Lawyers who deal with all areas of criminal law won’t always know the perfect legal arguments that can be used to defend your case if you have been accused of any of the motoring offences below;
Failure to name the driver
If your vehicle is caught breaking a motoring law, you will have to complete a section 172 information request. You will receive 6 points on your licence for not returning the form.
However, Section172(4) and Section172(7)(b) Road Traffic Act 1988 provide statutory defences. To satisfy the court, you need to prove that you used reasonable diligence to determine the drivers identity, or that you haven’t received the S172 information request.
If you need any assistance or advice about Section 172 offences, contact leading motoring law specialists Patterson Law for free legal advice.
Having No Insurance
The offence of driving without motor insurance, assumes the drivers’ guilt no matter why you were doing so.
Pleading guilty to driving without insurance, or being convicted of the offence will earn you six to eight penalty points on your licence.
Insurance policies in this instance have often been cancelled by the insurance broker without the driver’s knowledge. Only if you can demonstrate to the Court that you genuinely believed that you had valid motor insurance in place can you then use the Special Reasons Argument.
Speeding
As well as a possible discretionary driving ban, the penalty for speeding is 3 – 6 points on your licence, a fine and the costs related to your court case.
Following on from recent UK motoring case law, if you are going to be successful defending your alleged speeding offence, you will need to have expert evidence to support your legal argument.
Drink Driving
The legal drink driving limit is 35mg in breath. A drinking and driving conviction involves a minimum mandatory disqualification of 1 year.
If you can demonstrate to the court that you were either; not driving, wasn’t on a public road or place, or consumed the alcohol only after you finished driving then you have a defence.
If you drank alcohol without realising then you may also have a defence, or if you only drove a short distance, or it was an emergency situation. avoid a drink drive disqualification if you are able to prove that you consumed alcohol unwittingly, were involved in an actual emergency situation or drove only for a limited distance.
Drunk in Charge Road Traffic Offences
To be found guilty, the prosecution need to prove to the court that you were above the legal drinking and driving limit and that you were in charge of the car at that time.
A possible defence is to demonstrate that you were not intending to drive the vehicle until you were under the drink driving limit again. The penalty for drunk in charge of a vehicle is either ten penalty points on your licence or a discretionary driving ban.
Using a Mobile Phone While Driving
In order to be guilty of the offence, you have to be holding a mobile phone while using it. This is often viewed differently by different Courts.
Even if you are stationary at road works or in a hold up, it is still an offence as you are still considered to be driving.
Without Due Care Road Traffic Offences
Your driving level has to be proved to have fallen well below the level expected of a competent and careful driver if you are to be convicted of driving without due care and attention.
Low speed car park bumps as well as undertaking offences are good examples of motoring offences covered by driving without due care and attention.
Under certain circumstances, the police can offer you a Driving Improvement Course instead of having to go to court.
Fail to Report
S 170 Road Traffic Act 1988 states that anyone involved in an accident is legally obliged to stop and provide your details if damage has been caused to either; property, another vehicle or to a person.
In circumstances where you weren’t able to exchange, you are required to report the accident at a police station as soon as is practicable and at most at least, within twenty four hours.
With either a discretionary ban or five – ten driving licence penalty points this is a serious offence.
One possible defence is that you didn’t know that you had been in an accident and caused damage. If you can show that it would be reasonable for that to be the case then you have a valid defence against the allegations.
Failing to stop and failing to report are very serious offences. At worst you can receive a community service or even a prison sentence.
Dangerous Driving Motoring Offences
In order to be guilty of dangerous driving, your quality of driving has to be demonstrated to have fallen beneath what is reasonably required, but in addition, it must also be obvious to a competent and careful driver that at the time, your driving was dangerous.
Courts take dangerous driving very seriously, and as such, the punishments are commensurate with their views. As such, if convicted you face a minimum 1 year ban, which automatically includes an extended re-test before you are allowed back on the road, as well as potential custody if your case is deemed to deserve it.
No licence
This is one offence that frequently causes a lot of confusion.
Driving not in accordance with the conditions of your driving licence is the biggest cause of this offence, for example, not displaying L plates if you are a learner and have yet to pass a driving test. This would be an endorseable offence.
If the DVLA requested you to return your driving licence to them and they suspend your entitlement, the offence is non-endorseable.
Many people believe that ‘no licence’ means that your motor insurance policy is null and void, but that is not the case.
This ‘no licence’ driving offence is often misunderstood by both the police and Magistrates as to whether this motoring offence carries points or not. Make sure you get the best result possible for your case by getting professional motoring solicitors to advise you.