Section 172 of the Road Traffic Act -
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/172
Requires the registered keeper, not the driver to respond. However, 5 mins of lawyer time could have got the driver off the offence. Since he was not the registered keeper he was under no obligation to confess to being the driver. The RK should have pleaded guilty and left it at that.
Means tested fine, would have smarted a bit.
41 in a 30 on the A40 is hardly the crime of the year.
The points for failing to identify were increased as obviously, if you were facing a 100 in a 70, you'd opt for the 172, rather than the driving ban.