UK Driving Laws - The Facts

[Annete]

I will post the main points, and if you would like more, I.E Failure to comply with a traffic sign il post them aswell. It's pretty meaty but worth reading.

Insurance -

This is fairly simple, you need to have insurance to drive anything on the roads, or in public. If you aint got it, dont drive it.

Penalties - If caught, and your were driving on purpose, expect a heavy fine and between 6 - 8 points. A driving ban is also possible.

If driving your employers vehicle during work, and were under reason to believe you were insured, this can be a defence in court. This would come under 'Special Reasons'

Special Reasons - Sometimes we are able to argue that “special reasons” exist which allows the Court to refrain from disqualifying or imposing penalty points. This has to be connected with the act of the offence itself rather than just your own individual circumstances.

Speeding -

Again this is fairly straight forward. Speeding laws apply to every road in the UK. If your speeding is caught, it will normally result in a prosecution provided that the identity of the driver can be established.

If you cannot find out who the driver is through making diligent enquiries, you may have a defence, but if the police know you were the driver, then you will usually receive an offer of a fixed penalty. If you accept this, you will be fined £60 and your licence will be endorsed with 3 penalty points. Bad times.

Im more serious cases, when you were driving faster than the speed of light, you will receive a summons which the police must apply for within 6 months of the date that it was known to them that you were the driver. This will tell you when your case will be in court. Horrible times.

If youre guilty or proven guilty, the court can make you pay prosecution costs, disqualify you, and give you poins n all. The higher the speed usually results in a more serious punishment, i.e disqualifaction, points and a fine. They can fine you up to set limits.

Penalties - Fines, possible ban, and you can be sure to get points.

You can argue your case, can make a defence if -

• the police have made a mistake
• it was not you or your vehicle that was involved
• the police failed to operate equipment in accordance with the guidelines laid down for its usage
• you were in a state of automatism or reacting involuntarily
• you were acting under duress.

It will go to court at a later date, and obviously you would plead not guilty and argue your casey wasey.

Drink Driving -

Don't drink and drive, your safe to place your money on a ban, and its just ****ing stupid.

There are 3 main types of drink driving offences: -
• Driving or attempting to drive a vehicle over the permitted limit or whilst unfit through drink or drugs
• Being in charge of a vehicle over the permitted limit
• Failing to provide a roadside test or an evidential specimen

If they suspect that you have been drink driving you will be Breathalised, or if your pulled over for anything you will nearly always be breathalised.

The legal limit in breath is 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 ml of breath although you will not be prosecuted unless you reach 40 or more. The limit for blood is 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. If you blow between 40 and 50 micrograms in breath, you will be entitled to ask for a blood or urine specimen to be taken to check the accuracy of the machine. You should always do this because a delay in taking this second sample can work in your favour as your body will be continuously metabolising alcohol.

There is always a bit of a clouded area of complexity surrounding this, but you can make a defence on the basis of these points -

• you are in any doubt as to whether the police have acted properly and/or whether there has been some breach of a procedural requirement
• you consumed any alcohol after you had ceased driving and before your arrest.
• you did not understand what was being asked of you at the police station
• you are on medication or suffer from any illness (e.g. diabetes) that could affect your breath or blood alcohol levels
• you were physically unable to provide a specimen (e.g. asthmatic or phobia of needles)
• you think the breath testing machine was not working properly
• your drinks had been spiked or if you had been misled as to the type of drink or quantity that you thought you had consumed
• you drove for only a very short distance or because there was an emergency
• you were not given part of your blood or urine specimen
• the conduct of the police was such that you lost confidence in them
• you were not the driver of the vehicle

Penalties - Automatic ban, Fine, Possible imprisonment, depending upon seriousness.

Dangerous Driving -

To avoid this, just drive safe and sensible and you will be fine.

Dangerous driving is always a serious offence as it can be tried at the Crown Court as well as by the Magistrates Court. “Dangerous” refers to danger either of injury to any other person or serious damage to property. Driving at a silly speed in itself may be sufficient to establish dangerous driving, but this is up to the court to decide. Other charges are causing death by dangerous driving or causing death when under the influence of drink or drugs.

Dangerous driving is a serious matter the Court must disqualify for at least one year and can impose up to a maximum of 14 years imprisonment and/or a fine. They will take into account drug consumption aswell as persistant careless and reckless driving. Previous convictions will also be taken into account.
You can gain credit by having a clean licence and admitting being guilty as early as possible.

Because of the seriousness of this, you should always take notes, photos and write down accounts and contact info of witnessess after the even has taken place. This can be used to help you in court and argue your case or help lower the penalties given by the court.

Penalties - Possible imprisonment, fine, minimum 12 months driving ban

Hope this lets you know where you stand.

Peace

[Katrine]

Wow you really badly want that TOTW Great post, great effort

[George]

lol, im not bothered bout that, but theres been a fair few posts bout this stuff lately, been pretty busy section so i thought this would help, if people like it il post the other other ones aswell as these are usually the main concerns, il try and find summink about tickets n all. Peace