KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
police under the guise of an ‘alternative to prosecu- tion’.
Patterson Law has been involved in cases with both Dorset Police and Norfolk Police, where a new ‘drive- ability’ scheme has been piloted. Although localised at the moment, it seems that this idea is spreading through police forces in England and Wales, and is likely to become widespread within the next few years at the most.
The scheme works as follows: Mr A, an older gentle- man (currently the schemes apply to drivers over 70, however this age may lower with time), is involved in a minor road traffic incident. The police investigate the incident, and deem that there is sufficient evi- dence to charge Mr A for driving without due care and attention (careless driving), and so they issue out a notice of intended prosecution.
In the letter to Mr A, they offer him three options:
1. Contest the matter and take it to court – the police warn Mr A that if he is found guilty there will be hefty fines and court costs;
2. Accept a fixed penalty – this will be three points and a £100 fine;
3. Attend a ‘DriveAbility’ driving assessment – the police explain to Mr A that this is by far the best option; it means that the prosecution will be stopped, no points on his licence, no fine, and no need to attend court. The only very minor catch is that he needs to do a tiny driving assessment.
Mr A accepts Option 3, which sounds like a great deal! He attends the assessment centre (run by the DriveAbility charity) with a friend and first has to undertake a cognitive assessment with an occupa- tional therapist. After a rigorous and in-depth cognitive assessment including reaction times, com- prehension, attention, and reasoning, he is then taken to the test car.
Mr A is asked to drive for 30-45 minutes in a vehicle he is not familiar with, on roads that he is not familiar with. Mr A is assessed by both an approved driving examiner as well as an occupational therapist on reac- tion times, safety, response to commands, response to criticism/suggestions, amongst other things.
At the end, Mr A is told that he has failed the assess- ment. He drives home frustrated, but thinking
OCTOBER 2018
nothing further of it. A few weeks later, Mr A receives a letter from the DVLA informing him that they have received a report that his fitness to drive does not meet the standards required by the Honorary Medi- cal Advisory Panel, and as such his entitlement to drive is permanently revoked – a huge and unexpect- ed blow for him.
Whilst the scheme itself comes with admirable inten- tions (and with the support and backing of the former Downton Abbey Actor Lord Julian Fellowes), there is an element here of tricking older drivers into shooting themselves in the foot.
If Mr A had accepted Option 2, he would have had three points on his licence and would have continued to drive. Although on the flip side, he may not have been safe to drive and could have posed a danger on the road.
If Mr A had accepted Option 1, he may have been able to cast doubt on the prosecution case and prove that his standard of driving did not fall below that of a reasonable and competent driver, thus showing he is not guilty of the offence. However, the court can only adjudicate on the conduct alleged, and even if not guilty, it cannot be conclusively proven at court that Mr A is fit to drive the rest of the time.
This is therefore a very difficult situation for older drivers, as many may see Option 3 as a form of diversion away from prosecution in the same man- ner as a Speed Awareness or Driver Improvement Course. However this is not the case, and a Drive- Ability assessment has the potential to result in a far worse outcome for the motorist than three points and a fine.
We would be very interested to hear what PHTM readers think of the new DriveAbility schemes – a good way to make sure older drivers are safe, or a way of catching them out and revoking their licences?
Why not visit us at our Facebook page ‘Patterson Law Motoring Solicitors’ or our Twitter account: @Patterson_Law to let us know your thoughts.
This impartial advice has been provided by Patterson Law Solicitors Patterson Law - 0800 021 7753
www.pattersonlaw.co.uk
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