the registered keeper and you refuse to name the driver, or simply ignore the letter, you can be charged with a separate offence of failing to provide driver details. The penalty for this is usually six penalty points on your driving licence and a fine of up to 1,000 pounds. This is often a much heavier punishment than you would get for a minor speeding ticket, which is typically three points and a 100 pound fine.

What happens if you genuinely do not know who was driving:

Sometimes a vehicle is shared by family members, and you might honestly not remember who was behind the wheel on a specific day weeks ago.

You are legally allowed to state that you do not know who was driving, but you must be able to prove that you used reasonable diligence to find out. Reasonable diligence means you have made a serious, genuine effort to work it out. This could involve checking bank statements for petrol receipts, looking at mobile phone location data, checking diaries, or speaking to anyone who might have driven the car.

Simply writing back to say you cannot remember without showing you have done some detective work is almost never accepted by the courts. It usually leads to a conviction and those six penalty points.

If your car was stolen at the time of the offence, this is a valid reason for not knowing the driver, but you will need to provide the police crime reference number to prove it.

Practical next steps:

1. Check the deadline. You usually have 28 days to reply to the request. Make sure you respond within this timeframe to avoid further trouble.

2. Ask for photographs if you are unsure. If you genuinely cannot remember who was driving, you can ask the police for the camera photographs to help identify the driver. However, asking for photos does not pause your 28-day deadline, so you must keep an eye on the clock while you wait.

3. Fill out the form carefully. If you know who was driving, whether it was you or someone else, fill in their details accurately, sign the form, and send it back.

4. Keep physical proof. It is a good idea to take a photocopy or a clear photo of the completed, signed form before you post it. Consider sending it by recorded or signed-for delivery so you have a tracking receipt showing exactly when it arrived.

5. Never provide false details. Naming someone else who was not driving, taking the points for a family member, or paying someone to take the points for you is perverting the course of justice. This is a very serious criminal offence that often results in a prison sentence for everyone involved.