Speeding Fine in Hire Car but not guilty . Help needed!

tobyjug

I would like some advice please.

We received a speeding fine from late Jan which we were not guilty of. The camera says that we were driving about 100 miles away from where we live in the evening. Whilst I know it is difficult to remember the exact time and location of every trip we go on, we know we were not there but how do we prove it?

To complicate things it was a hire cire that we had for 3 weeks following an accident repair after someone had driven into the back of us.

the date is right for the car that we had but we were deinately not there..Anyone had any similar problems?

How do we prove it?

What should we do first?

Any help would be great...

hjb123

Sounds like you are going to have to prove it! Have you proof of where you were at that time on that date?

You could ask for the evidence etc, bear in mind that if you contest it it could end up costing you more if you lose

Exemplar

Hi

Until recently I was the manager of a car hire firm so have some experience of this situation. (Especially as I was at the end of a lot of rants and raves about it!!!)

Your argument is not with the hire car firm but with the authority that issued the ticket. All they do is send the hire car firm notice of intention to prosecute, they look for the rental agreement that the date relates to and hey presto!

The only way out is for you to prove that you were not there at the time, this will be nigh on impossible by the way (Unless of course you were talking to a police officer/judge as the offence occured!!).

The only other way out is to demand photo evidence, if there is a photo you have to stand up in court and say that it was not you. However this may be a waste of time/energy etc. If the photo shows another car other than the hire car (I once saw a photo of a 55 plate metro..... the Plate was from a 55 plate Astra) then you are away scot free!

Good luck

Alex

PS never ever hire from 1Car1

stumpjumper

Ask the police for evidence they should send you the photographs and the details ie the time and date. First step is to check that it IS infact the car you hired and that the dates are correct. I seems like a case of mistaken identity or the police or hire company have got the dates wrong and it wasn't while you were hiring the car. The pictures may also show the person driving.

best advise is to check out http://www.pepipoo.com/ as they have alot of experianced guys that can help with better info than us.

unfortunatly ATM the law is a funny one... yes they have to prove your guilty.. but they do this by making you incriminate yourself with the NIP which you have to fill in and return.. now as you dont know who was driving or if it WAS you in the car. So i think the PACE statement is the best way to go. again see pepipoo for info... its not a get out of jail card. but it doesnt incriminate yourself, but nor does it leave you open to a prosecution of failing to provide the information.

by law the NIP has to be served by min of 1st class post to the registered keeper of the vehicle... in this instance the Hire Company. they return after checking their records who had that car... so it could be the hire company have sent the wrong details, so dig out any info you have about the car you had so you can check the reg in the pictures to the one you hired.

skintscotsman

stumpjumper wrote:

best advise is to check out http://www.pepipoo.com/ as they have alot of experianced guys that can help with better info than us.

.

yup, best idea is to try out the forums on pepipoo - they saved me £60 and 3 points a few months ago.

burbs_2

It is not your job to prove you are not guilty, it is the police forces job to prove you are guilty. To do this they have to provide evidence in the way of photographs etc.

Cumbrian_Male

tobyjug wrote:

I would like some advice please.

We received a speeding fine from late Jan which we were not guilty of. The camera says that we were driving about 100 miles away from where we live in the evening. Whilst I know it is difficult to remember the exact time and location of every trip we go on, we know we were not there but how do we prove it?

To complicate things it was a hire cire that we had for 3 weeks following an accident repair after someone had driven into the back of us.

the date is right for the car that we had but we were deinately not there..Anyone had any similar problems?

How do we prove it?

What should we do first?

Any help would be great...

The first place to start would be to check bank, credit card statements to look for transactions at or around the time of the alledged incident. If you bought fuel for the car or were shopping in tesco at the time then you couldn't have been at the camera site at the time indicated.

Who could have been driving the hire car at the time? Just one person or possibly more.

Can you remember who was driving at that time regardless of whether you were there or not? If it's addressed to you and you know you weren't driving then you have a legal obligation to name the driver, not to start conducting your own investigation.

Listen to the others and give PePiPoo a look.

Also beware of posting to many details on their boards as some Camera Partnerships monitor the boards for possible defendants.

tobyjug

Thanks to everyone . Will try the website after having a discussion with the car hire firm. I will try and be calm and sensible!

some good advice. Thanks

stumpjumper

burbs wrote:

It is not your job to prove you are not guilty, it is the police forces job to prove you are guilty. To do this they have to provide evidence in the way of photographs etc.

Unfotunatly this is not the case with speeding tickets... they 'prove' its you via Section142 - the form you fill in when they send the notice of intended prosecution (NIP) to the registered keeper of the car - they HAVE to state who was in the car... and if they fail to answer then that is an offence.

It is something that is currently going the European Court of Human Rights that you are being forced to confess under duress of prosecution - As a speed camera does not involve you speaking to a police officer who hasnt given you the caution statement, and warned anything you say may be used against you in court - hence currently the Pace statement is used - as this can not be used to incriminate you in court.

I'm not sure of the current state of play as to weither things have changed regarding this - but it was a case that PACE isnt a get out of jail card to avoid the fine - but it does make them work harder for your money - and gives them more rope to hang themselves with.



But to go back to the origonal quoted post - in terms of speeding - you are guilty, until you prove your innocence or finger someone else - but watch who you do finger, as they'll go for perverting the course of justice if you say "my Aunt Bessy who lives in Spain m'lord" some similar. They need their fines - while people die and the roads dont get any safer.