Speeding offences: French court rules drivers are responsible

A French court has clarified who is responsible for driving offences: the owner of the vehicle or the person driving at the time of the offence. The court ruled that it is the driver that must be held responsible.

Many driving offences result in fines, commonly referred to as PVs (short for procès-verbaux), which are sent by post to the address associated with the vehicle’s carte grise (registration) in the days and weeks following the offence.

This can cause problems in cases where the driver is not the owner and even lives at a different address.

The French Supreme Court, or Cour de Cassation issued its verdict on this problem on June 21, ruling that if a third party commits a driving offence in someone else’s vehicle, the third party will be the only one held responsible.

The third party can be the only one held responsible and the only one eligible to lose points from their licence or fined.

Challenging a fine

The ruling has provided further clarification for courts on this point, which can be difficult to contest, because there is often a lack of proof over who was driving at the time of an offence. 

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A judge can only reject a challenge to a speeding ticket on ‘genuine grounds’ rather than ‘presumptions’, the court said. 

This means that the owner of the vehicle can challenge a speeding ticket if they can prove that they were not driving at the time.

The court reaffirmed that only the driver of a vehicle at the time of the offence is criminally liable for an offence committed, and that the decision on who was driving cannot be made on ‘presumptions’ - such as who owns the vehicle, or who usually drives it.

If the holder of the vehicle registration document can prove that they were not driving it at the time of the offence, through witness statements, video proof or attestations etc, the offence becomes a "PV sans interpellation" (‘a no-stop penalty ticket’). 

This means that it is still considered an offence, but the owner of the vehicle is not personally responsible for it. 

Read also: How to contest a driving or speeding fine in France

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Similarly, the owner of the vehicle is not required by law to reveal who was driving at the time (if they know), and they are not liable to prosecution for obstruction of justice if they choose not to share this information. 

On the other hand, if the holder of the vehicle registration document cannot prove that they were not the driver at the time, but also disputes the offence, they may be fined.