Didn’t Know Who Was Driving And Didn’t Accept The Speed

Question:

Failing to provide driver identity

Your road traffic offence question: The first I knew of this was when I received a notice in the post stating that I had not responded to an earlier notice that I did not receive so approx 45 days after the alleged offence.

I asked for the photo evidence and calibration cert and was sent a small photo that did not clarify for me who the driver was and the calibration cert which was current. I eventually narrowed it down to either myself or my brother who look very similar.

I had very little time to respond as the 28 day clock was ticking so I asked for more time to research the matter as I thought it was my brother but he claimed it was not. The matter was then passed immediately to the CPS for court proceedings. In the documents to the court a different photo was submitted in evidence.

In this photo it showed the speed and the distance and also the presence of another vehicle next to the one registered to me. The distance was 178m. The calibration cert showed that the camera was only calibrated to 100m.

My question is: was it competent for the police to issue the notice in the first place when the speed of 36mph was recorded at such a long distance away?

If not then the notice should never have been issued as the speed could be inaccurate at that range and could have been interfered with by the other vehicle. In any event there is president for providing time extensions (this was offered to my wife recently) and it seems unjust to prejudice my position by not offering me the same advantage?

Dominic Says:

The question will be whether or not you used reasonable diligence to figure out who was driving at the time of the alleged offence.

Don’t worry about the calibration issues. That makes you look desperate. Its irrelevant. The only relevant issue is whether or not you have a defence to the failure to supply information.

These devices can operate over huge distances and it was working well within its capabilities on this occasion. You would have to cast a doubt on its reliability and the starting point for the court will be that the evidence is reliable I’m afraid.

Have you got any points already? If so, how many?