Failure to provide the identity of the driver

Section 172 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 is a request by the Police for the registered keeper/nominated driver of a vehicle to provide the identity/details of the person who is alleged to have committed a driving offence (commonly, speeding). More often than not the person driving will be themselves so no further investigation is required. The s172 request is contained within the ‘Notice of Prosecution’ document which must be sent to the registered keeper of the vehicle within 14 days of the alleged charge. The date of this document is the first thing worth checking to ensure it’s been sent in time.

If the registered keeper or nominated driver does not respond, or is unable to provide a name and address, then a prosecution for ‘failure to furnish’ information is likely to follow. This offence carries 6 penalty points and up to £1,000 fine. If a company is prosecuted, only a fine will follow.

The only available defence for the registered keeper of the vehicle who does not respond is to argue that they were unable to identify the driver and could not have done so even if you exercised “reasonable diligence”.

However, what would happen if the Notice of Intended Prosecution went to your old address, so you never had the chance to reply? I’m afraid it’s not looking too positive; although there are some avenues worth exploring.

A common example we get is someone moving house and not updating the logbook via the DVLA in Swansea when they move. Updating the logbook ensures the Police can obtain the accurate, up-to-date information from the DVLA to send out the Notice of Intended Prosecution to the correct address. It’s one of the crucial steps you should follow when moving house such as updating your driving licence or insurance. Changing your address on your logbook (by completing and submitting a V5C form) is usually free and doesn’t take long to complete. More information on how to do this is helpfully displayed in the following link: https://www.gov.uk/change-name-address-v5c

If you did update the logbook correctly via the DVLA and you can show this at Court, although you have already been convicted of the ‘failure to furnish’ offence, you could produce a Statutory Declaration at Court which confirms/declares that you were not, and could not have been reasonably made aware of the proceedings against you; together with an application to the Court to re-open the case, so you would plead guilty to the charge of speeding with the aim of requesting the Prosecution to withdraw the failure to furnish charges against you. This would result in less penalty points. Although, as is the case in all Court proceedings, there is no guarantee that the Court will re-open the matter or that the Prosecution will withdraw its charges against you so it’s crucial that you avoid the chance of the any proceedings against you in the first place by updating your log book!

If you have been charged with ‘failure to furnish (s172)’ relating to the identity of the driver (even if it was yourself), however you were not aware of any court proceedings against you or you may be at risk of a driving disqualifications having been convicted in your absence, get in touch with our Criminal and Motoring Law team today by contacting Nils O’Donoghue on 01924 379 078 or email NilsO@chadlaw.co.uk to discuss how we can help you.