Failure to Stop

Are you looking for the best Road Traffic Solicitors to defend you on a charge of Failing to Stop at, or Report an Accident?

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 charge of failing to stop or report, tip the scales in your favour - Get in touch now.

What is the law on Failure to Stop or Report?

Road Traffic Act 1988, section 170

If you are a driver involved in a road traffic accident which causes injury to another person or damage to another vehicle, property or animal, then you must stop at the scene of that accident to provide your details. In particular, you must provide your name, address and registration number to any person who would have reasonable grounds to ask for your details, for example, to the owner of another damaged vehicle or property. A driver who fails to comply with these obligations is guilty of an offence.

Further, if for any reason, a driver does not stop and provide his details (for example, no-one else is available at or around the scene of the accident) then he must report the accident to the police (at a station or directly to an officer) as soon as reasonably practicable and, at the very latest, within 24 hours of the accident.  A driver who fails to comply with this obligation is also guilty of an offence under section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.

Given, therefore, the technical and legal issues arsing from charges of failing to stop or report, it makes sense to protect your licence by obtaining early expert advice as to what can be done in your case.

What are the penalties?

In terms of your licence, the minimum penalty for failing to stop or failing to report would be penalty points, ranging from 5 to 10 in number. There is also power to impose a fine up to a maximum of £5,000. For the most serious cases, for example, leaving an accident where someone is seriously injured, the court may consider disqualification from driving and imprisonment. 

Given, therefore, 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:

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 examples of where our know-how often makes the difference:

• Identification evidence. The prosecution require to prove the identity of the driver, by corroborated evidence, which generally means, providing evidence from two or more sources. You can count on our expertise to carefully examine this crucial question.
• Unaware of accident or damage? On a charge of failing to stop, is yours a case where the incident or contact was so minor that you were unaware of any ‘accident’ or damage? If so, this may amount to a defence to the charge.
• Nobody at scene to exchange details with? Can the prosecutor or court be persuaded that you stopped at the scene and made reasonable efforts to leave your details, but no-one else was at or around the scene?
• Minimising penalty points or driving ban? 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 largest possible discount and, ultimately, the lowest possible penalty.

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.