Driving without due care and attention
Driving without due care and attention
is an offence in accordance with Section
3 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.
The description of the offence according
to the legislation is that a person drives
a mechanically propelled vehicle on a
road or other public place without due
care and attention or without reasonable
consideration for other persons using
the road or place.
In order for you to be convicted of this
offence, the Prosecution have to prove
beyond reasonable doubt that you were
the person driving a motor vehicle and
that at the time of the alleged offence
you were driving on a public road or other
public place. (Bear in mind a public place
is described as anything to which the
public have unrestricted access for example
a supermarket car park) without due care
and attention or without reasonable consideration
for other road users.
The main question must be what amounts
to what driving due care and attention.
There is no statutory description and
what this phrase means. Each case is decided
on its individual facts. The general principal
is that the Prosecutor must prove beyond
reasonable doubt that the Defendant was
not exercising that degree of care and
attention that a reasonable and prudent
driver would exercise in the circumstances.
This is an objective test. That means
that in each individual case the Court
must assess whether or not in the circumstances
you drove in a manner that a reasonable
driver would have driven. If the Court
reaches the conclusion that, the standard
of your driving fell below that of a reasonable
driver then you will be convicted.
Distinction from Dangerous
Driving.
For the Prosecution to prove that your
driving was dangerous (in accordance with
Section 2 of the Road Traffic Act 1988)
the Prosecution must show beyond reasonable
doubt that the standard of your driving
fell well below that of a reasonable and
prudent driver.
In all the circumstances
It is often possible to show that due
to the circumstances of a particular incident
it is not fair to suggest that the standard
of your driving fell below that of a reasonable
person. For example if you are pulling
out of a junction and a vehicle is travelling
along the main road at high speeds (exceeding
the speed limit) then it may be possible
to suggest that despite the fact the other
driver had right of way you should not
be blamed for the accident because his
or her high speeds were the major cause.
You would obviously have to show that
you carried out proper observations before
pulling out of a junction.
Res ipsa loquitor- The facts
speak for themselves
Sometimes people ask us how they can
be prosecuted for an offence of driving
without due care and attention when there
were no witnesses to the incident.
It is possible for the Prosecution
to show that purely that due to the fact
that an accident took place the driver
of the vehicle must be guilty of driving
without due care and attention in the
absence of any explanation to the contrary.
This is a perfectly legitimate course
of action by the Prosecution and the Court
are entitled to convict unless a Defendant
is able to put forward an account that
explains why the accident was not caused
by a fall in the standard of driving.
Mechanical Defects
Another basis for defending driving without
due care and attention is to show that
there was a mechanical defect at the time
of the alleged offence and this directly
impacted on the manner of driving.
If the Defendant raises the issue of
mechanical defect at the time when they
are first spoken to by the Police in relation
to the incident then the Police are duty
bound to disprove suggestions that the
accident was caused by a mechanical defect.
Arguing a mechanical defect (as long
as you raise it as soon as you are talked
to by the Police) effectively throws back
the hot potato to the Police and the Prosecution
to disprove that an incident was caused
by a mechanical defect and they have to
disprove this beyond reasonable doubt.
Sometimes vehicles are written off
and scrapped by the insurance companies
without the Police carrying out an inspection
in order to ascertain whether or not there
was a mechanical defect and this means
that in most cases the Prosecution cannot
continue.
Sentencing
If you are convicted of driving without
due care and attention then you face 3
to 9 penalty points on your licence. You
will also face the possibility of a fine
and Court Costs. The penalty points of
driving without due care and attention
are 3 to 9. If it is a very serious allegation
then the Magistrates can impose a discretionary
disqualification under Section 34 of the
Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 for whatever
period the Court feels is appropriate.
Driver Improvement Course.
In some areas of the Country, the Police
have discretion to allow a person to complete
the Driver Improvement Course as an alternative
to prosecution. This avoids the risk of
penalty points, fines and Court Costs.
If you accept that the standard of your
driving did fall below that of a reasonable
person then this is a good alternative
to Court Proceedings. You have to pay
to attend the course but the cost of the
course is often less than that which would
be imposed by the Court in the form of
fines and costs.
