the car to the car wash yet. I had also run out of windscreen washer fluid. I was pulled over by a copper, who told me that it was dangerous. He issued me with a ticket for three points. I want your advice on whether I should accept it, challenge it, or take it to court.
Advice:
It sounds like you are being charged with driving a vehicle in a dangerous condition. That offence is under section 40A of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and carries 3 penalty points. You have two options with a fixed penalty: you either accept it or reject it. If you accept it, you pay the £100 fine and surrender your licence to the police for endorsement. You must do that within the 28 days given, and that will be the end of the case.
If you reject it, the case will proceed to court in a few months’ time, where you can enter a not guilty plea and defend yourself. If you win, then of course you get no points and no fine. The risk is that, if you lose after trial, you will end up with 3 points and significantly higher financial penalties, including a fine of up to £1,000, as well as costs and a surcharge on top. Whether you should take it to court really depends on the level of obstruction that the dust was causing. If you can send me a few photographs, I will have a look.
Outcome:
Fortunately in this case, the accused driver felt very strongly that there was nothing wrong with his view through the windscreen so immediately after he was pulled over he took photographs showing that he could see perfectly well. He decided to reject the fixed penalty offer and take his chances in court. He entered a not guilty plea and had the matter listed for trial. After we made representations to the prosecution, the case was withdrawn.
The photographs he took were fantastic and really did show that he could see just fine. On the other hand, the police officer took just one photograph from the outside of the car, meaning you could not see what view the driver had. But, had the driver not taken any photographs, and instead just cleaned the windscreen straight away, it could have been a very different story.
Question:
Could you settle a debate for me? Is it illegal to drive in flip-flops?
PHTM JULY 2026
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS Advice:
There is no specific offence of “driving in flip-flops”. You may see news articles every now and again stating that driving in flip-flops could land you with 3 points and a fine of up to £1,000, but strictly speaking it is not illegal, no. What these news articles are referring to is: “driving whilst not in proper control of a vehicle”. It is a catch-all offence: the same offence that could cover things like eating whilst driving, smoking behind the wheel, or driving whilst watching a film. In other words, anything that might mean you do not have full control of the car.
In order to prosecute the offence, a police officer would have to convince a court that driving in flip- flops meant that you could not have full control of your car.
Outcome:
This is a hypothetical question that we get asked fairly regularly, but we have never actually seen anybody prosecuted for it. It is theoretically possible, though. If there was a drop in the standard of driving - for example, if the driver was swerving or did not brake quickly enough - it may well be that the police would suggest that this was due to the flip-flops. However, in the absence of a drop in the standard of driving, in our opinion it would be incredibly difficult for a police officer to convince a court that driving in flip-flops alone meant the driver could not be in full control.
Although, as above, we’ve never actually seen it prosecuted.
Our advice:
Hot weather should not affect your driving anywhere near as much as snow or rain, but there are certainly still things to be careful of. When the sun is in your eyes, pull down the sun visor and drive extremely slowly and carefully until visibility improves. Make sure that you consistently top up your windscreen wash to maintain good visibility, and always try to drive in suitable footwear.
If you need any advice on motoring matters, please send us an email to
advice@pattersonlaw.co.uk or call us on 01626 359800 for free legal advice
69
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78
