I know when I was driving a company car on Friday the 3rd I got caught on a mobile speed camera, obviously the ticket will go to our company, I still haven't been given anything yet, is there a time frame I have to be given the ticket by?
The company received the ticket on the car over a week ago, I was just wondering if they have a certain amount of time to give my details they have not given anything yet,
A NIP can also be issued to limited companies and the requirement of disclosure is is also obligatory. The Road Traffic Act 1991 Section 21 (2) requires the keeper of the vehicle to identify the driver. Subsection (3) makes it an offence for the keeper to fail to comply. Subsection (4) provides a defence if the Keeper shows that he did not know who the driver was and could not have found out by using "reasonable diligence". However under Subsection (6) the company must prove that as well as not being able to identify the driver using ‘reasonable diligence’ it must show that it did not keep a record of who was driving the vehicle and that the failure to keep such records was reasonable. This is an onerous test to pass as it is generally fairly easy for a company to have a system in place which identifies the driver of a company vehicle at any given time, for example a log book kept in the vehicle which allows any drivers to enter the details of his or her journey. If the company did have such a system but it didn't work on a particular occasion that might suffice as a defence.
As far as management responsibility is concerned subsection (5) of the act says that where a director or senior manager of the company caused or connived with the failure to identify the driver, that person is also guilty. Most contraventions involving company vehicles result in the company being fined however there are instances where directors can also have points endorsed on their licence. In relation to s172, in general most police forces prosecute the company and not the Directors for failing to identify the driver as this leads to a conviction and fine without any effort. Additionally it may not be in the best interest of the court to prosecute Directors (solely to get points put on a licence).
How fast do you think you were going Dylan? Your company may have already sent your details back to them. you probably will get something in the post 4-6 weeks after the offence so a bit early yet.
Will it affect your job if you get points?
In the past 5 years I have sent back the NIP with my details more than once but decided NOT to opt for the automatic fine & points - not once have they followed through with a prosecution.
The registered keeper (i.e. your company) has 28 days to provide the prosecuting authority with the details of driver. If they fail to do so they are liable to prosecution under S172 as outlined by exdc. Once they have identified you (assuming they are able to) shortly afterwards you will receive the details of the alleged offence with a request to either identify somebody else as the driver (if you contend you were not driving) or to accept that you were the driver and either opt for the fixed penalty (if offered) or a court hearing. You have 28 days to respond and if you do not you are liable to prosecution under S172.
As far as the “due diligence” defence goes, there was a case last year in the Appeal Court (cannot find the details) where it was ruled that “due diligence” in identifying the driver is not required until a request for information has been received. The effect of this is that registered keepers are not required to keep records of who is driving their vehicle(s). They only have to make all reasonable steps to identify the driver after they have been asked to do so.
Thanks for the answers, I actually do a driving job all day with a lot of other drivers, no the points would not affect me but I would prefer not to have them if I can find a way out of it, I think I was doing about 36 in a 30, it was a mobile camera in the back of a van