We Don’t Know Who Was Driving

Question:

We have one car and my wife is the registered owner.

She received a request for driver information but as she was off on that day and I was working from home and that we both have probably driven the car at some point on that day, we genuinely couldn’t remember who was driving when the notice was received about a week later.

Therefore, we asked in writing if they could send us the photographic evidence so that whoever was identified could plead guilty to the offence. However, the photo was taken from the rear and moreover, we couldn’t even identify who was driving from the rear view mirror which is what we were hoping for.

Therefore, we wrote back, explained the situation and asked if my wife as the registered keeper could be offered a speeding course instead of a fine and 3 points, which we both want to avoid although we both have clean licenses. This wasn’t accepted either and they now want my wife to either admit in writing or go to court.

I read some of the stuff on your website which, by the way is very helpful, but I am frustrated about the fact that one of us is being forced to admit to the offence although we GENUINELY can not remember who was or might have been driving at that time on that day.

What should we do and what are the chances of prosecution if we went to court? Thank you for your kind assistance and advice.

Dominic Says:

Thank you for your question. Good to speak to you.

We may be able to persuade the police to take no further action in relation to this matter as your wife has a strong statutory defence under s.172(4).

If the police take the matter to court we would have to show that on the balance of probabilities your wife has used reasonable diligence to identify the driver. This means we would have to convince the court that it’s more likely than not that she did her best.