KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
the windscreen – the driver must either stop at the scene and ex- change details with a person or report the matter to a police offi- cer/police station.
INVESTIGATION/PROSECUTION
The starting point is that the incident (which can be an accident or a single act of driving) must be reported to the police. This can either be done by making a statement to the police or by submitting dash cam footage. In the case of an accident, the police will likely turn up at the scene to investigate.
A Notice of Intended Prosecution must be served on the registered keeper (at their last known address) or on the driver within 14 days of the offence, or it can be given verbally at the time of the inci- dent. But there are exceptions; if the registered keeper’s details couldn’t be found or if an accident occurred (albeit a Notice of In- tended Prosecution is required if the driver was unaware of the ac- cident).
It is worth considering that the offence can only be committed on a road or other public place.
Once an incident has happened the police will usually investigate by taking statements from witnesses, seizing CCTV/dash cam, in- terviewing the driver under caution and occasionally getting a forensic collision investigation report to measure speeds and dam- age. This can take anywhere up to six months.
Once the investigation is complete the police will usually consider offering the driver a place on a driver improvement course instead of prosecution through the courts with penalty points. But whether to offer the course is entirely at the police’s discretion which is somewhat of a postcode lottery; most police forces have their own guidelines and whilst some forces may consider the course appro- priate in the circumstances, others may not. The driver does not have a legal right to be offered a course.
If the course is not offered, the driver would be summonsed to the local Magistrates’ Court, where they would be required to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty to the charges against them, and then have the option of having a fair trial in front of a Bench of Magis- trates or a District Judge.
SENTENCES
For driving without due care and attention the driver is at risk of 3-9 penalty points or a discretionary disqualification. The offence also carries an unlimited fine.
What sentence to give depends on ‘culpability’ and ‘harm’. ‘Culpa- bility’ includes driving at speed, carrying out other tasks, driving whilst tired/unwell or driving for hire/reward. ‘Harm’ includes dam- age and/or injury to other persons/property.
If there is no culpability or harm, the sentence should be 3-4 points. If there is one but not the other, 5-6 points. If there is both culpabil- ity and harm, 7-9 points or a disqualification (no maximum).
Failing to stop and report an accident carries between 5-10 points or a disqualification, an unlimited fine and in serious cases, commu- nity orders (for example unpaid work or tag/curfew) and even cus- tody.
The same applies with the guidelines when considering culpability OCTOBER 2020
and harm. Harm once again includes damage/injury, but here culpability includes when the driver would have been breathlaysed had they stopped, when the driver was aware of injury but drove away or when the driver was trying to avoid arrest.
If there is no culpability or harm, the sentence should be 5-6 points. If there is one but not the other, 7-8 points or a disqualification of up to 6 months and either a fine or community order. If there is both culpability and harm, the sentence will be 9-10 points or a ban of 6-12 months, and either a community order or a prison sentence of up to 6 months.
If the driver is prosecuted with all three offences (due care, failing to stop and failing to report), the court has the discretion under section 28 Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 to only impose points for one of the offences – whichever carries the most (which in this case would be failing to stop/report).
DANGEROUS DRIVING
Dangerous driving is one step up from driving without due care and attention and is altogether more serious.
It is where either the standard of driving falls far below that of a careful and competent driver and driving in that way was obviously dangerous, or it can be where the vehicle was in such a condition that it would be obvious that driving it in that state would be dan- gerous.
The same general principles apply – so each case must be depen- dent on its own facts and dependent on the circumstances of the incident – but the procedures are different. A driver improvement course is not available for dangerous driving and the police often take longer than six months to investigate – there is no time limit. And at court, cases are often heard at the Crown Court in front of a judge and jury, rather than at a local Magistrates’ Court.
The sentences are a lot more serious too. The offence carries a minimum 12-month disqualification (but often longer), after which the driver is required to take an extended retest. An extended re-test is similar to the normal test with the following additions:
• The duration will be 70 minutes (as opposed to the normal 40 minutes);
• The test is not harder than the normal test, although the examiner will be aware of the reason for the previous disqualification so may be harsher;
• 15 minors are permitted (the same as the normal test); • The examiner may request that the driver performs all four driv- ing manoeuvres, rather than just one in the normal test;
• The extended test focuses heavily on dual carriageway driving; • The emergency stop is compulsory (as opposed to a one in three chance in the normal test).
Most offences also carry at least a community order such as unpaid work or a tag/curfew, and in serious cases can carry a prison sentence of up to two years.
If you need any advice on motoring matters please email:
e.patterson@
pattersonlaw.co.uk or call 01626 359 800 for FREE LEGAL ADVICE. For regular updates on road traffic law follow us on:
facebook.com/PattersonLawMotoringSolicitors or
twitter.com/Patterson_law_
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