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Speed camera & who was driving? What happens next?

On 16th Aug my friend's car went through a speed camera on a road work section at 0500. He received a letter some time later stating that they had photo evidence of his vehicle doing 52 mph in a 40 road work zone and asking for £60 fine plus details of the driver along with his/her driving licence.

He sent off the cheque dated 18th Sept enclosing a letter stating that there could have been any one of three people driving so could they show him the photo evidence to identify the driver.

Last week he got a letter back stating that “photo evidence is only produced in court hearings and is used to identify the vehicle and not the driver. In addition, the camera technicians have reviewed the photo evidence and can confirm that they are unable to identify the driver at the time of the alleged offence. According to Section 172 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, it is the responsibility of the Registered Keeper of the vehicle to nominate the driver at any given time".

Please help.

Update:

He had the cheque returned to him so can't resolve until he finds out who the driver was. There was something in the paper a couple of weeks ago about a similar situation which I am sure implied that it was down to the police to establish driver's identity. Unfortunately I didn't take a copy.

11 Answers

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  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    The speeding ticket is issued to the registered owner. If the registered owner was not the driver, he has give the details of who the driver was. I think the fact that you don't have a record of who was driving on that day is bad luck, but they won't care. Might be worth you ringing up a solicitor to check - many do a 15min consultation for free.

  • 1 decade ago

    We had the same speed cameras here in Ontario Canada (tossed out a couple of governments ago). They only identified the vehicle. The registered owner received the ticket for the speeding. Because the driver usually can't be identified no points are removed from the registered owner's licence there is only a fine. It didn't matter who the registered owner said was driving at the time.

    Perhaps it the same way in the UK?

  • 1 decade ago

    You wait until you receive a summons to court and then plead Not Guilty. At the trial, you call the three potential drivers to give evidence. The magistrates can only convict you is the case is proved "beyond a reasonable doubt". If there is any doubt that the registered keeper was the driver, they must acquit.

    If you instruct a solicitor, it is likely that a large percentage of your costs will be paid back under a Defendant's Costs Order

    your witnesses will receive expenses for loss of earnings, travelling to and from court, and subsistence, irrespective of the outcome of the case.

  • 1 decade ago

    Well, if your mate knows that it was one of three people, why doesn't he just ask the three people which one of them it was? It's not rocket science is it???!!!

    And as far as the answers suggesting your friend says that the driver has now returned to a foreign country...the courts no longer accept that as an excuse, they got wise to it a long time ago.

    If a foreigner was driving, chances are he wasn't insured due to the lack of full UK licence, which would mean your friend has commited another offence of allowing an uninsured person to drive his vehicle.

    If the foreigner does have a full UK licence, then no problem... it can be endorsed.

    Loopholes are a thing of the past...honesty is the best policy.

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  • 1 decade ago

    firstly the photo only being produced in court is a load of rubbish, the company i work for got a speeding fine, as it could have been a number of drivers we asked to see the photo so we knew who would be paying the fine, well the photo could have been anyone.

    the fine will automatically go to the owner of the vehicle, if you state you wasn't the driver and give the drivers name, then ask for photo eveidence, make sure the driver of the car is insured for that car as thet could pick up on that too.

  • 1 decade ago

    The old 'oh i dont know who was driving' thing has been tried before, if the registered owner of the vehicle cant say who was driving then they get the points - no way around that one im afraid.

    This is why you should always send that form to the DVLA when you sell a vehicle, if the buyer doesn't as well and they get flashed, guess who gets the points?

  • 1 decade ago

    You seem to have answered your own question. The owner of the vehicle is responsible for finding out and informing who was driving the car at the time of the offence. Sadly, as far as I am aware this also means that unless you can provide an alternative name to your own, you (the owner) will have to accept the points and the fine!

  • 1 decade ago

    The report in the paper was due to someone stating that the driver was a relative that does not live in the UK, you can only get a photo from the front, not from the back, so you have cause to argue the situation. As long as your face is not shown then it is ok.

    Just state that someone a relation in India or somewhere was driving, what can they do!!!

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    The owner of the car is assumed responsible. Often the driver is not pictured, only the Car license plate.

    Since the owner of the car knows who was driving in court they will be ordered to tell the court who was driving, If they refuse, they can be held in contempt of court ( for worst than speeding)

    so if you were not the one, you are required to tell them, or they will assume and ticket you as the legal owner of the car.

  • 4 years ago

    1

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