I'm Really Worried I Have Upset My...
Family & Relationships1 min ago
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.I am guessing what has happened to you, so far. You have received a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) from the hire company, who will probably charge you an admin fee (e.g. �25) for forwarding this to you. The Police should also send you an NIP - the hire company will be able to confirm this to you - and you do not need to act until you have received this. They will provide a form, which you need to complete stating whether you were the driver and, if not, who the driver was, with address details. It is the person who has committed the offence, not the car, so they will then pursue the driver and your legal duty has been fulfilled. If you accept responsibility, the likely penalty is �60 and 3 points. If the other driver denies it, I don't know what the likely outcome is - I believe they could still take you to court, if they thought that this was a 'ruse', just to get off.
Your NIP will tell you what type of camera was used in detecting the alleged offence. If it was a Gatso (you can find lots of stuff on the net about types of speeding camera), pictures are taken from behind and they cannot identify the driver from these pictures. On this basis, if you feel that you can't name the other driver, because they shouldn't have been driving in the first place, for example, you can name a person (if you know anyone living abroad) from overseas, ideally with a real address. The police will write back to you asking for further details regarding flight dates, flight numbers, etc, but you are not obliged to answer these questions and there is nothing further they can do. The onus is on the Police to identify you as you are innocent until found guilty. See also the answers provided by Lord Picton at: http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Motoring/Question124152-2.html