Question & Answers

If you have received a 'Notice of Intended Prosecution' (NIP) this is because you are the last known registered keeper of a vehicle that was detected committing an alleged speeding or red traffic light offence. We are required to send the NIP so that you should receive it within 14 days of the offence stated.

If you have received a 'Requirement to Identify the Driver' letter this is because you have been identified as someone who has information as to who the driver may have been at the time the vehicle was detected committing an alleged speeding or red traffic light offence. There is no time restriction placed on the sending of this letter.

Instructions on how to complete the form are on the reverse of the letter. You are LEGALLY REQUIRED to complete and return the form to the Safety Camera Unit address shown on the front within 28 days of the date of the letter. Failure to do so is an offence under Section 172 of The Road Traffic Act 1988 and is separate to the speeding offence.

If you are the driver and the named person on the letter complete Section A.

If you are NOT the person named overleaf OR if you are completing the form on behalf of a company OR you are not the driver at the time of the alleged offence ONLY complete sections B & C.

IMPORTANT - Do not give this form to a third party to complete as any person named by you will be contacted directly.

Images are captured to identify the vehicle, not the occupant(s).

However if you would like to request copies of the photographic evidence please contact the issuing office, details of which are on the front page of the NIP. This will not delay the legal process, you are still legally required to complete and return the NIP within 28 days.

Requests can also be made via this website on the Contact Us page.

Any requests for additional information can be made via this website on the Contact Us page but again will not delay the legal process.

Failure to provide this information is an OFFENCE (Road Traffic Act 1988, Section 172) and on conviction is subject to a fine of up to £1000 (£2500 if the offence was committed on a motorway) and up to six penalty points. In certain circumstances the Court may disqualify you from driving.

If you cannot recall if you were driving, or if you were not the driver, it is not enough to say that you cannot remember, or that you do not know who was driving. You are obliged to make the necessary enquiry to establish who was driving at the time of the alleged offence and forward this information within the original timescales. If the information is not provided, follow up enquiries will be made by the Police and a report may be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal for consideration of a prosecution.

If you have named someone as being the driver then the Safety Camera Unit will contact that person directly.

If you have confirmed yourself as the driver then in many circumstances the matter can be dealt with by issuing a Conditional Offer of Fixed Penalty Notice (COFPN)which is the minimum penalty, currently £100 and three penalty point licence endorsement. However in certain circumstances a Police report may be sent direct to the Procurator Fiscal for their consideration of a prosecution.

Mitigating circumstances cannot be considered by the Safety Camera Unit. If you wish to submit evidence of mitigating circumstances this can only be considered by the Procurator Fiscal. Should you wish to do this then you should not accept the Conditional Offer of Fixed Penalty (COFPN), if issued and the matter will be reported for the consideration of prosecution. When the Procurator Fiscals office contacts you, you will be able to present your mitigating circumstances.

No. Please do not send your driving licence just the completed form.

Please contact the DVLA urgently to request a replacement - the previously stated time limits still apply.

A COFPN is an alternative to prosecution. It provides you with the opportunity to pay the minimum penalty for the offence, currently £100 and a three penalty point endorsement on your driving licence.

You have received a COFPN as you have confirmed yourself as the driver of the vehicle involved in an alleged speeding or red traffic light offence.

To comply with the COFPN you must present the completed tear off slip on the rear of the form together with £100 and your driving licence to The Scottish Courts & Tribunals Service within 28 days of the date of issue as shown on the front of the form, during which time you cannot be prosecuted.

If you are unable to comply with the COFPN, or choose not to, the matter will be passed to the Procurator Fiscal for their consideration of a prosecution.

Payment can be made by posting a cheque or Postal Order made payable to “The Scottish Courts & Tribunals Service” to the address below.

Or, you can visit a Scottish Court Fines Office to make payment in person. A full list of Fines Offices and their contact details can be found at www.scotcourts.gov.uk

Please DO NOT send your payment, COFPN or your driving licence to the Safety Camera Unit.

Payments can not be made in instalments.

Currently the Scottish Courts & Tribunals Service advise that licences should be returned within 7 - 10 working days. If this is not your experience then you should contact the Scottish Court & Tribunals Service directly.

Speed Awareness Courses are currently not available for offences committed in Scotland.

Penalty points for these offences are valid for three years from the date of the offence but will remain on your driving record for four years.

Penalty endorsement codes can be found here.

New drivers who gain six or more penalty points on their licence within two years of passing their driving test will have their licence revoked. (Road Traffic (New Drivers)Act 1995). Further information can be found here.

You can be disqualified from driving if you build up 12 or more penalty points within a period of three years.

No, the Conditional Offer is an alternative to prosecution where a fine and points issued are fixed by legislation and cannot be amended.

No, compliance with a Conditional Offer of Fixed Penalty will not result in a criminal record. It is only when the matter is heard in court and a guilty verdict is reached that a person receives a criminal record.

The cameras are deployed primarily where they have the greatest potential to reduce injury collisions, and where there is evidence of both collisions and speeding. The process is covered on the About Us section of this website here.

If you are unsure of the class of vehicle you are travelling in you should check the class and body type of your vehicle on the DVLA website or contact the DVLA direct.

Please contact us at osdscucommunications@scotland.police.uk for free in vehicle stickers and log books.

For more information on speed limits please visit https://www.gov.uk/speed-limits

Whilst our sites are selected using the criteria set out in our Handbook there are occasions when a location is brought to our attention by relevant authorities (police, local authorities etc.) which don't meet our stringent criteria but which would benefit from safety camera enforcement. For example, roads with emerging concerns or public events which pose a road safety risk. Subject to our resource availability, Safety Cameras Scotland will support the enforcement of these sites/events through short term deployments. This means we will enforce at these locations on a temporary or infrequent basis and as a result do not have these sites on the website map. All Short Term / Flexible Deployments can be found on the relevant Safety Camera Location Unit page.

Fine money is paid to the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and goes to Scottish Government. Safety cameras are funded by grant and receive no revenue from offences. In fact, we like to see offence numbers go down at our camera sites! For more information on the Scottish Government fiscal framework click here.

The administration of speeding and red-light offences is carried out by the relevant Safety Camera Unit who operate within Police Scotland. Police Scotland processes a variety of personal data, including but not only for law enforcement purposes. More information can be found on the Police Scotland website here.

If we haven't answered your question please do get in touch via our Contact Us page.