Speed camera, how long after the incident can they get me?

[Red1981]

Hi,

I got flashed by a speed camera in February. I drive a company car and have only just had the fine/points through.

I thought that there was a maximum of 2 weeks from the incident that they could pursue you for this??

Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks

[New Judge]

A Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) should be sent to the registered keeper (RK) so that, in normal circumstances it arrives within 14 days of the date of the alleged offence.

The RK then has 28 days to inform the authorities who was driving at the time. Even this 14 day rule is not absolute (prosecutions are not automatically ruled out if the time has elapsed, but may be more difficult to sustain).

There are no time limits mentioned beyond this apart from the overall limit of six months. (The prosecution must begin within six months of the date of the alleged offence).

From what you say I imagine you are not the registered keeper and this probably explains part of the delay.

[Red1981]

You are correct there, I am not the registered keeper. It is a contract hire vehicle.

The incident was the 17th Feb, my company has only received an invoice from the Vehicle Management company for �15 for an admin charge relating to this. They simply list the reg number date/time of incident etc with an admin fee?

Neither myself nor my company have heard anything else??

I take it that I should hear the bad news in due course then?

[north star]

When you get the NIP in your name you have 28 days in which to respond staing that you were the driver. It would be best to reply that you were the driver towards the end of the 28 day period. Also, reply, using a formal letter and not the form that they send ( perfectly legal) as it takes longer to process. Reply using 'special' delivery rather than recorded delivery as this HAS to be signed for. You then should be offered COFP ( conditional offer of a fixed penalty) provided you currently have less than 9 penalty points on your licence. You then have another 28 days to accept or reject the COFP. By then you may be lucky and go over the 6 months 'timeout' period. Remember the scammerati have 6 months to lay information before a court.

[Red1981]

Thanks North Star, that is really good advice. When you say a formal letter I take it you mean...

Dear ....

in responoce to your NIP blah blah blah...

[New Judge]

North Star often gives this advice and I often counsel against it. Whilst all that he says is true, unless you intend to reject the Fixed Penalty offer and plead not guilty, you need to be a little bit careful.

Firstly, there are 88 days still remaining for the prosecution to be put before the court. If you take the full 28 days to provide your details and the full 28 days to reply saying you either accept or reject the offer there are still more than 30 days for the authorities to do what they have to do in between those two actions and to start proceedings. Also bear in mind that if you do accept the offer, court proceedings will not be launched and the �six month� rule does not apply anyway. (The rule only applies to court proceedings).

However, the more important point to consider when you take the gamble that the matter will be either overlooked or timed out is this. If you do not provide the driver�s details as requested and in time the speeding matter will be discontinued and a prosecution under Section 172 of the Road Traffic Act (failing to provide driver�s details) will be launched. The six month clock starts ticking again. This offence is dealt with by way of a prosecution in court (there is no fixed penalty provision) and carries a minimum of six penalty points and a hefty fine.

If you are guilty of speeding you are simply delaying the inevitable in the hope that some sort of procedural cods up will ensue. In practice you are the one more likely to be on the receiving end of any cods up.

[north star]

I do not condone speeding in any way but highlight how the system works in order to allow OPs to make an informed choice on how to proceed. Be aware though that information cannot be layed before a court until after 28 days of the COFP being served.

and as an answer to your last post, red1981 .... yes.