CARELESS DRIVING OR DRIVING WITHOUT DUE CARE AND ATTENTION

One of the most common motoring offences charged by the police and used something as a catchall is the offence commonly referred to as careless driving or driving without due care and attention. This is defined as “allowing your standard of driving to fall below that of a prudent motorist”.

Upon conviction the offence allows the court to impose a discretionary disqualification. If it chooses not to disqualify then there is obligatory endorsement with between 3 and 9 penalty points. It is an offence which is quite easy for the prosecution to prove especially after an accident has taken place, for this reason a number of insurance companies will no longer support defended matters under their legal expenses policy.

It is, however, an offence which can be defended provided the matter is dealt with properly. This will avoid not only the possible sanction of the criminal court but could also have an affect on any civil insurance claim which may be outstanding.

It is recommended that anybody charged or summoned with such an offence obtains legal advice, especially if they already have three points on their licence as a further nine points would make them liable to a totting disqualification under the penalty point system. If this takes place then the disqualification period is for a minimum of six months. In addition a fine is the normal sentence for the offence. The fine can be up to a maximum of £5,000, although in practice it really is anything like this amount.

When considering the standard of driving be that of a prudent motorist, the court has no legal definition to look at, instead what it does is consider the circumstances of the incident. The Magistrates are entitled to use any local knowledge that they may have with regard to the piece of road in question. If the driver has been interviewed by the police then the court are entitled to take into account what that driver may have said in interview and if the driver has acknowledged any wrong doing with regard to his driving then that can make defending such a case more difficult.

When accidents occur the Magistrates often take the view that the accident speaks for itself and therefore await an explanation from the driver as to why they should not be convicted of driving without due care and attention.

Some police officers will offer drivers an alternative to prosecution, namely the opportunity of completing a driver improvement scheme. If this is accepted then the police will not issue a summons. The advantage of going on such a scheme is that it avoids any court sanction and possible penalty points. There is no legal right to go on such a scheme, it is offered purely at the discretion of the police.

Drivers with less than two years driving experience face a particular difficulty when faced with such a charge. Namely, if they are convicted and receive more than six penalty points they face losing their full entitlement to drive, as their licence can be revoked under the new driver provisions. This would mean that such a driver would revert back to being a provisional licence holder and would then have to pass a further driving test.

If you are involved in an accident and feel that it was your fault and receive a summons for driving without due care and attention then you can help to reduce any penalty by simply entering a timely guilty plea to the offence. It is advisable to also send into the court a letter of mitigation or alternatively attend the court hearing in person and explain what happened to the Magistrates. The court will not impose a disqualification in absence. Therefore if a guilty plea is entered, a letter of mitigation is sent to the court and the court is still considering disqualification they will then adjourn the case giving you the opportunity to attend court in person. It is clearly advisable at this stage to obtain legal advice.