Traffic Offence Solicitor Advice
Top Ten Common Driving Offences Requiring Solicitors Advice
Lawyers who deal with general criminal law won’t always know the ideal legal arguments that can be used successfully to protect your licence if you have been accused of a traffic offence, or any of the driving offences below;
Failure to provide driver details
If you receive a section 172 driver information request, you must complete it and return it. The penalty for not returning this request is six points. The statutory defences in the RTA are Section172(4) and S172(7)(b) RTA 1988.
You will need to show that you used reasonable diligence to find out who was driving at the time of the offence, or that you didn’t receive the request.
No Insurance Driving Offences
If you are stopped by the police while driving without motor insurance, your excuses for doing so are not considered and you will be considered guilty of the offence.
You will receive six to eight penalty points on your driving licence if convicted or if you plead guilty to the offence. Frequently, the provider will have cancelled a motoring insurance policy without the driver being notified.
The Special Reasons Argument can be used if you are capable of demonstrating to the court that you honestly believe that you had motor insurance in place, but you should seek advice before submitting your argument.
Speeding Traffic Offence
As well as 3 to 6 penalty points, the penalty for speeding offences can include a discretionary ban, a fine and court costs. In order to win your speeding offence case in court and defend the speeding allegations against you, you will need to offer expert evidence to substantiate your legal defence.
Drink Driving Traffic Offence
The legal UK drinking and driving limit is 35mg in breath. You will be banned from taking to the road for a minimum of 1 year if convicted of a drink drive offence.
There are three possible legal defences for drink drive allegations. You can prove that you were not the driver, you can prove that you were not in a public place, or you can prove that you didn’t drink alcoholic drinks until after you had driven, rather than before.
It’s also possible to avoid a disqualification if you can demonstrate you unknowingly consumed alcohol that took you over the limit, you only drove a short distance or it was an actual life threatening emergency situation.
Drunk in Charge Related Motoring Offences
The two points that the prosecution are required to establish to secure a conviction are that you were over the drink drive limit and that you were in charge of the car at the time of the offence.
A viable defence for drunk in charge is to show the court that you didn’t plan to drive until you were under the drinking and driving limit. In addition to receiving either 10 penalty points if found guilty, you can also possibly receive a discretionary driving licence ban.
Mobile Phone Motoring Offences
You must be holding and using a mobile whilst driving to be guilty. Magistrates often view this offence differently.
Being stationary at road works or in a temporary hold up is still classed as driving.
Due Care & Attention Motoring Offences
It is a requirement that to convict you of without due care, the prosecution have to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that at the time in question, the standard of your driving fell below that expected from a careful & competent driver.
Low speed car park bumps as well as undertaking offences are good examples of motoring offences covered by without due care. Instead of prosecution, and depending on your circumstances, the police may well offer you a Driving Improvement Course.
Failing to Stop/Report an Accident
If you are involved in an accident, you are under a legal duty to stop and offer your details if damage was caused to property, another vehicle or to a person in accordance with S 170 Road Traffic Act.
You have up to 24 hours to report an accident to the police if it wasn’t practicable to exchange details at the time of the incident. Failure to comply carries five to ten driving licence penalty points or a discretionary ban.
You would have a possible legal defence if you were unaware that damage had been caused and you can convince the Court that it would have been reasonable that you didn’t know that you had in fact been involved in an accident.
Fail to Stop and Fail to Report are serious motoring offences and carry the risk of community service or even custody in the most serious examples.
Dangerous Driving Offences
In order to be convicted of dangerous driving, your standard of driving has to be demonstrated to have fallen below what is reasonably required, but in addition, it must also be obvious to a competent driver that the driving is dangerous.
If convicted of dangerous driving, you face a minimum 12 month licence disqualification, an extended re-test and even a prison sentence.
No Driving Licence Motoring Offences
The traffic offence of driving without a valid licence often causes confusion. If you don’t have L plates and have never passed a driving test then this is an example of an endorsable offence.
Should you fail to return your licence to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency when requested, and they then suspend your entitlement, the offence is non-endorsable.
Many people believe incorrectly that ‘no licence’ means that your car insurance policy is rendered invalid, but according to leading traffic offence solicitors Patterson Law, this is wrong. It seems many people misunderstand Patterson Law defend driving with no licence offences.
This ‘no licence’ motoring offence is often not properly understood by both the police and the Courts as to whether it carries points or not. Make sure you get the best result you can for your case by getting professional motoring solicitors to help you with impartial legal advice as soon as possible.
