In this month’s edition we feature more road traffic issues relevant to the trade supplied by Patterson Law. These questions are based on real enquiries that we have received from professional drivers this month. If you need any advice on motoring matters please email
e.patterson@
pattersonlaw.co.uk or call 01626 359800 for free legal advice. For regular updates on road traffic law follow us on
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tion at the time of alleged collision from my black box and I was in the area at the time however I don’t have any recollection of hitting any cars.
A Q
I assume you have just received a request from the police asking you to nominate the driver. If you have you must do so. Failure to respond in 28 days could see you prosecuted for failing to
give information, an offence which carries six points and up to a £1,000 fine which, if you are a new driver, will also mean your licence is revoked.
But simply nominating yourself as the driver is not an admission of guilt. It’s simply admitting you were driv- ing the vehicle. Once you have nominated yourself as the driver you will still be able to defend the allegations against you.
Firstly, the prosecution have to prove that an accident has occurred owing to the presence of your vehicle. Only then does the need to stop at the scene and/or report it to the police arise.
Even if the Prosecution can show that you caused an ac- cident, it is a defence to failing to stop and report it if we can show that you were unaware of it.
Failing to stop and report an accident carries anywhere between five and ten penalty points, so even if we were unsuccessful in arguing both of the above, we can still present mitigation to try to persuade the court to im- pose five penalty points only, meaning that you avoid your licence being revoked.
Q
I was driving at 106mph on a clear road where the national speed was 70mph. I have a court hearing coming up. My letter says a court hear- ing regarding disqualification. I don’t want to get
disqualified. I don’t know what to do. 92
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS A
I have been falsely accused of failing to stop at an accident. I am a new driver and I know my licence will be revoked if I get six points. I have asked my insurance company for my car’s loca-
Just because the court has asked you to attend to consider disqualification, it does not mean disqualification is inevitable.
For the speed alleged the sentencing guidelines
suggest that you should receive either six penalty points or a disqualification of between seven and 56 days.
In the first instance we can ask the court to impose the points instead of a disqualification. That might be better unless of course you already have six or more points as this would put you at risk of a six-month totting ban for accu- mulating 12 or more points during a three-year period.
Alternatively, if the court insist on giving you a disqual- ification, we can try to keep this to the absolute mini- mum, perhaps somewhere between 7 and 14 days.
We need to prepare your mitigation urgently. We need to prepare an argument relating to your work life and your personal life showing the courts exactly why you need to be able to drive and therefore why the court should not disqualify for a lengthy period. We also need to begin preparing supporting letters to back up our argument.
Q
I was stopped in October in my father-in-law’s vehicle, taking my father-in-law, mother-in-law and wife to a hotel for a wedding the next day. I was stopped as I was following a sat nav and
made a slightly quicker turn than what the police officer liked. He then checked my details and I was not insured on my father-in-law’s policy. Normally he insures my wife, my brother-in-law and me as he gets tired due to his age and as my Mother-in-law is not well, in case we have to take her to hospital and help him in his business. For some unknown reason when the police checked us none of us (wife, brother-in-law and me) were on the policy. The officer stated to me to take my insurance pa- perwork to my local station and submit it on a producer. When we checked and I was not on the policy my fa- ther-in-law added me as he was unable to drive the next day and I took this to the police station in Luton. The person at the station took my documents and I was sent on my way.
Last Friday I received a letter from the Magistrates’ Court asking me to make a plea which I did as guilty as I was driving without insurance but I stated I did not do this intentionally and did not know. I travel for work and work in some secure locations plus I always make sure things are up to date. I did not do this intentionally and need some advice on what I should do. I have ac- cepted the blame and am willing to pay a fine but I do not want points on my licence as it may cause me prob- lems at work.
SEPTEMBER 2020
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