There are various levels of the offence committed under the Road Traffic Act. Where multiple offences occur simultaneously then the court will determine the appropriate outcome. Offences occur when a mechanically propelled vehicle is on a road or public place, they do not apply when driving on private land. Defending yourself against any of these offences is highly recommended, this is based on the following advice: –
- Any points will probably put insurance costs up for several years – ALL offences must be reported to your insurers
- If hiring a car then you may be charged extra, or simply refused the hire
- You may change jobs and a clean licence may be a job requirement, hence points would mean you could not accept any job offer with an obvious economic impact.
- There is a risk that any undefended offences will result in points, these can soon add up if you are not careful, for instance, if you are caught doing 35Mph in a 30 limit you receive 3 points. You only have to commit his slight error 4 times in three years to face a potential driving ban.
All minor offences must be declared to your insurance company. Depending on the offence, it may affect your premium at renewal time, although most tend to allow one or two speeding convictions before putting up prices.
Below is a summary of the main types of offence: –
Speeding
Speeding is the most common driving offence and breaking the limit could earn you a fine and three penalty points on your licence. There is a myth that you are automatically allowed an allowance of 10% plus 2mph, this is a guideline only issued to the police, each force may, or may not be lenient in this regard. If you are just over the limit you may be offered a speed awareness course as an alternative punishment
If you are exceeding the limit by over 45% then you may be required to appear in the magistrates’ court, where you could face a hefty fine or a driving ban, each situation will depend on the circumstances at the time of speeding occurs and any mitigating factors. We strongly suggest you take advantage of our legal team if there are any mitigating factors (not you driving etc) or if the points imposed would cause a threat to your livelihood.
Warning – The police do not want the administrational inconvenience in processing what would be an automatic fine and may threaten you with increased fines that could be imposed by magistrates if you dare question their authority, whilst the magistrates can vary the fine it can be up or down by a set percentage. If we are acting for you, we would strongly argue that you should not be punished for exercising your right to a fair hearing.
Punishments for speeding
As a general rule, you should expect the following: –
| Speed | Points | Fine – Equivalent to the percentage of weekly income | Disqualification period |
| 10Mph over the limit | 3 | 50% | N/A |
| Between 10 and 20Mph over the limit | 4 – 6 | 100% | 7 – 28 Days |
| Over 20Mph of the limit | 6 | 150% | 7 – 56 Days |
You will be sending a statement of means form to fill in, the percentage is not however just based on your take-home pay, you are allowed to deduct certain expenses. If you are sentenced the magistrates will have to take into account these expenses when calculating your level of fine and repayment period.
Speed Awareness Courses
The money from these is kept by the issuing police force, not passed to the government, as such, there is an obvious reason for offering such courses as opposed to a fine. You will attend a classroom lecture on the dangers of speeding lasting two or three hours. There are normally 20 – 30 people at each course, each paying £100 for the privilege of talking down to a driving instructor. Figures from the UK Road Offender Education website show that in 2020 there were 1.27 Million such fines, bringing the Police an income of around £127 Million. The cost of putting on such courses (usually in village halls) is not known but assumed to be nominal, some are available online, creating a larger profit margin.
If you receive a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NiP)
The registered keeper of the vehicle will receive this if caught speeding, you have a legal obligation to respond to a NIP that is addressed to you, however just by replying does not mean that you are admitting guilt. The Police have 14 days to issue you with the notice from the date of the offence, if it arrives after the 14 days then you still have to fill it in, however, state on it the date it was received and that you are happy to swear on this date at court. This would form part of your defence.
If you report that someone else was driving the vehicle, they will then receive a NIP addressed to them and they will have a legal obligation to respond. The NiP does not have to come by recorded post, just basic mail.
They will need to confirm either that they were driving or confirm the details of who was driving. If you admit you were the driver the prosecution will then have three options about what to do next, these are usually based on how much over the limit you were going.:
- Offer you a speed awareness course
- Offer you a conditional fixed penalty, which is three points and a £100 fine
- Refer the case to Court and issue you with paperwork requiring you to enter a plea, either guilty or not guilty.
NiPs and company cars
The Police have to serve the Notice on the registered keeper as shown on the DVLA database. If, however, this is a company car, the likelihood is that the registered keeper will be the company itself. In these circumstances, the company should act in the following sequence: –
- Check copy records to see who was driving – this can be impossible if multiple drivers share the same vehicle
- If the driver cannot be identified they should request photographic evidence to help the police identify the driver, again his has issues at most cameras are focused on the number plate, not the driver. In addition, some cameras will typically take photos of the rear of the vehicle, making it impossible to distinguish the driver.
- If the company can 100% identify the driver then they should inform the police of their identity, however, if in doubt it would be inherently unfair to name an innocent individual.
- If the company can identify the driver then they should inform them of the fact that they have identified them to the police., this may affect their employment status within the company – this would be a matter between the company and the driver and not a police matter.
- The police have the authority to contact everyone insured to drive the vehicle, as such if the company receives a NiP, they should let those insured know that a letter may be sent to them asking them to disclose the driver, this is based on the assumption that someone will remember who it was.
- The police may threaten potential fines/points for non-disclosure to make sure they can secure a conviction and claim the fine.
- Should a driver be identified then we would suggest that the company appoint ourselves to represent their driver in court. As part of our standard defence of that driver, we would ask for whoever identified them to apply to the company for time off to attend court to stand as a witness and we would then question that witness as to their recollection of the events.
- Please note that Lestons bear no responsibility for how said witness would be treated by their fellow employees as this would become an employment discrimination matter.
- The police can also threaten, and possibly seek to leave to prosecute any “director, manager, secretary or similar officer” personally for failing to provide driver information if their actions amount to consent, connivance or neglect, potential actions could be that they will get six points and a fine all of their own. As we are sure such companies would have been cooperative in their identification process, we would fight any claim against them with the utmost vigour. In any case, the company should not be “pushed” to give a name just to satisfy the police.
Lestons are not, in any way suggesting that companies should not make appropriate efforts to assist the police, however, it would be unfair on any of their drivers to be accused unless the company were 100% sure of the driver at the time of the offence.
Reckless Driving
This is where a person drives in such a manner as to indicate either a wanton or a disregard for the safety of persons or property. While Careless Driving is a crime of ignorance, Reckless Driving involves choosing to disregard the inherent risks before behaving dangerously. Consequently, the respective penalties for the two offences reflect this key difference.
Careless or Inconsiderate Driving
This is when a person drives without due care and attention and their driving standard falls below what would be expected of a competent and careful driver: –
Examples would include: –
- Excessive speed
- Aggressive driving
- Carrying out other tasks while driving (such as eating)
- A vehicle used for the carriage of heavy goods or the carriage of passengers for reward
- Tiredness or driving whilst unwell
- Tailgating
- Hogging the outside lane of a motorway
- Driving contrary to medical advice (including written advice from the drug manufacturer not to drive when taking any medicine)
A police officer witnessing an incidence of careless driving may let you off with a warning; but you can also be given a Fixed Penalty Ticket or be summoned to appear in court, again this will depend on the actual situation and how you react to the officer. The penalties for careless driving range from a relatively minor 3 penalty points but can be as much as 9 points or even a disqualification so if you are contemplating pleading guilty to the offence of careless driving it is important to have a specialist representative to ensure that the Court imposes the lowest penalty possible especially if you are at risk of disqualification. Take a look at the Penalty PDF for more detailed information about the level of penalty you may face.
Objective test
(primarily a question of fact) proven by the Prosecution beyond reasonable doubt that the driver performed under the standard of a competent experienced and skilled driver.
It does not matter whether the careless driving was a result of Defendant’s negligence, incompetence or deliberate intent. i.e., the Court will not take into account whether the Defendant’s action is inexperienced. As long as Defendant’s actions themselves were careless, he falls under the standard of a competent driver.
Driving under the influence of drink or drugs
It is illegal to drive if either the amount of alcohol in your breath, blood or urine is over the prescribed alcohol limit; and you are unfit to do so through alcohol or drugs (legal or illegal) in your system. Failure to provide a specimen during a roadside breath test or at a police station if you are suspected of driving under the influence of drink or drugs is an offence, which is treated as seriously as driving whilst under the influence of alcohol.
The minimum punishment upon conviction of drink driving is a 12-month ban. Although the Court does have discretion, and the disqualification can vary depending on how far over the limit the driver was, previous drink driving offences does depend upon the circumstances of the incident and in particular the alcohol reading. At the Court’s discretion, you may be offered the opportunity to attend a drink driving rehabilitation course which once completed, can reduce the period of a ban by 25%. Loss of a job is not a reason to justify avoiding disqualification. Again, any court matter which could severely impact your livelihood/chance of employment should be explored in full, for this, we would recommend that you use ourselves or another solicitor.
New drivers
For those who have passed their driving test within two years of an offence, you may lose your licence after accumulating 6 penalty points. If this is as a result of Fixed Penalty Notices, which you have accepted, you have a very little further defence. If the points arise from a Court decision, you can lodge an appeal to a higher court within 21 days of the conviction and the revocation will be suspended, pending the outcome of that appeal.
If you are being represented in court
If you are represented, they should locate you soon after your arrival. If possible, they will take you to one of the court’s interview rooms for a pre-hearing consultation. These rooms are often busy so if you manage to get such a room, don’t leave it unoccupied otherwise someone else will use it. Pass your completed means form to your solicitor, along with your driving licence and any letters in support of your case that you have obtained. All the preparation for your case should have already been carried out, however, they will want to go over the court procedure with you. If you are pleading guilty, or are found guilty, of a motoring offence such as speeding and this brings your total amount of points to 12 penalty point or more then the Magistrates are meant to disqualify you for at least 6 months. However, if your legal representative, can persuade them that you, or others, will suffer exceptional hardship then provided you haven’t used these arguments in the previous 3 years the Magistrates can be more lenient.
Nice try – tried scams that don’t work: –
Posting a blank piece of paperback using recorded mail
The police will send a reminder and possible show the first “reply” in court – Potential convictions – failing to provide driver details, and/or perverting the course of justice
Naming someone who has gone abroad
Use a friend’s name who’s gone away / making up a false name Potential conviction – failing to provide driver details, allowing someone to drive who wasn’t on the insurance
Using a patsy
Using someone else who is on the insurance policy to take the blame – it must be said that provided the police get their money they don’t usually look too hard, however, if the patsy then informs of, the driver the police can look at evidence such as CCTV and determine foul play. Potential convictions – perverting the course of justice
Didn’t receive the NiP
If you have moved and didn’t notify the DVLA, or papers are being processed then this is not a defence entertained by the court.
If, however you genuinely did not receive the NiP within 14 days then we strongly suggest that you attend court, with a representative to inform the court and hopefully nullify the whole situation. In this situation we would ask the accused to swear, on oath that they did not receive it, we would put forward an argument that why would someone commit perjury themselves for such a matter – this is especially useful if it’s the person’s first offence or we can show good character.
Speed Camera Detectors
In the UK, both fixed and mobile radar and laser speed camera detection devices are currently legal, however, they are illegal in most countries in Europe and using a device may result in fines and/or seizure of the device. We suggest you compare speed camera comparisons available online.
In general, there are two types
- GPS Based – These have the location of permanent cameras logged into a GPS database and let you know when one is near.
- Radar-based – These use radar to detect mobile cameras
Laser / LIDAR speed cameras use pulsed laser light instead of radar. Currently, these are not as effective as radar speed cameras and they are also costlier, so radar is still the most prevalent.
Please note that having o technology currently exists for avoiding Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) devices, these are there to mainly seek out those driving without tax or insurance. Lestons would never condone driving without either, however, whilst you may receive an insurance renewal quote, reminding you of the end date you do not receive one for an MoT test, as such we suggest making a diary reminder in your telephone or placing a sticker under the sunvisor so that you don’t accidentally get caught driving without an MoT.
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