Couple fall foul of s.172 requirement to advise who was driving.

A recent case has looked at whether the notice requiring the registered keeper of a vehicle to identify who was the driver can be served on more than one registered keeper.

The appellants, who were husband and wife, were both nominated as the registered keeper of a vehicle that was caught by a speed camera. They were sent a notice, asking them to identify who was the driver. The notice was sent to the husband and wife at the address registered with the DVLA but only one response form was included. Each of them was charged with failing to identify the driver, as there was no response to the notice, other than that it could have been a number of people. The appellants argued that because the s.172 notice was addressed to both of them that it was defective. They argued that by addressing the form to both people, the court could not be satisfied that in relation to each of them, that the form had been properly served and that it was unclear as to who had the legal duty to complete the form.

The court rejected this argument. The notice could be served on more than one registered keeper, where they shared a common registered address. As they had registered themselves jointly as the keepers, they ought to have expected that notices would have come to them jointly. There was no unfairness to either of them as the requirement to provide information would have been met had either of them responded.

The case emphasises the importance of correctly completing any notice served under s.172 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. Should you be served with notice asking who was driving and are unsure as to how to complete the form, then please seek my advice.

No Comments Yet.

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.