Flat Earthers Beware: The Perils of Failing to Sign the Section 172 Notice

A dangerous rumour is circulating online that people accused of speeding can dodge prosecution simply by failing to sign the section 172 Notice that they receive in the post.

To get straight to the nub of the matter, this is likely to cause more problems for the driver and/or registered keeper of the vehicle further down the line. Of course these problems are never discussed in YouTube videos or social media posts with clickbait titles like "Guaranteed Way to Beat Speeding Fines". YouTuber Richard Vobes, who has a very large following, posted such a video yesterday. 

Before continuing I should say that this article is based on the premise that the registered keeper of a vehicle is the person who was driving it at the time of an alleged speeding offence. That is not always the case, but usually is for privately-owned vehicles.

Background information:

Whenever a camera detects a vehicle exceeding the speed limit the police need to decide whether or not they are going to prosecute the driver. If the vehicle is only a small margin over the limit, the police may decide to take no action at all. In that case nothing more will happen.

Alternatively, if the police decide action is required they have three possible options:

• Either: Make the driver a conditional offer of a speed awareness course. This is likely where the speed of the vehicle was only just above the limit. In accepting the offer the driver would need to pay a course fee, but they would not receive a fine or penalty points.
• Or: Make the driver a conditional offer of a fixed penalty. This is likely where the vehicle exceeded the speed limit by a greater margin. In accepting the offer the driver would receive a fine of £100 and have their licence endorsed with 3 penalty points.
• Or: Refer the matter straight to court. This is likely where the vehicle exceeded the speed limit by a very large margin. If the driver is convicted the court can impose a fine of up to £1,000 (£2,500 for offences on the motorway) and endorse their licence with up to 6 penalty points. The court could disqualify them from driving as an alternative to penalty points.

In either of these cases the police will need to establish who was driving the vehicle at the time of the alleged offence. They do this by sending a section 172 Notice to the registered keeper of the vehicle. Legislation also requires that the registered keeper is sent a Notice of Intended Prosecution, within 14 days of the alleged offence, which outlines the allegation against the driver.

The registered keeper is legally required to complete and return the section 172 Notice within 28 days of receiving it. Failure to do so is an offence in its own right, which attracts a maximum fine of £1,000 and 6 penalty points.

You can read a lot more about this in my article "Failure to Identify the Driver of a Vehicle".

Debunking the Loophole:

An old Western Mail article has resurfaced that purports to expose a "loophole" that can get speeding motorists off the hook.

The article begins: "Magistrates' Courts could grind to a halt if thousands of motorists exploit a legal loophole unwittingly exposed by a Welsh driver."

As I said, it is a very old article. It was written by journalist Rhodri Clark and first published on 1st March 2003. It is so old it no longer appears online, but the full text can be found here.

The court hasn't ground to a halt in the 21 years since then, which is the first clue that the loophole described isn't all it's cracked up to be.

The article explains that a driver, Phillip Dennis, was cleared of speeding by Mold Magistrates' Court because the section 172 Notice was unsigned. The court was therefore of the view that it could not be used as evidence as to the identity of the driver at the time of the alleged offence.

At around the same time the High Court confirmed  (DPP v Broomfield [2002] EWHC 1962) that the section 172 Notice does need to be signed in order to be used as evidence as to the driver's identity.

However, by failing to sign the section 172 Notice the registered keeper them self, even if not the driver, has committed a separate offence of failing to provide the details of a driver. That offence, as mentioned earlier, is likely to attract a greater penalty than the actual speeding would have done.

So, in short, failing to sign the form might sound a clever dodge against a speeding charge, but it will not prevent the registered keeper from being prosecuted for failing to provide details of the driver.

I briefly discussed this matter with barrister Daniel ShenSmith (BlackBeltBarrister) yesterday, who has made a useful video summary. You'll find plenty more great content on his channel: