Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi everyone,

Thank you for the guidance shared on other threads. I couldn’t find a case quite like mine, so I’m posting it here.

I’ve received an SJPN for a speeding offence and failing to provide the driver’s name because my V5C was still registered to my old address at the time of the offence.

I moved at the end of April 2024 but didn’t update my V5C until 19th July. The speeding offence occurred on 16th July - just three days before I updated my address - and my partner was driving while I was a passenger. I had no mail forwarding in place, though I’d asked the landlord to let me know if anything arrived for us. Unfortunately, I heard nothing.

On 15th January 2025, I received the SJPN. After speaking to others with similar experiences, I was advised to plead guilty to the speeding offence (noting my partner was driving) and not guilty to failing to provide the driver’s name, because:
a) Pleading guilty to speeding could lead to the second charge being dropped.
b) I believed the police had my updated address when they issued the notice on 23rd July and a reminder on 13th August.

However, an administrative officer has now replied to my non-guilty/guilty plea and explained that the police used the address on my V5C at the time of the offence and that they do not check in between notices for updates. They’ve also said they can’t accept my guilty plea for speeding since I stated I wasn’t the driver.

The officer hinted that pleading guilty would entitle me to a one-third reduction in any financial penalty for an early plea, but if I stick to my current plea, the case will go to trial.

I’m feeling very confused. What's everyone's advice on this complicated matter?

Your options are to defend the s. 172 charge (somehow) or plead guilty to it.

On the face of it, you have no defence to the s. 172 charge beyond hoping that the prosecution somehow completely balls it up beyond the ability of the legal advisor to rescue them.

The s. 172 requirement (NIP) was legally served when it was delivered to your last known address, which is deemed to have occurred 2 working days after posting, unless the contrary is proved. The offence is committed at the expiration of the period of 28 days beginning with the date of service, if the required information is not provided.

There is a statutory defence of it not being reasonably practicable to provide the information. Case law (Whiteside) provides that not receiving the notice is not in and of itself enough to engage the defence - it would have to not been reasonably practicable to ensure that you were aware of such notices. On the face of it, you simply forgot or didn't bother to update your address on the V5C until the speed camera reminded you.

Whilst there is no statutory provision for the police to extend the time to provide the information, they often send out reminders allowing you extra time, and it would be deemed not to be cricket to prosecute you for the original failure if you complied with the requirements of any such reminders. You didn't.

S. 172, as with most motoring offences, is a strict liability offence. Whether you intended to commit it or not is irrelevant to the commission of the offence, and generally would not even constitute mitigation.

TL;DR - absent some compelling reason (that you have thus far declined to share with us) for not updating the address on your V5C when you moved, and not putting any other measures in place, you have no viable defence. You can either plead guilty and receive a 1/3 discount on the fine (and surcharge) and face prosecution costs of ~£90, or spend a day in court trying to defend it, and (if you lose) receive a fine of 1.5 x weekly take-home pay, 40% surcharge and ~£650 prosecution costs.