Road Traffic Act 1960

232Duty to give information as to identity of driver, and c, in certain cases

(1)This section applies—

(a)to any offence under Part I, II or III of this Act, except an offence against subsection (5) of section forty-one, subsection (4) of section sixty-seven or subsection (9) of section eighty-one (in its application to England and Wales);

(b)to any offence under subsection (1) of section one hundred and sixty-four or subsection (5) of section one hundred and eighty-four of this Act;

(c)to any offence under Part V or VI of this Act or the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act;

(d)to any offence under the Road Transport Lighting Act, 1957; and

(e)to offences against any other enactment relating to the use of vehicles on roads.

(2)Where the driver of a vehicle is alleged to be guilty of an offence to which this section applies—

(a)the owner of the vehicle shall give such information as to the identity of the driver as he may be required to give—

(i)by or on behalf of a chief officer of police, or

(ii)in the case of an offence against section eighty-eight of this Act, by or on behalf of a chief officer of police or, in writing, by or on behalf of the local authority for the parking place in question; and

(b)any other person shall if required as aforesaid give any information which it is in his power to give and may lead to the identification of the driver.

In this subsection references to the driver of a vehicle include references to the person riding a bicycle or tricycle (not being a motor vehicle).

(3)A person who fails to comply with the requirement of paragraph (a) of the last foregoing subsection shall be guilty of an offence unless he shows to the satisfaction of the court that he did not know and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained who the driver of the vehicle or, as the case may be, the rider of the bicycle or tricycle, was, and a person who fails to comply with the requirement of paragraph (b) of that subsection shall be guilty of an offence; and a person guilty of an offence under this subsection shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds, or in the case of a second or subsequent conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months.