Careless Driving & Driving Without Due Care & Attention

If you are accused of Careless Driving or Driving Without Due Care and Attention, you are being accused of a standard of driving falling below what would be expected of a competent and careful driver.

Careless Driving often involves an allegation of a mistake or poor decision-making. Driving without due care and attention is usually related to a one-off incident or lapse in concentration. To convict, the Court needs to be satisfied that your driving is below the acceptable standard. However, if any doubts about this can be raised, then this could amount to a legitimate defence to the allegation.

‘Facts Speak for Themselves’

One of the challenges of defending allegations of driving without due care and attention, and why it is important to have specialist and experienced motor defence lawyers on your side, is that the Court can, in certain circumstances, decide that ‘the facts speak for themselves’.

This means that without a plausible explanation to the contrary and on the facts, as they are known, the only possible finding the Court can make is that the accused was careless and, in turn, should be convicted. An example is if there had been a collision between vehicles and the defendant driver cannot recall any of the events leading to the impact. In that case, there is no obligation on the Court to consider an alternative explanation for what happened unless there is some supportive evidence, for example, the failure of the accused’s vehicle’s brakes.

For these types of motor offence cases, it is very important to ensure that you get specialist legal advice as early as possible to protect your position and gather the evidence necessary for a robust defence to the allegations.

What Are Examples of Careless Driving?

• Driving too close to other vehicles
• Driving through a red light
• Coming out of a junction in front of an oncoming vehicle
• Overtaking on the inside lane
• Actions that distract the driver, such as eating, drinking, tuning a radio, etc,. whilst driving

Careless Driving cases are dealt with in the Magistrates’ Court with sanctions including fines, endorsement of your licence with up to 9 penalty points, and disqualification in some more serious cases.

Get in Touch with DJMS Solicitors

DJMS’ expert motor offence lawyers can represent you at the police station, even if you attend voluntarily. Our Lawyers are available 24 hours a day, providing immediate, first-class legal advice, representation, and assistance during motor offence proceedings.