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Careless driving

Careless or inconsiderate driving is a charge that is often brought against drivers that have been involved in an incident where the Police and Procurator Fiscal Service deem their driving to be careless or inconsiderate - whether the alleged course of driving was accidental or not.

Potential Loopholes

  • Insufficient calibration or testing of speed detection equipment.
  • Insufficient evidence of speed limit, accident, identity of driver or vehicle registration mark.
  • Unauthorised police officers conducting enquiries under Section 172 of the RTA 1988.
  • Incompetent or irrelevant charges and time bar.

The definition of ‘careless or inconsiderate’ driving is contained within Section 3 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 which states that:

“if a person drives a motor vehicle on a road without due care and attention, or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road, he/she is guilty of an offence.”

This definition is vague by design and the Courts have not attempted to give a formal definition as to what constitutes “due care and attention” and “reasonable consideration”. Indeed what constitutes such an offence is invariably a matter of fact and depends on the circumstances of the particular case.

However, the test in such cases as applied in the case of Wilson v MacPhail 199 states that a driver is guilty of such an offence where he/she has:

“failed to exercise the degree of care, skill and attention which the reasonable, competent and prudent driver could be reasonably expected to show in the circumstances”.

This test re-affirms the generic nature of the offence and consequently a broad range of incidents ranging from failing to signal before manoeuvring, speeding and minor accidents to major accidents and other offences falling just short of dangerous driving can all be deemed as careless or inconsiderate driving.

The penalties for this offence include fines up to £5,000 and the endorsement of 3-9 penalty points or discretionary disqualification.

Contact the specialists.

The complexities of this offence, the difficulties involved in defending such allegations and the potentially serious consequences should not be underestimated.

Accordingly, the task of retaining your driving licence should not be entrusted to inferior legal representatives when only specialist road traffic solicitors will do!

Our specialist road traffic solicitors fully investigate your case using their specialist knowledge of the law and the services of experts - including former road traffic police – to explore loopholes in the law and test the evidence to get you the best possible result.

The application of our team’s expertise in this area regularly results in many cases being dropped completely, abandoned during trial or our client’s being acquitted. Check out our news and testimonials sections for updates on our continued success in this area.

Have you been charged or expect to be charged with careless driving? If so, don’t leave anything to chance... contact the road traffic specialists at Scullion Road Traffic Law immediately!