How you could be slapped with a £1,000 fine and six penalty points if another driver commits a traffic offence in YOUR car
Failing to provide details of a driver's identity can see your licence take a hit - and you could even be liable for the original offence yourself
MOTORISTS could receive a hefty fine for a traffic offence committed in their car - even if they weren't driving.
The Highway Code sets out a fine of up to £1,000 and six penalty points for failing to identify the driver of a vehicle involved in a traffic offence.
When an offence is caught on a traffic camera, the police will send a letter to the registered owner asking who was driving at the time.
Motorists will usually have up to 28 days to respond with the correct details of who was behind the wheel, regardless of whether it was them or another nominated driver.
But many Brits will attempt to dodge the offence by ignoring the letter, or even try to protect friends or family members by giving false details.
Anyone that doesn't give the right details within the 28-day period is at risk of the stern fine, and could even be liable for the original offence themselves.
According to IAM RoadSmart, failing to provide driver details could see police prosecute the registered owner of the car for the initial offence, on top of the £1,000 fine.
For example, if a nominated driver of your car is caught by a speeding camera and you fail to respond to the information request, you could be liable for both the speeding offence and the charge for failing to declare the driver.
Recent court figures for England and Wales show that around 78,000 people were convicted in court in 2016 for failing to supply information about the identity of a driver when required.
IAM RoadSmart also found that offence code MS90 (failure to give information as to identity of driver) applied to a driving licence was one of the most common reasons that people had more than the maximum 12 points on their licence - and many had more than one conviction.
The rule also poses a big problem for companies with a fleet of employee cars.
As the fleet manager is often the registered keeper for the whole fleet, if the company does not have the right reporting procedures in place, they could find themselves slapped with hefty fines if they get a car's driver details wrong.
The road laws you need to know
Neil Greig, IAM RoadSmart Director of Policy and Research, said: “Ignoring requests to provide driver details or trying to trick the police simply isn’t worth it.
"Most cases will be fully investigated and you will be fined and get points anyway.
"Our whole system relies on honesty to ensure that those who break the law get the right punishment and anyone who tries to get round that fully deserves to be punished for basically perverting the course of justice.
"This isn’t a victimless crime as drivers who speed are more likely to have crashes and anything that makes them think they can get away with it is just raising the risk for all other road users.”