Failing to name a driver

If the police suspect you are the registered keeper of a vehicle that was observed committing an offence – or if you have been identified as the driver of such a vehicle by somebody else – they will send you a notice requiring you to name yourself or somebody else as the driver. If you fail to respond, or if the response you send it unsatisfactory, they can charge you with a criminal offence and take you to court. The punishment for failing to identify a driver is often harsher than the sentence for the original offence would have been, which is done to encourage people to respond.

You will have a defence if you did not receive the notice, or if you did respond but your response was not received. If you run a company that lets other people drive, e.g. hirers, employees, etc. you will be expected to keep a record of who was driving and to produce that record when required. However, you will have a defence if there is a good reason for you not being able to produce the record to identify the driver.

The sentence for failing to identify a driver is 6 penalty points plus a fine of up to £1,000. If the additional 6 points takes you to 12 points on your driving record the court will be required to disqualify you for at least 6 months unless you can convince the magistrates’ that doing so would cause you exceptional hardship.