speeding fine help. how to proceed.

flateric2002

Hi, my friend got a speeding ticket through the post in mid december. When the fine came through he requested photo evidence as him & his girlfriend share the car & were unsure who was driving.
When the photo came, it was of the back of the car so they were still unsure who was driving. He stated they did not know who was driving & was given a court date. He forgot about the court date & was issued a fine for £755 in his absence for failing to disclose the information of the driver. he rang the court & they have agreed to rehear his case but is unsure how to proceed.

does he:
a-tell them in court he does not know who was driving.
b-say he was driving & get lower fine.

if he goes with (a) will he then get a £755 fine or can he then say he will take the fine as though he was driving if they reject his claim to not know who was at the wheel?

it seems unfair either way when he genuinely doesn't know who was driving.

Quentin

You are in the wrong forum

Take this to pepipoo

flateric2002

whats pepipoo?

waamo

Google Pepipoo fightback forums. TBH it would be better if your friend could post as 2nd hand information can be unrealible.

flateric2002

joined & posted thanks

HO87

Its a real shame that your friend didn't do some searching of his own at the time but we are where we are.

You don't make it clear, if indeed you know (always an issue with those posting on behalf of others - Chinese whispers etc), whether your friend has made a successful statutory declaration and the conviction has been set aside for a rehearing or whether this will be sent to the Crown Court by way of an appeal. It is therefore somewhat difficult to gauge quite where to pitch the advice. I find it slightly unusual for a court to accept a "forgot it" claim but there may have been good reasons why they forgot it - family bereavement etc.

Boiling it down to gravy, your friend has a mountain to climb to demonstrate that at the time the requirement (by the police) was made to name the driver he exercised "reasonable diligence" and remained unable to identify the person responsible. Obviously the request for photos from the police goes some way to demonstrate that they made some effort but they will have to show what enquiries and checks they made (besides that) or the conviction will stand. Even if they do succeed in demonstrating what was done the court may still rule that this did not meet the standard. The bar is quite high for obvious reasons. The same will apply if the matter goes to Crown Court for an appeal. The issue is that that this ploy has been used for many years by those seeking to avoid "totting" (at risk of accumulating 12 points) or by those simply avoiding speeding fines. That is why the penalty was increased a few years ago.

The fine is relatively high and given that it will be income based (court assessed or on details provided by your friend). I therefore suspect that the total figure includes costs and Victim Levy. They may succeed in getting that reduced but that will be solely dependent on their income. If the conviction stands at all - reduced fine notwithstanding - so will the six points which are mandatory.

The issue with the endorsement is the code - MS90 - which is thoroughly disliked by insurers as it is viewed as an indication of dishonesty. They should consign themselves to having to pay increased premiums for some years - at best. At worst their insurer may revoke the policy or may refuse to renew it. Having insurance refused is something they should avoid and so looking around for companies that are prepared to offer cover would be a good idea.

The_Deep

Many years ago the driver of my car went through a red light. Neither my wife not I could remember who was driving so we decided who it was most likely to be and I paid the fine and she took the points.