Careless Driving / Death by Careless Driving

NOTE:

If your case unfortunately involves a fatality then please contact us as a matter of urgency as our advice may differ from what is below depending on the individual circumstances of your case.

Sometimes referred to as driving without due care, to convict a motorist of this offence, the Prosecution must be able to prove that:

1. Your standard of driving fell below that expected of a competent driver; or
2. That you did not show "reasonable" consideration for other road users

There is no definitive list of manoeuvres or actions that can amount to careless driving and the above is very much open to interpretation. If an officer forms an opinion that your driving is careless, then charges can be brought against you. The same can be said if you are reported by another road user.

For example:

A disgruntled driver you overtook on the way to work this morning may report you to the police for careless driving which they must investigate. What you considered as an uneventful journey may suddenly result in you facing charges and up to 9 points on your licence .

Recent changes to the law may see fixed penalties being introduced in the future for careless driving. Considering that such a charge can be brought on a single person’s opinion, motorists may be subject to on the spot fines amounting to millions of pounds nationwide and additional penalty points.

The most common grounds for charges of careless driving are when a minor accident has occurred e.g. in a car park or a driver is eating/drinking whilst driving or pulling in front of another road user after overtaking.

What to do?

Cases of careless driving are largely factual and depend upon eye witnesses who actually saw what happened.

There are a number of defences that may be put forward to challenge a charge of careless driving. These can include issues of automatism, disputes regarding identification, being blinded by the sun and driving a vehicle with a mechanical defect. We will offer you an assessment of your prospects of succeeding at trial.

We strongly recommend that you contact us to discuss the details of your individual case with one of our dedicated lawyers as the circumstances of every case will be unique as will the advice you receive.

Defending the allegation

If we believe that the Crown's case against you can and should be challenged, we will seek to review all evidence that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have against you. The CPS will usually collect statements from relevant witnesses, but their evidence can often be unreliable which allows us to question the strength of their case during cross examination at trial.

If we feel it will assist your case, we are able to employ the services of the country's leading expert witnesses (such as accident investigators) who can assist us in the preparation of our case and ultimately strengthen our argument.

Pleading guilty

The penalty for careless driving depends entirely on the seriousness of the offence and can range from 3 to 9 penalty points on your driving licence in addition to a fine.

If you intend to plead guilty, it is important you have specialist representation to ensure that you achieve the lowest penalty possible, especially if you are at risk of a disqualification from driving. If penalty points for this offence would result in you having twelve points or more then please see our Totting Up section for further information about your options.