Prove I Was Driving?

Question:

I was driving a car without insurance and MOT. I had two passengers in the car: my daughter and a friend. I think that the police did not see me driving. They approached me when I was parking near x airport, and asked if I had insurance and MOT.

Now I was charged with offences contrary to s143, s47(1), 40A of Road Traffic Act 1988 and Schedule 2 to the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988. I am the owner of the car.

1)Would it be reasonable for me to plead not guilty and argue that I did not drive the car but my friend did? The friend would say that I was driving the car.
2)Is it possible, with today’s technology, to prove who was driving?

In such case, maybe the prosecution would be unable to prove who was driving, and would have to drop the case.
3)Is there any accessory liability under the RTA88? for example to allow to drive the car to a third party with me present in the car.
4)If I was found guilty, how many driving points would I lose? And how many are there before you are prohibited to drive?

I would really appreciate you answering me. Thank you very much.
Sincerely Yours

Paula Says:

If you are asked to provide your documents for inspection the burden is on you to prove that you were road legal at the time of driving.

If you lie about who was driving the car then you could get yourself into much deeper trouble for attempting to pervert the course of justice or perjury – so I would advise strongly against deliberately misleading the police and the court.

However you are perfectly entitled to make the police prove that you were the driver/user of the vehicle in question. The fact that you are the registered keeper and owner of the car will act as a presumption that you were the most likely driver.

If the prosecution cannot prove who was driving then you may have a defence but this will need expert handling and I don’t think you will be able to handle this on your own. There are too many risks.

If the police can show that you had an uninsured car on a public road or in a public place then you will be found guilty of the insurance offence if the car wasn’t covered.

You can be guilty of permitting someone else to drive without insurance which also carries 6 points.

Have you got points already? If so, how many? There maybe an easier way to avoid a ban than all this wriggling!

You would get 6-8 points and a fine. You have to accumulate 12 or more to get a 6 month ban.