Careless Driving

Are you looking for the best Road Traffic Solicitors to defend you on a charge of Careless Driving?

When it comes to protecting your driving licence, we understand the potentially devastating impact of a road traffic charge on the reputation, livelihood and liberty of those we represent.

So if you’re facing what for you is the legal minefield of a careless driving charge, tip the scales in your favour - Get in touch now.

What is the law on careless driving?

Under section 3 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, a person charged with careless driving is accused of:

• driving without due care and attention; or
• driving without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road; or
• a combination of both.

In practical terms, this wide legal test means that careless driving charges are often used to cover a wide range of careless or inconsiderate acts, such as driving too close to another vehicle, driving too fast for the conditions, or causing a minor collision.

Given that the main legal question is essentially whether the driving fell below the standard of a careful, competent and considerate driver, it makes sense to protect your licence by obtaining early expert advice as to whether the law would regard a particular piece of driving as careless.

What are the penalties?

There is a wide range of penalties which can be imposed, depending on the degree of carelessness. In terms of your licence, the minimum penalty for careless driving would be penalty points (ranging from 3 to 9 in number) or, for the most serious cases, disqualification from driving. There is also power to impose a fine up to a maximum of £5,000.

Again, given the wide range of potential penalties, it makes sense to obtain expert guidance on what can properly be done to avoid or reduce the penalties in your case.

How can we help?

You can count on our award-winning team to identify the right questions, provide the right answers and deliver the best solutions.

Here are just some of the ways in which we can help:

• If the police wish to question you about alleged careless driving, we can guide you on the questions you should or should not answer.
• If you are offered a ‘police ticket’ or a Conditional Offer of Fixed Penalty, we can guide you on the potential pros and cons of accepting or rejecting that ‘ticket’ or Offer.
• If you’re unsure how to plead, we can advise you where you stand and, in particular, whether there are any technical or legal grounds to ask the prosecutor or court to abandon or dismiss the case against you.
• If you are considering a full or partial plea of guilty, you can count on our considerable forensic and tactical skills to negotiate the best possible plea with the prosecutor, to present the best possible case to the court and to secure for you the best possible discount in penalty.
• If you wish to contest the charge, you can count on us to skilfully investigate and present any relevant line of defence. For example, was your driving due to some unexpected incident or unforeseen emergency, such as a person or object on the road?
• If you are unsure as to how to proceed, you can count on us to identify the things that might make the difference in your particular case, such as photographs of the road layout, examination of vehicle defects or damage, or evidence of weather and lighting conditions.

What are the costs?

Firstly, given the importance of you finding exactly the right lawyer to protect your driving licence, we have the confidence to provide every client with a first, diagnostic consultation, free of charge.

Thereafter, depending upon your financial position and the nature of your case, it may be possible for us to represent you under the Scottish Legal Aid scheme. If, however, Legal Aid is not available or appropriate in your case, whilst any fee chargeable thereafter will depend upon the complexity of your case, we are always happy to provide you with the certainty of a fee agreed in advance, and, if you prefer, usually the reassurance of a fixed fee arrangement, rather than fees based upon each item of work.

Equally, if you have a motor insurance policy or house insurance policy which provides you with cover for the legal costs of defending a motoring prosecution in Scotland, we would always be content to discuss acting for you on this basis. If you are in any doubt as to the terms of cover under any such insurance policy, again, we would be happy to examine the terms of any such policy at your first free consultation.

To tip the scales in your favour, get in touch now.

So, once again, why choose Adams Whyte Road Traffic Solicitors to defend you?

Here are just 5 reasons:

• We are already the trusted choice of thousands of clients who over the years have relied on the expertise of our motoring law solicitors to deliver for them the best possible result in road traffic cases right across the country.
• For the countless clients who, year after year, choose us to protect their driving licence, we have an impressively high rate of success and satisfaction.
• Those who recommend or instruct us include individuals from fields as varied as law and policing, to medicine and banking, to sport and entertainment.
• In fighting to keep you on the road, our specialist solicitors provide the highest standards of technical knowledge, forensic analysis, and courtroom advocacy, for example in exposing and arguing against any technical or legal flaws in the case against you.
• Given the importance of you finding the right lawyer to protect your driving licence, we have the confidence to provide every client with a first, diagnostic consultation, free of charge.

To give yourself the best chance of the best outcome, get in touch now.