Specialist Motoring Offence Solicitors

It is extremely important that the first thing you do is contact Motoring Offence Solicitors and speak to our expert driving offence solicitors before you return any paperwork to the police. As soon as you make contact, we will have a look at the notice you have received and will ensure that the notice complies with the legal requirements. It is our duty to advise you on whether to complete the document or not and how you should complete it should it be necessary. Several technical defences are dependant on this part of the method being carried out properly by the police. Speak to us today.

According to Section 1 of the Road Traffic Act, a notice of intended prosecution is required to be served on the registered keeper of the vehicle within 14 days for most types of motoring offences. However, there are a few exceptions to the rules;

• If owing to the presence of your vehicle on a road, an accident has occurred
• You were given a verbal warning by the police at the time of the offence
• You have been offered a fixed penalty
• The offence itself is an exception to the rule due to a statutory provision

As stipulated by Section 172 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, if the registered keeper of the vehicle is a company, it is obligatory to keep records or who is driving the vehicle, unless it’s unreasonable to do so. If the registered keeper is an individual, then they must carry out all reasonable steps to establish who was driving. The gathering and presentation of evidence are vital should such defences be successful. 

An MS90 conviction is a result of failing to provide information about who was driving the car when an offence was committed.  This often happens because the registered keeper of a vehicle changes their address and forgets to provide the new details to the DVLA. Find out more about making an MS90 appeal here.

Often the police will ask for an ‘informal chat’ to ‘get your side of the story’, in a bid to get you to reveal that you were the driver. Do not be fooled and simply state that you want to take legal advice before answering any questions. Upon arrival, you are likely to find that the police caution you before asking you questions. The earlier we can intervene, the better the chances are of winning your case as this initial interaction is the most vital stage in the process. It is your legal right to speak to a solicitor before you speak to the police, call us before you say anything. 

Driving with excess alcohol and dangerous driving carry an obligatory disqualification for a minimum of twelve months and in the case of dangerous driving, an extended retest should be passed at the end of that time.

For any offence that carries points, the court has a discretionary power to disqualify. In speeding cases, the courts will contemplate a disqualification once the speed alleged is 30mph higher than the speed limit. With these kinds of offences, each case will be judged on its individual merit but typically the court will take into consideration the seriousness of the offence (eg how fast, other “aggravating features”), mitigating factors relating the offence or the defendant, previous convictions and a defendant’s means.

If a driver gets twelve points inside a 3 year period then he/she falls to be disqualified beneath the totting-up provisions for a period of six months. However, we are able to help “totters” avoid a ban if it can be shown that they’d suffer exceptional hardship. this needs thorough preparation and gathering of proof and it is vital that the case is given to the court in an appropriate manner. we have many years of successful experience with cases like this.

Although each case is completely different if you explain the circumstances of your case to one of our lawyers we will provide you with an indication as to what you’ll expect to receive by manner of penalty. we will put your mind at rest or warn you if we predict you have something to worry about!