Single Justice Procedure Notice

[boltblue1]

Hi

I'm in need of some advice, as I'm at a complete loss on what to do.

We received a standard speeding offence based on the vehicle being registered at 42MPH in a 30MPH zone. Both my partner and I share the driving equally in the house, and it's generally whoever picks up the car keys drives.

On the day of the offence, we can not remember who was driving that morning, and having read the offence deceleration in detail it makes it very clear not to sign unless you are 100% clear on the driver's details. We, therefore, decided to reply being and advised we were unsure, and it will be one of two names and asked if they had a forward facing photo of the vehicle to confirm the driver.

The police replied and advise no other images had been taken and it was purely the rear facing image of the car.

Both my partner and I sent letters back advising that we weren't 100% sure who was driving and as they also didn't have further evidence we weren't able to confidently provide drivers details.

About a month has passed, but today we've received a very basic letter advising the matter has been referred to the Magistrates, purely on the basis we have been unable to provide driver details and not for the speeding offence, and will we receive a Single Justice Procedure Notice.

We are now both very concerned as we are heavily reliant on being able to drive for work purposes and really unclear what will happen next.

I understand that the standard view is we are trying to avoid justice, however, we have attempted to be honest and based on the information stated in the original speeding fine it is very clear that you should not sign the declaration if you are not 100% sure on the driver details.

Can anyone give some guidance on what we should?
Should I reply to the police letter advising they are referring to the Magistrates?

I appreciate we need to wait to receive the Single Justice Procedure Notice, but I've just spent an hour or so googling and got completely lost and very concerned with it all

Thanks

[des8]

Presumably only one of you is the registered keeper and has received the request to supply details of the driver.

Although the penalty is higher for failing to provide information than for the original driving offence if you can satisfy the court that you have genuinely and diligently attempted to identify the driver at the time but were unable to do so and hence cannot furnish the police with the required information you will be acquitted of the Section 172 offence.

However whether you used sufficient effort to attempt to discover the identity of the driver and hence had a reason for failing to furnish information is a subjective one - to be decided by the court.
Failure to convince the court results in 6 penalty points and a fine of up to £1000.

So if you don't know who was driving then you need to provide convincing arguments as to why not, and what means you have taken to discover who was driving . Evidence must be given to show exactly what steps have been taken to try and identify who was driving the vehicle.
If the speeding happened on a route you often drive together, with either driving then emphasise it as it makes it more likely that you do not recall the driver on any particular day.
Show that you have tried to recreate your movements on that day eg it was a Wednesday, and generally go shopping followed by a visit to the library, However that we went to visit aunty Jane but cannot recall who was driving.
You need to sound convincing!
Under no circumstances state "I don't know who was driving but will take the points anyway" as they will take that as a "not guilty" plea.

It might be worth consulting a solicitor specialising in motoring law