Hi, any advice for this situation would be useful thank you
I've just received a SJPN "Failing to give information relating the identification of a driver"
They have enclosed 2 letter which they said they sent previously asking for the disclosure of driver at the time of a traffic incident last July. I haven't received those letters
I'm confused as the incident that happened last year was dealt with through my insurance
My partner and Son were hit on the driver rear side by a young driver. The driver was very apologetic and begged my husband to not go through the insurance and as the damage wasn't really noticeable he agreed
My son and partner did not tell me about the incident as I was in a bad place through grieving for my late Mum
A couple weeks later my insurance company emailed me about an incident which my partner then told me about what had happened. My insurance accepted fault (which I did not agree with) Any way I'm confused as to the paperwork of the police it states that there was an incident and a "failure to stop" which is incorrect as they stopped and exchanged numbers and pictures were taken
I'm now served with this SJPN
I'm going to plead not guilty is there any advice on how best to handle this?
I've also just seen that the postal "town" is not on my V5C
Thank you in advance
Is the address on the letters correct?
If your family deliberately kept the matter from you, can you think of any reason why letters posted to you were not received by you?
Thank you for your response
The Close I live on is really silly. When you enter on the right hand side there are houses then on the left hand side there are 3 blocks of flats that share the same numbers as our houses.
The flats have different names but the same numbers as us in the houses
So it does get confusing. Many of my orders have gone to the flats directly opposite me down to last week one of my Amazon parcels was delivered to the flat address
And vice versa I'm constantly receiving mail and deliveries for the flats opposite. Even their guests knock my door believing they are the right address.
Although it is a Close our houses have a different postcode to the flats opposite us
When I order things I usually write a note stating it's for the houses on the right hand side of the Close
Some delivery people bother to take note others do not
I've held my license for 20 years and never received any points. A completely clean license. It feels so harsh and very worrying that I'm to be punished for something I genuinely wasn't aware of
As I mentioned before I have been diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety I havent been coping well with the passing of my Mother and do go through many periods where I can't handle daily life and tasks so I don't open my letters or do much else
I've gone through the letters that I hadn't opened and haven't seen any letters from the police. I was in a really bad place most of last year and spent a lot of time at my Late mums house so whether it was delivered and got lost or I actually haven't received the letters at all I don't know. But I do know this is the first time I'm hearing of this situation
It all just seems so harsh and I'm not coping well with this issue on top of everything else I just don't know what to do???
I think you're over-dramatising this?
If it was the case that the driver (who was that??) did stop and exchange details and a claim has been made and settled (and you have a paper trail or can get one to show this) then you stand a very good chance of defending the charge. You need to position it that you weren't driving, state who was (it can't be two people!) and a narration of events. However, the non receipt of two sets of paperwork is a bit hard to substantiate - but not so much if there is evidence of this being a regular occurance: This is usually done by showing some sort of (written) exchange with the Post Office.....have you done this?
There's too many holes in the depiction of events to comment fully - others will add things, but it is not sufficient to plead NG and just turn up wihtout anything to upport what your state happened: It's hard to see how the other driver was so distraught at his/her error for invisible damage that resulted in a claim you allowed your insurer to pay out on? You need to review all the circumstances/facts - BUT the FtF stands either way and is a stand-alone offence.
Thank you for your response
It may seem over dramatic, but to someone who suffers with mental health issues this is major instead of spiralling I'm trying to deal with it head on and give all the facts that I know
My partner was the driver at the time
I was told to post this topic here from another forum and the main advice there was that it no longer matters who was driving at the time of the accident it was now irrelevant because me not disclosing who the driver was at the time is what I'm being accused of
Are you saying this is not the case? Because yes I do have a paper trail of it being dealt with through my insurance and the claim now being closed
I believe the mother of the other driver went to the police station and reported the accident to the police which is how the police got involved (the name on the copy of the paper work implies this)
But the information given to the police of "failing to stop after an accident" is incorrect there are pictures to prove this
From what I recall my insurance company accepted liability because when they first emailed me about the accident I responded (about a week or so later) stating an error had occurred and I was not in an accident.
When they came back to me with more details and pictures I told my partner about it and he then told me what had happened
I went back to my insurers and explained, they said they would accept liability due to the time it's taken and they won't be going back and forth now with the other insurers. Because I originally said there was no accident and took long to respond to their emails I just accepted that I would have to allow them to accept liability
For context: My car was hit by the other person as my partner was driving out of a side road. The other driver hit the driver rear side of my car
I can ask my local post office if they can write something?
The facts of what happened on the day of the accident is information that my partner gave. I personally wouldn't have made the decision to not go through my insurance but it is what it is there
Sorry I dont know what an FtF is?
Sorry I dont know what an FtF is?
“Fail to Furnish" (or provide) the driver’s details. This is also known as a “Section 172” offence (after the section of the Road Traffic Act which creates the offence)
I was told to post this topic here from another forum and the main advice there was that it no longer matters who was driving at the time of the accident it was now irrelevant because me not disclosing who the driver was at the time is what I'm being accused of
Are you saying this is not the case?
No, it most certainly
is the case.
You need to position it that you weren't driving, state who was (it can't be two people!) and a narration of events.
The time for that is long since passed. The only issue now is the s172 charge and how or whether to defend it. The police cannot prosecute anybody for the signature offences (careless driving and failing to stop/report) now anyway. If the incident was last July they had until the corresponding date in January to bring any charges. And in any case they could not prosecute you for them under any circumstances as you were not driving.
If you are to defend the charge you need to build some evidence of the problem you say exists with postal deliveries. Something from the post office may help (though I doubt they’d be prepared to offer anything that suggests they are delivering large amounts of mail to the wrong addresses, especially to those with a different postcode). Statements from your neighbours who may have suffered similar problems perhaps. It may also help if you provide the court with evidence that the driver’s details were already provided and that the matter had been sorted out by your insurers. This is strictly speaking no defence to the charge, but you can demonstrate that nobody was disadvantaged by your failure to respond.
The underlying offence has no direct relevance. You have been charged with failing to identify the driver. Whether the underlying offence has legs or not is not an ingredient of the offence you have been charged with.
The closest to any relevance is the argument that as you were not the driver, and as the driver claims to have stopped and exchanged details (which the other driver seemingly disputes) you would have little reason not to comply with the s. 172 requirement if you had received it.
FtF = Fail to Furnish
[quote author=andy_foster
The closest to any relevance is the argument that as you were not the driver, and as the driver claims to have stopped and exchanged details (which the other driver seemingly disputes) you would have little reason not to comply with the s. 172 requirement if you had received it.
FtF = Fail to Furnish
[/quote]
Does it sound like I have a reasonable defence to defend myself?
My facts:
I didn't know about the letters (which I have to try and prove)
Maybe they were delivered but an oversight on my part. Maybe They were unopened/lost due to dealing with grief, mental and physical health illness
I genuinely don't know what has happened here but I wouldn't deliberately ignore the requests
I can ask my Gp to provide medical evidence with my ongoing issues
Does the Mental Health or Vulnerable Persons act consider the persons mental state at the time of the alleged offence?
The matter was dealt with through my insurance and the claim is now closed so the original allegations made by the drivers parent are false.
I know nobody can advise me whether to plead guilty or not. I just would like to know what the process is for both routes and how best to navigate this situation with minimal impact on my license and health
Sorry if this comes across "dramatic"
The process is often just a sausage machine and fine/points applied - but not necessarily if a full hearing takes place. It's magistrates so no-one can read (in advance) their orientation to othe pressures at the time.
Which two routes are you referring to? In your OP you were/have pleaded NG?