Points letter & Fine For 'other driver'

Seth Brundle

If a garda fine/points pending letter arrives after someone other than the registered owner of a vehicle was driving, does the driver just send back the letter with the name/address details of the other driver or has the vehicle owner to send of licence details of the other driver or what?
What happens regarding a fine?

I was thinking, what if a driend or relation from the UK or wherever was driving and was caught by a Gatso. Is there a full onus on the owner to track down the driver and get their licence details or can the owner just reply back with whatever minimal details they have about the driver? What about the fine?

crosstownk

kbannon wrote:

If a garda fine/points pending letter arrives after someone other than the registered owner of a vehicle was driving, does the driver just send back the letter with the name/address details of the other driver

Thats all you have to do.

If the driver holds a license outside of Ireland then it really up to the Gardaí to persue it. You may be asked to prove that you weren't driving at the time, but I doubt it.

I had an incident a couple of years ago where I couldn't ID the driver of the car at the time in question and I rang the Garda fines office. I was told that as we were a fleet company, there was an onus on us to record who was driving what vehicle and if we couldn't then a fine of up to €1000 was possible. After that I heard absolutely nothing about the matter. The longer you can drag it out the less likelihood of a fine.

Seth Brundle

Cheers.
Do they still expect the money though?

ps I still haven't seen one of these letters (touch wood) so don't anyone be thinking that im up to some devilment!

Reaver772

Take the letter down to your local garda station and give them the details of the driver (your required to by law), if they believe you, that person will get a letter telling them they have a fine and some points awaiting them.
http://www.penaltypoints.ie/faq.php
If they have a foreign licence they will get a fine but not the points but this will probably be changing soon and points will be transferable from country to country
http://www.oasis.gov.ie/transport/motoring/driving_offences.html

crosstownk

No money expected - the plan is that they persue the 'named' driver. But if you give fraudulent details it could be seen as wasting Garda time............

overdriver

If there's someone willing to accept a registered letter at the other end, no problemo.

unkel

Apparently there is a thriving industry in the UK where young drivers prostitute themselves by bending over, taking the points up the backside and than getting paid for it. By the time they finish uni and buy their first car, the points will have vanished off their license...

What do y'all think of that?

crosstownk

unkel wrote:

Apparently there is a thriving industry in the UK where young drivers prostitute themselves by bending over, taking the points up the backside and than getting paid for it. By the time they finish uni and buy their first car, the points will have vanished off their license...

What do y'all think of that?

For every action there is an an equal and opposite reaction..........

Nice to see that Newton has his place in todays society!!!

junkyard

Wasn't there also something about registering a car in a company name that it was very hard to prosecute the driver unless they were stopped and fined on the spot?

Our man in Havana

unkel wrote:

Apparently there is a thriving industry in the UK where young drivers prostitute themselves by bending over, taking the points up the backside and than getting paid for it. By the time they finish uni and buy their first car, the points will have vanished off their license...

What do y'all think of that?

It's a nice niche service industry. In October will we see ads in the buy and sell for an irish version?

Would €100 a point be worth it?

Our man in Havana

junkyard wrote:

Wasn't there also something about registering a car in a company name that it was very hard to prosecute the driver unless they were stopped and fined on the spot?

Sorry Junkyard that won't work.

It has been tried. Company gets 28 days to snitch or they get prosecuted for failure to supply details. €1000 fine for that.

junkyard

Bond-007 wrote:

It's a nice niche service industry. In October will we see ads in the buy and sell for an irish version?

Would €100 a point be worth it?

I'd consider it for a 1000 euros a point.:D

Our man in Havana

junkyard wrote:

I'd consider it for a 1000 euros a point.:D

I suppose if a businessman was on 10 points and was 2 away from a ban, he would probably pay someone €2000 to take the rap. Quite possible.

junkyard

I accept Paypal, Visa, Mastercard, all major credit cards and cash too.:D
I can be very obliging when it comes to accepting money.

Seth Brundle

going back onto the point - if I had an English friend who was driving the car
at the time and I didn't know their address fully. What happens if the friend refuses to give me their full address?
Presumably you can't go to the gardai and say it was Tom Smith from somewhere in Manchester

overdriver

No, but Tom Smith doesn't actually have to accept the registered letter. Just once some one does, that's it. Tom could be staying at another English friend's house for a bit, and then leave, couldn't he.

Seth Brundle

and if Tom Smith doesn't accept it does it come back to haunt the owner?

overdriver

Yes.

Seth Brundle

very fair system then!

edit: just to reiterate, I don't have any letter waiting for me - Im just wondering.

overdriver

I believe ya!

Seth Brundle

overdriver wrote:

I believe ya!

Seriously, despite not really changing my driving style (heavyish right foot), I have scored as many points as Fr. Ted in the Eurovision!