Free Traffic Legal Advice

Good afternoon,

I'm looking for advice for an NIP that I received on 05/09/2024. The date of the offence was 29/06/2024 and seems to coincidence with when my friend was visiting. The person who was driving has since gone back to home.

This is a lease car so I have been identified as the RK, however because of the length of time passed since the alleged offence I can't be 100% sure that I was/wasn't the driver and don't want to incriminate myself.

I have until 26/09/24 to provide the information, in order for the driver to be able to take an educational course instead of paying a fine and having penalty points on their licence.

Can anyone help me in this situation, I know its short notice but I've only just found this site?

Thanks in advance.

If it helps jog your memory, if your convenient friend happens to be what many seem to refer to as an "international driver" - which in actual English translates to foreigner, or otherwise not resident in the UK, and you name them as the driver, the police will immediately ask you to prove that they were insured (knowing that foreign insurance will not cover them, and knowing strongly suspecting that the friend either wasn't driving or wasn't even there).

I note that whilst your post was not a witness statement sworn to be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, you make no mention of asking your friend if he recalls the incident, merely that he has "gone back to home". Most people would find it curious that you appear to be seeking legal advice before making any attempt to get your heads together with your convenient friend to try to work out who was driving.

I also note that you make no mention of making any attempt otherwise to determine who was driving, instead preferring to set out your excuse that the incident was so long ago and that your friend has "gone back to home".

The law requires you to name the driver. If you are unable to do so,  you arew required to provide any information that is in your power to give that might lead to the identification of the driver and it then becomes part of a defence if you are able to persuade a bench of magistrates, on the balance of probabilities, that you both do not know who was driving and cannot with reasonable diligence work out who was driving.

If it helps jog your memory, if your convenient friend happens to be what many seem to refer to as an "international driver" - which in actual English translates to foreigner, or otherwise not resident in the UK, and you name them as the driver, the police will immediately ask you to prove that they were insured (knowing that foreign insurance will not cover them, and knowing strongly suspecting that the friend either wasn't driving or wasn't even there).

I note that whilst your post was not a witness statement sworn to be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, you make no mention of asking your friend if he recalls the incident, merely that he has "gone back to home". Most people would find it curious that you appear to be seeking legal advice before making any attempt to get your heads together with your convenient friend to try to work out who was driving.

I also note that you make no mention of making any attempt otherwise to determine who was driving, instead preferring to set out your excuse that the incident was so long ago and that your friend has "gone back to home".

The law requires you to name the driver. If you are unable to do so,  you arew required to provide any information that is in your power to give that might lead to the identification of the driver and there is becomes part of a defence if you you are able to persuade a bench of magistrates, on the balance of probabilities, that you both do not know who was driving and cannot with reasonable diligence work out who was driving.

My post was a brief summary of the issue I have and I didn't give the full details. Being new to this site - I just wanted an idead if this is the sort of thing I could get help/advice with. I wondered whether there is a time limit when a NIP should be sent to me, as I'm sure I'm not the only person that can't remember what I was doing on the 26th June this year.  I was being honest with the fact that it coincided with when my friend was visiting but - I can't be 100% sure who was driving on that day as other people in my household have access to the vehicle and are fully insured to do so.

Thanks for your response all the same.

Presumably if your friend isn’t insured to drive your car it wasn’t them driving? Because surely you wouldn’t let them drive uninsured, right? So your friend visiting is irrelevant.

Quote

I wondered whether there is a time limit when a NIP should be sent to me,..

No there isn't. In fact the police have no obligation to send you a NIP at all.

Only the first NIP is required by law. Any others are provided as as a courtesy (and often because they are printed on the same sheet of paper as the "request for driver's details."

This is the first one I have received in my name and the letter was dated 02/09/2024

How about one of the other people in the house whe you say are insured to drive? Was it one of them?

Based on the time of the offence (03:33 -way past my bedtime!) It can be one of two people, but neither of them can remember either unfortunately as it was quite a while ago.

Quote from: Southpaw82 on September 22, 2024, 07:04:19 pm

Presumably if your friend isn’t insured to drive your car it wasn’t them driving? Because surely you wouldn’t let them drive uninsured, right? So your friend visiting is irrelevant.

My friend would have had insurance to drive as they have a GB licence. However they are not a named driver on my insurance policy.

Unless your friend's UK insurance policy allowed him to drive other vehicles, having a UK licence is irrelevant