Defending a Prosecution for Driving Without Due Care and Attention in the UK Magistrates Court
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.
Nor requirement for a collision
There is no necessity for a collision to result from your actions. The charges can be brought on the basis of observation by a police officer if he feels your driving — in other circumstances — may have resulted in an accident.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.
Grounds for bringing a case
The main question must be what amounts to driving without 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.For this reason you will always benefit by having a skilled advocate to put your case. They will attempt to show that you were showing consideration for other road users and your driving was reasonable.
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.