The Road Traffic Act 1988 states that it is an offence to be guilty of ‘driving a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road or other public place without due care and attention’. What does it mean exactly? When taking into account the ‘attention’ definition, it simply means driving while not focusing your mind on it.

Careless driving is defined as driving that:

• Falls below the standard expected of a competent driver, or
• That does not show reasonable consideration for other people and their safety using the road/pathways.

Not every accident involves driving without due care and attention. Insurance companies will usually deal with the financial consequences of an accident and the expenses that arise from them.

If the police are involved, they will be looking to see if the criminal law has been broken. If they think it has, they will start criminal proceedings.

There are many actions that are considered driving without due care and attention. These include, but are not limited to:

• Eating while driving
• Smoking while driving
• Changing a CD
• ‘Tailgating’ another vehicle
• Driving through a red traffic light
• Undertaking
• Driving into a pedestrian

It is worth mentioning that driving without care and attention does not cover drunk driving, drug driving, speeding, or driving while using a mobile device (e.g. a phone), as all those are covered by different codes.

According to section 3 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, there are two ways in which you can commit a driving without care offence. You can either be convicted of driving without due care or inconsiderate driving – the penalties are the same in both cases.

When it comes to driving without care conviction, the prosecution has to prove that the standard of driving fell below that of a competent driver. For an inconsiderate driving conviction, the prosecution has to present a reasonable doubt that a competent driver would not drive as the offender did and that the driving in question inconvenienced other drivers.

An example of inconsiderate driving could be not dipping your lights for the oncoming traffic.

The Court can impose  3 – 9 penalty points on your licence or disqualify you from driving. If you have previous points on your licence and you reach 12 or more, a mandatory driving ban applies under ‘totting up‘ provisions. You could also be issued with an unlimited fine.

Your penalty is likely to be more severe if your actions include:

• Excessive speed
• Allowing yourself to be distracted by doing something else, e.g. eating or drinking
• Trying to look after passengers in the car
• Carrying an unsafe load
• Causing an accident that results in injury
• Causing damage to another vehicle or property
• Careless driving  in a high risk area, e.g. near a school, crowds of people or on a particularly busy road
• Driving while tired or physically unwell
• Driving contrary to the advice given by a medical professional (this also includes written advice from a drug manufacturer, stating that one should not drive after taking medicine)

In case of a more serious offence (e.g. when your driving has caused an accident or endangered the lives and safety of others), you will be brought to court automatically. The highest possible penalty in this situation is nine points on your driver’s license and a £5000 fine. You might also be prohibited from driving altogether (also known as disqualification) – the decision for how long is in the hands of the judge and will be dependent on how serious the offence was.

Additionally, the consequences could be slightly more serious if two years haven’t passed since you passed your driving test. Within this period, 6 points are enough for you to get banned from driving, plus you will be required to take your theoretical and practical driving test again.

Keep in mind that it doesn’t mean that the penalty is the only possible outcome of a court summon. Community service, a driving ban or a custodial sentence are also possible, depending on the severity of the offence, as well as whether you are facing any other charges at the same time.

The police have the right to issue a fixed-penalty notice (FPN), which usually equals three points on your license and a £100 fine. Sometimes, the offender might be offered to take a driver education course instead.

While the police can now issue a fixed penalty for careless driving offences, you don’t have to accept it. You can challenge a fixed penalty notice in Court if you believe that you’re innocent of the careless driving accusations against you – however, you should keep in mind that if the judge’s decision won’t be in your favour, you might end up paying a sum a lot higher than the initial fine.

If you have been charged, you will be prosecuted at the Magistrates’ Court. If the police did not attend the scene, and there was no accident, you should receive a notice of intended prosecution within 14 days. Otherwise you will receive a court summons.

Get in touch with Cartwright King immediately if you have been charged. We will help you prepare and present your defence to give you the best possible chance of overturning the charges against you.

In Court, the prosecution will have to prove that your driving fell below the expected standard of a competent driver beyond all reasonable doubt. Throughout Court proceedings Cartwright King will be there to represent you with professional advice.

If you’re found guilty of driving carelessly, the points you get for driving carelessly stay on your license for four years, which is a standard amount of time on the statute books when it comes to driving offences.

Your insurer needs to be informed about you being charged with an offence. While your premium might be affected by it, if an insurer finds out that you have been penalised with points on your driving license, and you haven’t told them about it, the insurance company can withdraw cover or block you from taking out the insurance, affecting your consumer credit rating.