Motoring Offences

If you have committed a motoring offence our team of criminal defence experts are ready to guide you through the process of mounting a defence.

We handle all cases relating to motoring offences with the aim of minimising punishments and, in many cases, avoiding disqualification for our clients.

Our team have a strong reputation for handling the most serious motoring offences with a substantial risk of imprisonment. We understand the potential implications of these cases and are committed to protecting your interests.

Our Motoring Law experts can help with all motor offences, from Driving Without Insurance to Mobile Phone Offences; Drink Driving Offences; Failure to Identify a Driver or Failing to Supply Information; Speeding Offences; and Careless Driving and Driving Without Due Care and Attention.

Expert advice and representation from Knightsbridge Solicitors can make a huge difference to the outcome of your offence.

Exceptional hardship

If a driver reaches 12 penalty points in any three-year period, the Court normally imposes an immediate driving ban of six months or more.

However, before imposing the ban, the Court should give the Defendant the opportunity to raise an exceptional hardship argument to persuade the Court not to impose a ban. This is the only circumstance that can prevent a driving ban at 12 points.

The hardship must be beyond what would normally be suffered by depriving the defendant of their licence. The defendant must also be able to establish the severity and degree of hardship. The Court will then assess the severity of the implications and decide whether that amounts to “hardship which is beyond that normally suffered” or not.

It is generally accepted that a defendant will suffer hardship when they lose their licence. However, that is not to be regarded as out of the ordinary and thus would be regarded as a reasonable consequence of the ban.

To argue Exceptional hardship, the defender must prove that they will suffer unduly, such as losing their income, or other opportunities.

Dangerous driving

This is possibly the most serious of motoring offences and carries a substantial risk of imprisonment if convicted. Our team has handled numerous Section 1 and Section 2 charges, including some highly publicised cases.

We recommend that cases of this significance are handled by qualified motoring law specialists and strongly advise against challenging these charges without specialist knowledge of motoring law.

From a legal perspective, Dangerous driving and Careless driving are quite similar, though the implications are drastically different. Please see our section on careless driving for more details.

Driving without insurance

Third-party insurance is compulsory in the UK and failure to have this basic cover is considered an offence. Substantial fines and disqualification are common penalties.

It is important to remember that just one conviction can have very serious implications. Even if you are not disqualified, you will face much higher insurance premiums after any insurance-related offences.

You can also be convicted of an insurance offence even if you are not driving. For example, letting someone else use your car without proper insurance is one of the most common insurance-related offences in the UK.

The offence of using or allowing a vehicle to be used whilst uninsured is becoming much more common. This is not only because Police methods of detection have improved drastically, but also because insurance companies are imposing greater restrictions in their policies and even removing some benefits that were considered standard.

Failure to identify driver (failing to supply information)

The two most common scenarios when you must supply identifying documents as a driver are:

Following an accident causing injury or damage to property, however slight. In these cases, the driver must supply their name, address, and the details of the owner of the vehicle if different.

When requested by the Police according to Section 172 of the Road Traffic Act 1998. The registered keeper of the vehicle will receive a Notice of Intended Prosecution when the driver was not formally warned of potential prosecution at the time of the allegation. Typically, this will be for any offence supported by photographic evidence, such as speed camera/traffic signal contraventions.

Drink driving offences

Drink driving is one of the most serious offences for drivers and carries automatic disqualification or even imprisonment for repeat offences.

We always recommend seeking specialist advice, particularly if you dispute the level of alcohol consumed or how the Police have obtained their evidence.

Our team has extensive knowledge of defending such cases and will give you frank and professional advice.

We do not condone drink driving at Knightsbridge Solicitors, but we do appreciate that many motorists do not understand how the law works or is enforced. Whilst ignorance is no defence, it can make a difference.

Mobile phone offences

It is a specific offence to use a handheld phone or similar device when driving.

Most offences are punished with three penalty points and a £60 Fixed Penalty Notice, but if the matter proceeds to a Court hearing, the fine can be as much as £1,000. This rises to £2,500 if you were driving a bus, coach, or any heavy goods vehicle.

In some circumstances – for example if the use of a phone has caused or contributed to an accident – the Police may prosecute for driving without due care or dangerous driving, which carries a more severe punishment.

Speeding offences

The most common type of offence committed by motorists is speeding.

Speeding allegations can be resolved in the following ways:

Attending a speed awareness course (at the discretion of the Police)
Accepting a Fixed Penalty of three points and £60 fine
For more serious offences or disputed cases, attending Court.

The penalties can range from three to six penalty points and the current maximum fines are £2,500 for motorway offences and £1,000 for offences on any other road.

In the most serious cases (where the motorist is either 50 per cent or 30 mph+ above the limit), motorists can be instantly disqualified.

We can provide specialist advice and assist you in minimising the punishment or even avoiding disqualification. Likewise, we can help you in decreasing your fine and guiding you through the Court process.

Expert advice and representation can make a huge difference to the punishment imposed.