The importance of examining the evidence
My client was charged with driving without due care and attention at Redhill Magistrates’ Court. The other driver claimed that my client had rammed him! Fortunately, photographs existed of the damage to the vehicles. These photographs confirmed that the damage was consistent with a side on side collision, rather than…
Drink Drive; Excess Alcohol
There has been recent appeal on the meaning of ‘providing a urine sample’. The driver was a hospital patient and unable to provide a blood specimen but agreed to provide urine. Complications arose in providing the necessary two samples. Ultimately, the appeal was dismissed but it raised interesting questions on…
Complicated Aspects of Road Traffic Procedure
I attended Redhill Magistrates Court to deal with a client charged with an offence of speeding; he had already accrued 9 penalty points and was about to receive at least three more, making him a totter. What dates do you use to calculate a three year period for the purpose…
Duty to give information
Duty to give information Road Traffic 1988 s. 172. R. (Purnell) v Snaresbrook Crown Court In a recent driving case, the registered keeper of a vehicle successfully appealed against the ruling of a Crown Court judge. The Crown Court had applied the wrong legal test when interpreting the duty imposed…
Duty to provide information
Road Traffic Act 1988, section 172. It may be tempting to decide that punishment can be avoided by ignoring the requirement to provide information under this section. Please don’t think so. This piece of legislation has teeth, and rather an unpleasant sting in its tail! When an offence has been…
Mobile telephones
Road Traffic Act 1988, section 41 D. The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) (No.4) Regulations 2003. This Section states that no person shall drive a motor vehicle on the road if he is using a hand-held mobile telephone, or a hand-held device which performs an interactive communication. A person…
Penalty points disqualification
Penalty points disqualification; Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988, s. 35. When a person’s penalty points number 12 or more the Court must order him to be disqualified for not less than a minimum period (usually six months), unless exceptional hardship would follow from the disqualification; or alternatively, mitigating circumstances may…