Motoring Offences
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What Are Motoring Offences?
Most motoring offences are covered by the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988. Motoring offences are typically classed as either dangerous driving or careless driving. Some examples include:
- Speeding
- Ignoring traffic lights or road signs
- Driving under the influence
- Driving when unfit, for example with poor vision or while overtired
- Knowingly driving an unsafe vehicle
- Distracted driving, for example driving while texting
- Driving too closely to another vehicle
- Overtaking dangerously or on the inside
- Document offences, which include driving without an adequate driving license, insurance or an MOT.
Where a motoring offence is committed by an HGV or PSV driver or operator, the case may be referred to the Traffic Commissioner’s office.
Motoring Barristers for Motor Fraud
For the Court to refrain from imposing a disqualification, a cogent and robust argument needs to be presented to the satisfaction of the Court. Therefore, a combination of effective advocacy and supporting evidence goes a long way in satisfying the Court that the hardship is exceptional. A motoring offence barrister can help with issues relating to motoring fraud, including car insurance fraud.
What Happens When a Motoring Offence is Committed?
If you are caught committing a motoring offence by a speed camera or number plate recognition camera, the police will send you a notice of intended prosecution (NIP) via post. The NIP must be filled out and returned within 28 days. Depending on the type and severity of your offence, you may be offered a speed awareness course or a conditional fixed penalty involving points on your license and a fine. Or, your case may be referred to Court, and you’ll be requested to plea guilty or not guilty.
You may be unsure of how to respond to a NIP, or think it’s incorrect. In this instance, we advise speaking to a driving offence barrister who can help you understand the claim. You can refute an accusation by requesting a Court date, but be sure to seek legal counsel from a specialist driving offence barrister before attending Court.
In the case of committing a serious motoring offence, you may be arrested and interviewed by the police. In this instance, it’s vital to appoint an experienced driving offence barrister and have them present during any interview or Court hearing. If convicted, you could face a serious fine, prison sentence or driving ban, so hiring a motoring offence barrister is crucial.
Do I Need a Driving Offence Barrister?
If you are accusing another party, or are accused yourself, of driving unlawfully, you should seek the advice of a driving offence barrister. St Pauls Chambers’ motoring offence barristers have an exemplary record of success when it comes to reaching the desired result in these cases. By appointing an experienced driving offence barrister early on, you have the best chance of success. Our comprehensive services are offered through instruction from solicitors or can be obtained directly. Please contact us for more information.
For more information about how a driving offence barrister from St Pauls Chambers can help you, please see below.
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What Can a Driving Offence Barrister Help With?
You may be unsure whether or not you should instruct a motoring offences barrister to assist with your case. A motoring law barrister will use their expertise and experience to help ensure the best possible outcome for your case and will be able to take into account any mitigating factors.
At St Pauls Chambers, our specialist motoring barristers have a breadth of experience and success across the field of motoring law offences. Cases we handle commonly include:
- Totting Up Provisions
When a driver reaches 12 penalty points within a three-year period, they become liable for a minimum period of disqualification, known as a totting up disqualification. It is becoming increasingly prevalent that motorists are at risk of losing their driving licence as a result of the totting up procedure, with speeding offences the most common reason for accruing points.
Once an individual becomes liable for disqualification under the totting-up provisions they can be disqualified for any period at the Court’s discretion, but this discretion is limited by the fixing of minimum periods.
If there has been no previous disqualification, then the minimum period is six months. If there are multiple instances of previous disqualification, then the minimum rises to two years. This is standard for nearly all courts.
- Avoiding a Ban Due to Exceptional Hardship
Losing your driving licence can have fairly catastrophic consequences. The disqualification is not meant to be easy, however where an individual can show the Court that any period of disqualification would cause exceptional hardship, then the Court has a discretion not to disqualify at all. The keyword is ‘exceptional’.
Even losing your employment, for example if you were a taxi driver, is often not enough. There would usually have to be an additional feature of the case to make the hardship exceptional, and it is for the individual to satisfy the Court on the balance of probability.
Importantly, it is well established that ‘hardship’ is not confined to the hardship that will be caused to the offender; hardship can be caused to persons other than the defendant who are wholly innocent and will suffer if the offender is disqualified (Cornwall v Coke [1976] Crim LR 519).
- Avoiding a Ban Due to Special Reasons
In certain circumstances, a Court has the discretion not to disqualify for an offence carrying obligatory disqualification, or to refrain from endorsing a driving licence with penalty points. These reasons are commonly referred to as ‘special reasons’.
The exercise of the discretion not to disqualify or endorse should only be exercised by the Court in clear and compelling circumstances. Each case will always be fact dependent. To amount to a special reason, a matter must:
- Be a mitigating or extenuating circumstance;
- Not amount to a defence in law;
- Be directly connected with the commission of the offence;
- Be one which the Court ought properly to take into consideration when imposing a sentence.
A distinction has to be drawn between circumstances that relate to the offender and those that relate to the offence. It is this latter category that is relevant to a special reasons submission.
The following are examples of circumstances that relate to the offence which are capable of amounting to special reasons:
- Drink-driving – the fact the offender only drove for a short distance and in circumstances where they would have been unlikely to come into contact with other road users;
- Drink-driving – where the driver received a spiked drink, if they can prove that they were not aware of imbibing the extra alcohol and that without being spiked they would have remained under the legal limit to drive;
- Speeding – if there was an emergency;
- Insurance – where the offender genuinely believed they had insurance or were misled by others.
If you would like to discuss the possibility of instructing a specialist driving offence barrister with St Pauls Chambers, please contact the clerking team.
