Safe Speed Forums

Re: Foreign driver caught by fixed speed camera, driving your car.
Does anyone on this forum know what the procedure is when a fixed penalty
notice is issued to the owner of the car. But the owner insists that his
friend/relative, etc from abroad was driving the car at the time and
has returned to their home country.
What I want to know is whether the UK police would bother chasing up the
foreign driver ( particularly if he or she is from one of the former
Soviet Union countries, eg Ukraine ) or just give up and tell you to
forget about it.

It would very much depend on how credible the story was.

Hypothetically speaking of course, if this were simply a ruse to evade a speeding ticket it would be a very bad idea, as the scammers have been known to make further enquiries even as far as Eastern Europe. Whilst this might seem to be a wholly disproportionate response to a £60 speeding ticket remember that on the one hand speeding is a minor crime but lying under oath or attempting to pervert the course of justice are serious crimes, and secondly they are very protective of their revenue streams - it's their livelyhood you'd be threatening after all!

However, if the foreign person really was driving then it is your duty to tell the truth and fill in the section 172 notice accordingly. Whether they choose to take it any further is then their decision, but I would expect that once they were satisfied that the real driver really was outside their reach that would probably be the end of the matter.

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CSCP Latin for beginners...
Ticketo ergo sum : I scam therefore I am!

From the odd case in the past, if they've the slightest suspicion that you're telling porkies, they probably would follow it up. Not a good invented defence!

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"Politicians are the same the world over... We build bridges where there aren't any rivers." - Nikita Kruschev

Hi - thanks for your replies but found this covered on Speed traps FAQ's.
I agree with your comments about people who evade the law, especially those foreign diplomats based in London who use diplomatic immunity to evade all sorts of fines and charges. Its a disgrace !!!
What have they been evading, well speed fines, congestion charging, parking fines, etc.
Many foreign embassys have amased a small fortune in unpaid fines and
charges - it looks like the only way you can fine a foreign diplomat is to wheel clamp his car.

if the council clamps a diplomat for illegal parking that would be illegal.

So long as your m8 is genuine, has a genuine address and was insured to drive, then you have nothing to fear.

i'm told that ignoring the paperwork is still the best approach for the least effort. You only have to look at Londons failure rate.

Always remember, if you name someone as the driver who is not resident in this country it would be for the police to investigate and prove whether an attempt to pervert the course of justice had taken place.
The father of two well-known rallying sisters named a French chap with whom he had done some business, but the police were suspicious, checked with the Frenchman who confirmed that he was in hospital on the day in question. The father got, I think, 4 months in the nick for this, although his daughter who was believed to have been driving got off due to lack of evidence.
A friend of mine did name an Italian friend who was in the country and was staying with him at the time. The police came to investigate and my friend told them he had named the driver and if they wanted more information they could contact his friend in Milan. He said it was nothing to do with him any more as he had complied with the requirement to name the driver. It just went away then.

My boss is married to a French national.

She was caught on camera but you can't put points on a French license she was issued with a summons to appear in court. She pleaded guilty without appearing and got a £60 fine.

If you are resident for a period of time you are supposed to get a UK license, maybe they will put the points on then, maybe not.

Its worth mentioning that this was her 3rd offence. The other two they did not even bother proceeding with even though she had a UK address.

The Police have been known to chase people down who live abroad but this is very rare, usualy just to make a big media splash about it to put others of trying to dodge points if they suspect wrong doing.

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Speed camera policy Kills

[quote="Gizmo"]

If you are resident for a period of time you are supposed to get a UK license, maybe they will put the points on then, maybe not.

Is this still the case under current EU laws? My friends who live permanently in Spain and have been there for 5 years still use their UK licences and say that there is no requirement for them to get Spanish licences. Anyway, if you want a licence from another EU country all you need is an address there and you can simply exchange your UK licence for one from that country without taking a test. It's all part of UK rules and laws.
In fact, you can also bring a car registered outside the UK but within the EU into the UK and use it here fairly indefinately so long as it's insured for use here. EU regulations say there must be no barriers to trade or freedom of movement within the EU.
Foreign licence & foreign plates - there's a thought, once again.

http://www.dvla.gov.uk/drivers/drvingb.htm

... says for residents it must be exchanged for a GB licence after 3 years or when aged 70 (whichever is sooner).

Another interesting point that your boss's wife might be interested in (or not, given her success!):



Gareth

Re - In fact, you can also bring a car registered outside the UK but within the EU into the UK and use it here fairly indefinately so long as it's insured for use here. EU regulations say there must be no barriers to trade or freedom of movement within the EU.

Whats the Police's response to Non EU foreign cars caught by Speed camaras. Do I take it they do a licence check with DVLA and if the license
is not registered in UK ( eg Ukraine ) they give up !!!!
Plus have any ex Soviet Union, Baltic States cars - from Latvia,
Lithuania and Estonia been persued by UK police in their home countries. As many UK drivers know, since joining the EU these license plates have
become more common on UK roads.
If so - I would say a major stumbling block to police investigations is the abysmal postal service in Ex USSR countries and the intransigence of the local police forces which are riddled by corruption in Ukraine & Russia.

They seem to not bother with trying to trace foreign registered EU vehicles as it costs a disproportionalt amount of time and adversly effects their profits.
In fact, I believe they have admitted as much quite recently.
The answer, as I've said before, is to register a company in Dublin, buy, insure and tax your car there, bring it to the UK and just drive it.

If foreign registered cars are, getting away with it. I'm sure their will be
questions in Parliament soon.

I think there have been questions, but the practical answer is that if it is expensive, then it won't be done, just as real road safety would be expensive. That's why the speed cameras are so attractive to politicians who care not a fig for casualty reduction, but do care that they appear to be doing something and hang on to that for all it's worth. Votes are what they think it's worth!
Politicians are, in the main and like Speed Camera Partnership Managers, 'spin merchants, charlatans and purveyors of terminological inexactitudes. If you think I mean liars and cheats then that is your interpretation.
If you have a few points on your licence a foreign registered vehicle, ideally registered to a foreign company, is the complete answer. Imagine a NiP to the Company Secretary of an irish registered company with the registered office at a Dublin accountancy firm. They just would never bother to follow it up, even if they cound/would send a NiP there when 99% of those Nip'd just give up and pay up.