Unknown driver for speeding offence

Hello. I am Gemma from Lawyer Destroyer, and I can certainly help explain this for you. Receiving a speeding ticket when you honestly cannot remember who was driving is a very common and stressful situation, especially if a car is shared among family or friends.

The legal position:

When a vehicle is caught speeding by a camera, the police send a Notice of Intended Prosecution to the registered keeper. This includes a request for driver details, which is made under Section 172 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. As the registered keeper, you have a legal obligation to tell the police who was driving.

Failing to provide this information is a separate, and often more serious, criminal offence. If you are convicted of failing to identify the driver, you usually face six penalty points on your licence and a large fine of up to one thousand pounds. Because this penalty is often worse than the original speeding ticket, the courts treat the excuse of not knowing very strictly.

The reasonable diligence defence:

The law does provide a defence if you genuinely do not know who was driving. To rely on this, you must prove to the court that you could not figure it out even after exercising reasonable diligence.

Reasonable diligence means you have done absolutely everything in your power to work out who was behind the wheel. The magistrates will expect you to have played detective. Simply saying that the car is shared and you cannot remember will not be enough to avoid the six penalty points.

Practical next steps:

1. Ask the police for a photograph. You can contact the police force that issued the notice and ask them to provide copies of the camera photographs to help you identify the driver. Many forces will do this, though keep in mind that asking for a photo does not pause the 28-day deadline you have to return the form.

2. Play detective. Check your phone records, bank statements, and receipts for the day and time of the offence. Look at Google Maps timeline, Apple location services, or dashcam footage if you use them. Check messages to see where everyone was. Work out exactly who had access to the vehicle and the keys at that precise moment.

3. Question the potential drivers. Speak to everyone who might have been driving. Ask if they remember the journey or have any records that place them elsewhere.

4. Keep a careful record. Document everything you do to try and find out who was driving. If this ends up in court, you will need to show the magistrates exactly what steps you took, so make notes of who you asked and what records you checked.

5. Respond to the notice. You must reply within the 28-day deadline. You should never guess or name someone just to get the form out of the way, as providing false information can lead to very serious criminal charges for perverting the course of justice.

What happens next:

If, after doing all this detective work, you still genuinely cannot work out who was driving, you will need to return the form stating this. It is a very good idea to include a detailed covering letter explaining every single step you took to try and identify the driver, attaching copies of your evidence.

At that point, the police will likely summon you to court for the offence of failing to provide the driver details. At court, you will need to present your reasonable diligence defence to the magistrates, explaining all the investigative work you did. If they believe you did everything reasonably possible, you will be found not guilty. If they feel you could have tried harder, you will likely receive six penalty points and a fine.