General Road Traffic Offences
Motoring misdemeanours
Below is an explanation of the most common driving offences (excluding drink driving, which can be found here).
If you’ve been caught doing any of these, it’s a good idea to consult a solicitor. They could help you avoid a fine, points on your licence (which means more expensive insurance) and even a ban.
Failing to stop
Failing to report an accident
Speeding
Speeding on a motorway
Totting up
Level of fines table
Quick reference table of driving offences
The offence
It is an offence to not stop when driving any mechanically propelled vehicle which is involved in an accident which has caused personal injury or damage to another person or vehicle, animal or property, or to refuse to give your particulars (name, address and identity mark of vehicle and name and address of the owner if someone else) to anyone who has reasonable cause to ask for them.
Maximum penalty
6 months imprisonment and/or fine not exceeding Level 5
Endorsement with 5-10 penalty points
Discretionary disqualification
Comment
It is only compulsory to stop your vehicle and give your particulars if someone (other than you) or something (not in the other vehicle) is injured in the incident, or if you have caused damage to another vehicle or to any other objects on or by the roadside (eg a lampost, fence or wall).
The more severe the accident, the greater the chance of imprisonment will be, while if you have failed to stop or to report the accident, you will be treated less leniently if:
a) the Court believes that you were trying to avoid taking a breath test
b) serious injury was caused.
A possible defence to this charge may be that you were unaware that the accident had taken place.
The offence
After driving a vehicle which is involved in an accident which causes personal injury to another person and not stopping to exchange particulars, it is an offence not to report the accident to the police within 24 hours of the accident’s occurrence.
Maximum penalty
6 months imprisonment and/or fine not exceeding Level 5
Endorsement with 5-10 penalty points
Discretionary disqualification
Offence
Driving on a road in excess of the prescribed speed limit
Maximum penalty
Fine not exceeding Level 3
Endorsement with 3-6 penalty points
Discretionary disqualification
Comment
If you are driving at more than 30mph over the limit then you will in all probability be disqualified, although factors such as speed, road traffic conditions and weather will come into play.
If you are offered a fixed penalty option, and you are sure that you are guilty then it is probably best to take it, as your licence will be endorsed with the minimum number of penalty points and the fine (currently £60) is likely to be a lesser one than the court would impose. You will also escape paying court fees at a later date.
There are a few possible defences to this offence:
- that you were not speeding
- it was not you driving
- you were driving an exempted vehicle in an emergency.
The prosecution can convict you if they produce photographs taken from speed cameras as evidence, and these photos need not be backed up by any other evidence. In the absence of a photograph the evidence must come from at least two different sources, although one of these may be mechanical, for example the police car's speedometer/radar gun/VASCAR.
Under s20 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act (as amended by s23 of the Road Traffic Act 1991) where a radar device is used the police are required to provide a record produced by the prescribed device along with a certificate stating the circumstances in which it was produced, which must be signed by constable or other authorised person.
Offence
Driving on a motorway in excess of the speed limit
Maximum Penalty
Fine not exceeding Level 4
Endorsement with 3-6 penalty points
Discretionary disqualification
Comment
If you are caught driving at more than 100 mph you will most probably be disqualified in addition to being fined.
The totting up provisions means that a driver may be disqualified if he/she collects 12 penalty points within a three year period.
If you accumulate 12 penalty points within a 3 year period (it is the date on which the offences took place rather than date of the hearings that counts), then you will be disqualified from driving for a minimum of 6 months.
When you get your licence back after being disqualified, you start with a clean slate, with all previous penalty points expunged.
If you want to avoid being banned for totting up then it is up to you to convince the court that there are mitigating circumstances. This would entail demonstrating that a disqualification would cause you ‘exceptional hardship’. Examples of this could be loss of employment due to dependency on your car, or hardship imposed on members of your family if the removal of your licence renders you unable to reach them.
Level 1 £200
Level 2 £500
Level 3 £1,000
Level 4 £2,500
Level 5 £5,000
If you have been charged with any of the above offences and require advice, we would like to point you in the direction of our Instant Law Line. For only £7.99 a month you can avail yourself of unlimited telephone advice from a lawyer.
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