Careless Driving Driving Without Due Care
Careless Driving / Driving Without Due Care and Attention Offence
With an excellent track record on our careless driving cases we can help you now if you call one of our specialist careless driving solicitors for free initial advice.
Careless driving or driving without due care and attention or Driving without reasonable consideration carries a penalty of between 3 – 9 points and a fine of up to £2500. There is a discretionary disqualification for the most serious offences.
Worried about the penalty or the expense of getting legal advice on your offence of driving with due care and attention offence?
Why worry a minute longer, put your mind at rest and call one of our specialists careless driving solicitors for FREE initial advice!
What amounts to careless driving/driving without reasonable consideration?
- That your standard of driving fell below that of a careful and competent driver
OR
- That you did not show reasonable consideration for other drivers or pedestrians
Examples are:-
- Driving into the back of a car at a roundabout/tailback on the motorway
- Reading a map whilst driving.
- Bumping into a parked vehicle.
- Drinking or eating whilst driving.
- Lighting a cigarette
- Being dazzled by the sun (link to highway code)
- Coming out of a side junction into the path of another vehicle;
- Scraping another car in a car park;
- A minor bump or shunt with another vehicle;
- Using a satellite navigation system or map whilst driving;
- Hogging the middle or outside lane on the motorway
Sometimes referred to as driving without due care and attention, careless driving is a term used to describe driving that is below the standards of a careful and competent motorist without concern for other users of the road.
The deciding factor is whether a person’s driving drops short of how a prudent and reasonable driver would behave under similar circumstances.
Depending on the severity of an incident, careless driving carries a range of potential outcomes. Minor incidents like tailgating and poor lane discipline typically result in fixed penalty notices and points on the driver’s licence.
To avoid prosecutions, careless drivers may also be offered a chance to successfully complete a National Driving Improvement Course. However, in more serious circumstances, a charge can result in a court summons.
After being caught driving without appropriate care and attention you can face fines and penalty points at minimum but also the potential of a driving ban.
Exactly what happens will be dictated by the severity of the traffic incident and whether anyone was injured or property or other vehicles were damaged.
If you already have prior driving offences and points on your licence, it can also have an impact.
Careless and inconsiderate driving can have serious legal consequences for motorists. In serious offences where careless driving causes an injury or damage to property, drivers will be required to appear in court.
The Magistrates Court has the discretion to impose large fines and can even disqualify offenders from driving. While in some cases the court may call for a community service order in more serious circumstances drivers may be ordered to pay compensation to people injured or for property damaged and if the injury is serious or the offence causes death, the driver can be sentenced to imprisonment for up to five years.
If you have not been charged but have just received a notice of intended prosecution and you fall within the criteria, at the discretion of the police, you may receive an offer of a driver improvement course in which case you will not have points endorsed on your licence.
This is not possible if you have been charged unless there are some exceptional circumstances. If you been in an accident and injury has been caused it is unlikely you will be offered the course.
- Lower level aggressive and inconsiderate driving where others are not unduly affected
- Driving too close to the vehicle in front
- Failing to give way at a junction causing no evasive action by another driver
- Overtaking and forcing into a queue of traffic
- Using the wrong lane on a roundabout
- Ignoring a lane closed sign and forcing into a queue of traffic
- Poor lane discipline i.e. remaining in lane two or three when lane one is empty
- Inappropriate speed i.e. too slow
- Wheel spins
- Handbrake turns
The fixed penalty for a careless driving offence is £100 and 3 points
You will not, as a rule, get the same as a fixed penalty ie £100 and 3 points.
It is always better to get one of our specialist careless driving solicitor to either write a guilty plea and mitigation letter for you or attend court with you especially if you are at risk of a disqualification.
Take a look at our penalty calculator to see what sort of penalty you are likely to receive.
- Reviewing the strength of the prosecution’s case against you
- Finding the weaknesses in the prosecution case
- Collating evidence in your defence
- Attacking the prosecution case relentlessly on your behalf
- Taking the pressure and anxiety off you
- Being there to answer all your question
- Provide specialist representation in court
Most careless driving charges depend on eyewitness accounts of ordinary members of the public, whose credibility can be cast into doubt more easily than the police.
Often expert evidence is required to prove that you were not responsible or that you could not have avoided a collision. These will require additional fees but their evidence is often the linchpin of a defence we will use one of our panel of experts if you require one.
If the evidence is so inconsistent we can often write representations to the prosecution to discontinue the case against you.
At Auriga Advocates we supply more support and understanding than traditional legal services for motorists. When price is a concern, we also help people accused of careless self-represent in court with specialist legal guidance from our team.
Get in touch with us for free initial advice on your careless driving charge.