Speeding offence - notice of intended prosecution quoting wrong road. Is it invalid?

sarahlou6

Hi all,
I was caught by a fixed camera doing 35mph on a 30mph road at the weekend and have just received the Notice of Intended Prosecution. However, the road and location identified in the letter are both incorrect - I was actually about 15 miles away from the quoted location at the time. 

I’ve looked online and the calibration and location info for the camera in question is the same as that given on the NIP, ie not where I was. They do have photos of the car though. 

Just wondering if I have a leg to stand on in challenging the NIP as inaccurate and therefore invalid?
Thanks in advance for any advice :-)

paul_c123

Can you prove you weren't there?

sarahlou6

Thanks for responding! I got to the council recycling centre about five minutes later so they might have recorded my reg number on entry as you need a permit for the car. Don’t know how easy it would be to get that evidence from the council though.  

born_again

One for FTLA

https://www.ftla.uk/

Mildly_Miffed

So this is actually a question of the timestamp on the image being incorrect?

The photo really is of your car?

sarahlou6

The photo is of my car. The road they are saying I, the car and their camera is on is incorrect. It’s 15 miles away from where I was

sarahlou6

Mildly_Miffed said:

So this is actually a question of the timestamp on the image being incorrect?

The photo really is of your car?

Only just realised how to reply to specific comments, sorry! 

I was never on the road or in the town that they quoted. The timestamp is correct but I was on a different road in a different place 

Car_54

You cannot "challenge" a NIP. It is merely a notice.

It is also separate from the request for he driver's identity, even though it may be on the same piece of paper, and you must respond to the latter.

What you can do is reply stating that at the specified time the vehicle was at location Y, many miles from the location X of the alleged offence.  Do not reply until 14 days from the offence, to prevent their issuing a corrected NIP.

That may result in their simply dropping the matter, or maybe not. If they do not, then the only way to "challenge" it is to ignore any offers of a course or fixed penalty, and go to court. 

sarahlou6

Car_54 said:

You cannot "challenge" a NIP. It is merely a notice.

It is also separate from the request for he driver's identity, even though it may be on the same piece of paper, and you must respond to the latter.

What you can do is reply stating that at the specified time the vehicle was at location Y, many miles from the location X of the alleged offence.  Do not reply until 14 days from the offence, to prevent their issuing a corrected NIP.

That may result in their simply dropping the matter, or maybe not. If they do not, then the only way to "challenge" it is to ignore any offers of a course or fixed penalty, and go to court. 

Thanks. The notice came to my husband as registered keeper and we’ve already responded online to say it was me driving. I’ll do as you suggest and wait 14 days then respond saying I wasn’t where they say I was. 

TadleyBaggie

No need to wait 14 days when you get your own notice, the 14 days is measured from when the offence occurred.

Car_54

sarahlou6 said:

Car_54 said:

You cannot "challenge" a NIP. It is merely a notice.

It is also separate from the request for he driver's identity, even though it may be on the same piece of paper, and you must respond to the latter.

What you can do is reply stating that at the specified time the vehicle was at location Y, many miles from the location X of the alleged offence.  Do not reply until 14 days from the offence, to prevent their issuing a corrected NIP.

That may result in their simply dropping the matter, or maybe not. If they do not, then the only way to "challenge" it is to ignore any offers of a course or fixed penalty, and go to court. 

Thanks. The notice came to my husband as registered keeper and we’ve already responded online to say it was me driving. I’ll do as you suggest and wait 14 days then respond saying I wasn’t where they say I was. 

OK. You will receive a NIP in your name. I'd wait and reply to that rather than send a separate letter, which might confuse matters.