Judge calls for jail sentence for dangerous driving
November 9, 2012 by admin
Filed under Motor Insurance, Motoring Law, Transport
A Bradford judge has called for the introduction of a ‘three strikes and you’re out’ policy that would send dangerous driving straight to prison after committing the same offence three times.
Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC made these proposals after he heard the case of James Mellor, 25, who had been caught dangerous driving for the fifth time. The judge remanded the offender in custody for one week while he decided whether to give the man a community sentence or to send him to jail for Dangerous Driving.
Disqualification from Dangerous Driving
Dangerous driving disqualification orders are usually made by a court preventing a person from validly holding a drivers licence or from applying for one for a defined or stated period of time. A disqualification can however also arise from the penalty points system. This disqualification period is for six months and is administered by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport for Dangerous Driving.
The punishments for speeding
The offence of speeding is one of the most common offences committed by people within the UK. Indeed, speeding is now so common that when filling in a job application form, most employers will ask if you have any criminal convictions other than speeding.
Whilst this highlights the number of people that are caught speeding, there are different levels of punishment in regard to how fast you are travelling over the limit.
If you are charged with speeding you may wish to seek legal advice. However, if the punishment is not particularly harmful to you it may be more cost effective to avoid contacting a solicitor.
Speeding is an offence and, whilst it may not carry the stigma of many other criminal offences (partly due to the amount of people that are caught every year), it is still a criminal offence.
The punishments
If you are caught speeding then you will be handed an absolute minimum punishment of three penalty points and a fine of £60.
If you are a repeat offender then you are likely to receive a much fiercer punishment. Indeed, if you accrue 12 points on your licence within a three-year period you will receive a driving ban, most likely to be around 12 months depending on the individual circumstances.
Other motoring offences
Breath tests
Police can ‘breathalyse’ you (ask you for a breath test) if they suspect you’ve been drinking if, for example, your driving seems erratic. You’ll be asked to give two valid samples of breath, and the lower result is the one on which any prosecution will be based.
If you fail the breath test, the police will take you to the police station where you’ll be charged and the evidence (the breath test) will be stored. You must leave your car until you’re sober enough to move it, or another ‘legal’ driver can move it with your permission. Failure to give a breath test is an offence. If you have been accused of a motoring offence get expert advice from leading dangerous driving solicitors Patterson Law who specialise in defending motoring offences.
What is a discretionary driving ban?
In cases where the offence is felt to be so severe that punishment by way of a fine and penalty points is inadequate, the Court can instead impose an instant driving ban. The decision as to when a ban is appropriate is entirely at the discretion of the Court and will depend upon the offence, past record, mitigation and any other issue that the Court believes to be relevant, for example, the likelihood of a further offence occurring. The Court is supplied with guidelines indicating when a fine and penalty points is appropriate/inappropriate but the final decision is with the Court and the discretion available can be quite wide ranging.
