Hey guys. Need some advice on a little problem I have.

[Viazon]

I know I am not as active on here as I once was. That's part of a promise I made to myself to spend less time on the internet. But I'm in a pickle and this has always been the one place I can turn to for a bit of advice.



So I went away last weekend and was really feeling it on the Monday. Not feeling up for the drive home, I asked my friend if he wouldn't mind driving my car. He happily obliged. Well, he ended up running a red light. I didn't notice while we were driving. I just received a letter from the Sussex police today. I now need to fill in some details and send it back.


Now, although he did me a favour by driving my car, it's still his responsibility to drive safe. I will be having this conversation with him, no doubt. However, I have tried to do some research on this to find out what the repercussions of letting someone drive your car who isn't insured to drive it, and also, for driving a car you are not insured to drive. I don't know what would land me if ore trouble. Admitting to running a red light, or admitting to letting someone else drive my car. So far, it's unclear on which one would be worse.


Now, I am fine saying it was me driving. But will they be able to prove I wasn't? I know these days they have pictures and stuff and I wonder if they will have a picture of who was in the driving seat. I just spoke to my friend about it and he told me to say it was him. He doesn't seem to think that me letting him drive his car would be that big of a problem.


Anyone here have any similar situations or experience with this that could help shed some light on it?

[SlightlyJames]

From what little I've been able to tell it would likely be better for you to be the one who ran the light. I can't say if there will likely have been any measures to identify who the driver was and I don't know what the penalty would be for lying about that, just that you almost certainly don't want to be getting caught up in insurance shenanigans.

[Hanley!]

So neither of you guys have motor insurance? Let me know if I'm interpreting this wrong from your post, because it looks like you're saying that even if you had been driving, you wouldn't have been insured either.

This would be a more serious issue than running the red light. I'd expect you to get more penalty points and a more substantial fine for this. But boring as it might be, my advice would be to just answer the questionnaire honestly, because if you get caught out in a lie that's going to make your situation even worse.

If you tell them your friend was driving, then he'll take most of the heat for the incident because he's the one who ran the red light and he's the one driving without insurance. As far as I'm aware, there's no penalty for allowing someone without insurance to drive your car - that's the other party's responsibility. But if the police look into your driving history and realise that you have been driving without insurance also, then I imagine you'll still get punished for it.

But if your friend is okay with being honest about who was driving, then I think that makes your decision for you. It's not going to make your situation any worse, only your friend's. And if you lie and get caught, it could make things worse for the both of you.

Sorry to hear about this happening, it's gotta be stressful. But you'll get through it alright and will know better next time. So it could have been worse.

[SlightlyJames]

So neither of you guys have motor insurance? Let me know if I'm interpreting this wrong from your post, because it looks like you're saying that even if you had been driving, you wouldn't have been insured either.

Sounds like Viazon was insured but drunk so he let his not insured friend drive.

As far as I'm aware, there's no penalty for allowing someone without insurance to drive your car - that's the other party's responsibility.

It's the responsibility of both, from the brief research I did driving without insurance is an IN10 penalty, but letting someone drive without insurance is an IN12 penalty. Supposedly the average fine for an IN12 in 2015 was £271.30 and 6-8 points, whereas running a red will usually wind up costing you £60 and 3 points.

From that it seems that the safe bet is to take the rap for running the light, but I suppose the wild card here is if they're able to identify the driver and what the penalty for lying about that would be. Though, to look at it one way, letting his friend drive the car uninsured is the greater offense so if they're trying to pull him up for running the red you might feel safe in assuming they believe it was Viazon who was driving. I don't have absolute familiarity with the situation though so with the penalty for lying being somewhat unknown, it may be that we'll be best served by honesty here.

[Viazon]

I wasn't drunk, but was feeling rough from the weekend I had just had. My friend, who doesn't drink much, or at least didn't that weekend, was feeling fine and drove instead. And yes, I am very much insured.

After another conversation with my friend, he seems to think that they will only look at pictures to try and prove who was driving if I claim someone else was driving. If I say it was me, they will take that as it was a just punish me. In that case, I will get points on my license, which I will be getting no matter what. And he said he will pay me for whatever I end up getting fined. I know it was him who ran the red light and he is willing to pay up the fine, but I don't want to get him into too much trouble after he did me a favour.


Still haven't decided what to do and we and still talking it out. I have 28 days to respond to the notice anyway.

[PorkChop]

Give us an update @Viazon. What did you do in the end?

[Viazon]

Sorry for the late update guys.

I decided to just say it was me. I don't know what the ramifications would have been if I said someone else was driving but didn't want to risk it. I took the fine, which my friend paid for.

I got three points on my license, which sucks. I had an opportunity to take a course instead of having the points but couldn't find a time to do it. The one weekend where there were plenty of course taking place was the one weekend I went away and was unable to do it. All other available courses either happened during a work day or was over a month away. Seeing as I am only allowed to book just one day off at work a week in advance, there was no guarantee I could get it off. I couldn't wait a month because I needed to do it within 28 days. Apparently, they only make an exception in real cases of emergencies. Me not being able to get time off work is not a good enough excuse to postpone it. So I reluctantly had to take the points.