The right to silence is a fundamental principle in the UK Justice system. In a nut shell, it's a law that protects you from any adverse consequence of remaining during criminal proceedings. In other words, by remaining silent you *should not* be protected from being punished FOR BEING SILENT. The downside to this is if you're silent you cannot defend yourself or argue your point.
Section 172 of the Road Traffic Act provides the Police with the power to ask anybody (who they feel may hold information) to name the driver of a vehicle when an alleged offence occurs.
This means Motoring offences are the ONLY criminal offence for which you do not have a right to silence. If you try to exercise your right to silence you will likely be prosecuted for an offence worse than what you were being originally charged with...
This has been argued many times but in 2007 this loophole was finally closed thanks to the European Court of Human Rights who ruled that the request for information under Section 172 of UK Law is proportionate to the need to manage road safety.
Drivers are therefore forced to either "self incriminate" (by providing evidence against themselves) or refuse to name the driver and face increased points and fines. Not much of a choice.
If you respond stating that you are not willing to provide information as to who was driving the vehicle at the time of the alleged offence because it breaches your human rights you will likely be convicted for failing to provide information which carries up to a £1,000 fine and 6 penalty points. These points are mandatory.
We strongly recommend that you have a read of the "Don't Know Who Was Driving" loophole...it has a lot in common with this loophole, but unlike this one, it has not been closed by the human rights brigade.
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