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it’s low level. The new guidelines describe ‘harm’ as an unacceptable standard of driving, and culpability could be if you were working. So whilst this particular offence (which is a genuine question we received about six months ago) ended up with a 12-month disquali- fication, under the new guidelines, because there is both harm and culpability, it is now a top-level offence meaning he would be looking at a minimum two-year disqualification, together with a high level community order, such as unpaid work or a tag and curfew, and if he is unlucky, even a short prison sentence.
This very clearly represents a shift in sentencing on drug driving with the government trying to clamp down on such offences. We strongly recommend (as should be the case anyway) that any professional driver refrains from taking any form of illegal substance at all. Drugs can remain in the system for a long time and could mean that you’re over the limit, even though you're not affected by the substance at the time you are driving.
Dangerous driving
Question: I have a court hearing next week for dangerous driving and I would like to know what I’m going to be facing. I intend to plead guilty. I admit I was in a rush on the motorway, and I was speeding home after a bad day at work. I was weaving in and out of traffic and I undertook several vehicles before coming back into the fast lane. A camera technician had been following me on CCTV for a few miles and eventually a police officer pulled me over. What could I be looking at?
Old guidelines: Generally speaking, this would have been a 12-month disqualification. The driving was bad, but there was no accident, no police chase, no previous convictions. This would have attracted a 12-month disqualification with an extended re-test, and if he was unlucky community orders.
New guidelines: The new guidelines have again shifted what the court should consider as culpability and harm. Now the court must consider whether there is a ‘flagrant disregard for rules of the road’, if the offence happened over a prolonged period and if multiple breaches were
committed. So here,
considering he was both speeding and undertaking, and it was over a period of a couple of miles, this would immediately be placed in the higher end of the
PHTM JULY 2023
sentencing category. The starting point for that would be a two-year disqualification and a prison sentence.
Once again, this represents a clear shift in punishing drivers more harshly.
Other guidelines
Other guidelines have been released for: causing death by dangerous and careless driving, causing death whilst disqualified or whilst uninsured, for being in charge of a vehicle whilst under influence of drugs, and for furious driving. These offences are quite rare so we haven’t discussed them in the article, but if you are facing any of those charges please do call us for free legal advice.
The three offences covered are the more common of the ones which we see at Patterson Law and the new sentencing guidelines represent a clear shift towards punishing drivers more harshly.
We have seen these shifts multiple times in the last few years. In 2020 the sentence for driving whilst using a mobile phone doubled from 3 points and £100 fine to 6 points and £200 fine. In March 2022 the law was tightened to outlaw all use of handheld phones behind the wheel. Then last year we saw the introduction of new offences of causing serious injury by careless driving, and the sentence for causing death by dangerous driving increased to a maximum of life in prison.
The introduction of a new highway code rule resulted in a significant rise of prosecutions for drivers passing cyclists too closely. And now we see the introduction of these new sentencing guidelines.
Because of this clear shift over the last few years it is more important than ever that professional drivers are extra vigilant on the roads, otherwise they could find themselves in the face of prosecution and losing their livelihoods.
If you need advice on motoring matters then please email
e.patterson@
pattersonlaw.co.uk For regular updates on road traffic law follow us on
facebook.com/PattersonLawMotoringSolicitors or
twitter.com/Patterson_law_
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