Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi all,


I’ve received a court notice (Single Justice Procedure Notice) for failing to provide driver information under Section 172. The original NIP was sent to my old address as I hadn’t updated my V5C logbook after moving — I wasn’t aware that this needed to be done separately from updating my driving licence.


I was allegedly caught doing 71 in a 60 zone in December 2024. I only hit my 2-year licence mark in January 2025, so if I end up with 6 points for the Section 172 and 3 for the speeding offence, my licence could be revoked under the New Driver rules.


I only just became aware of the offence because the SJPN arrived at my current address (the one on my driving licence). I never received the original NIP or reminders.


I'm happy to pay the fines, but I'm very concerned about the licence revocation risk.


Questions:


1) Is it still possible to submit a statutory declaration to have the case re-opened, since I was unaware of the proceedings?


2) If I explain the situation (V5C not updated) to the court, is there any realistic chance of avoiding the 6 points for failure to respond?


3) Can I still be offered a speed awareness course for the original speeding offence, or is it too late for that now?


Any help is greatly appreciated, this is the first time I've had any sort of fine like this and it's all quite confusing to me. I hope I haven't **** up the formatting either!

Well done for finding the cunningly hidden sticky. Might have been helpful to have read it as well, though.

Stat decs are for when you have been convicted without being aware of the court proceedings - basically not receiving the SJPN that you have received.

So, #1 - No

#2. There is a statutory defence to the s. 172 charge if you can show that it was not reasonably practicable to provide the information. However, case law (Whiteside) provides that not receiving the NIP (s. 172 requirement) does not in and of itself make out this defence - the court would need to decide whether it was reasonably practicable to ensure that such notices were brought to your attention - such as by updating the address on your V5C. So, explaining that you didn't receive the NIP isn't going to help.

As regards avoiding the 6 points, and the separate unasked question regarding avoiding revocation, that would tend to depend on details that you have so far chosen not to trouble us with. Much of this is explained in the "READ THIS FIRST" sticky above the sticky you linked to - which it seems reasonable to assume you found but also didn't read.

You have told us that you have received an SJPN for the s. 172 offence. You also mention some misconceived concern about also receiving 3 points for the speeding offence. If you have also been charged with the speeding offence, it should be possible to do a deal with the prosecution to drop the s. 172 in exchange for pleading guilty to the speeding charge. If not, then there is no speeding charge to offer to plead guilty to (unless you are Harriet Harperson).

As regards the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act 1995 - the revocation is triggered by winning points for an offence committed within the 2 year probationary period, which takes your tally of relevant points to 6 or more. For the s. 172 offence, the date of the speeding offence is irrelevant. The s. 172 offence is committed 27 days after 2 working days after the NIP was posted - so typically slightly more than a month after the speeding offence. Was this within your probationary period?

#3. Hell, no.