Car Tax Fine

[jasonmarks72]

Is ther anything that I can do? My tax had ran out December 31st and I wasstopped on the 9th January, but the police officer had put on the fixed penalty a differerent address to where I was, so in fact he had booked me for driving in a place where I had not been. Any advice?

[idalovett]

Pay the fine and stop trying to beat the system and get your RFL on time in future. You are the registered owner of the car and irrespective of the different address you say the policeman recorded your car should not have been on the road without tax. Sorry, no sympathy.

[pauln90]

The police just inform DVLA that your vehicle was seen on a road without a current RFL.It is the DVLA who decide whether to prosecute or not, not the police.

In all probability if you taxed the vehicle soon after you were stopped,and that covered the period when you were stopped, then there will be no further action.

[shero101]

I heard from the DVLA that they allow 14 days into the next month (to allow you to buy Road Tax after it has expired) but advised that that Police can prosecute from the first day the tax had expired. I wasn't aware that the DVLA did the prosecuting as pauln90 suggests.

[noselittle]

That 14 day allowance is rubbish. If you read their site it says so on there. A valid disc has to be displayed at all times.

[Buenchico]

Let's try an analogy:

Suppose a police officer stated "I was walking along Coronation Road, when saw John Smith shoot Fred Bloggs" but the defence pointed out that the incident happened on Coronation Avenue and not Coronation Road, do you really think that a court would dismiss a murder charge because of the officer's error? Courts are not obliged to acquit someone just because of a technical flaw in the evidence.

The only way to challenge a fixed penalty is to appear before a court. The magistrate's would regard the incorrect address as a minor technical flaw. As long as they were satisfied that your untaxed vehicle was on a public road (irrespective of the name of that road), they would be certain to convict you. The fine would almost certainly be far higher than the fixed penalty, plus you'd also have to pay court costs.

Chris