Careless driving?

[Richy B]

Hi Guys,

 

I'm in need of a bit of advice.

 

2 months ago I set out to go and play squash with a friend from work, I was approaching the lights (on green) on a dual carriageway to turn right. I reduced speed for the turn, checked it was clear to go and proceeded to take the turn! Suddenly, out of nowhere appeared a motorbike, literally 2 foot in front of me and by this time it was too late to do anything. We collided, pretty much head on and without going into to much detail the motorcyclist was airlifted to hospital.

 

I've recently received the very sad news the motorcyclist will never walk again, I really can't believe it and my thoughts are with him and his family.

 

The police have informed me I'll soon be summoned to court but are unsure of what sort of punishment I'm going to receive? I read that Due Care and Attention is 3-9 points and a fine but in some circumstances a ban an be imposed or maybe even a prison sentence?

 

Can anyone shine some light on what sort of punishment is likely? I need my license to get to and from work as I work 20 miles away from where I live.

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Rich

[crem]

I suspect with a case like this it will be gauged on the very specific circumstances regarding this incidence alone. I am not sure anyone on CAG will be able to give any reliable advise on such a unique case.

[Aretnap]

You certainly won't be going to prison - that's only possible for careless driving if you actually kill someone. The maximum penalty is a £5000 fine and a driving ban - though in practice he fine is means tested and won't be anywhere close to £5000 unless you are very wealthy.

 

It's not obvious from your post exactly what you're supposed to have done wrong, but I know magistrates often interpret "he appeared out of nowhere" to mean "my observation was poor"; you might be best to avoid such words. The sentencing guidelines are available here (page 117) and it sounds like for an incident like this you might expect 5-6 points and a band B fine (about a week's income) as a starting point - however it can be difficult to predict in cases like this because the fact that someone was so seriously injured is a major aggravating factor so it depends on just what allowance the magistrates would make for that. If your licence is important to you I'd suggest speaking to a solicitor - preferably a motoring specialist.

[sailor sam]

Excellent advice from Aretnap.

 

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[bumblewasp]

Depends on what the evidence of the collision scene and damage suggests happened. They need to be confident of the bikers speed to ascertain whather you should have had time to see them or not. it seems that they are satisfied that the speed was not so great (possibly less than speed limit) that you could not see them and avoid crossing their path. Hence the allegation against you and the court case.

 

Assuming you are found guilty sentance will depend on a number of factors. If you plead guilty it makes the sentance lighter. Punishment will depend on your attitude, remorse, respect for the magistrates/court procedure, previous driving record etc etc. Quite possible to leave court wityh 3 points and a £60 fine, also possible to be banned for 56 days etc, but not likely to be custodial unless you have a terrible driving record, show no respect to the victim or court, were drunk or on drugs at the time etc.

[Aretnap]

Assuming you are found guilty sentance will depend on a number of factors. If you plead guilty it makes the sentance lighter. Punishment will depend on your attitude, remorse, respect for the magistrates/court procedure, previous driving record etc etc. Quite possible to leave court wityh 3 points and a £60 fine, also possible to be banned for 56 days etc, but not likely to be custodial unless you have a terrible driving record, show no respect to the victim or court, were drunk or on drugs at the time etc.

If you don't know, it really doesn't help the OP to make wild guesses. There's no chance whatsoever of a custodial sentence for careless driving, no matter how terrible his driving record is or how little respect he shows the victim. Assuming he's convicted he's not going to be leaving the court with 3 points and £60 as it's well below the starting point for this type of carelessness, and the mags are very unlikely to go below it out of respect for the victim. That said, it's possible (though not certain) that they won't go above the starting point - linky.

 

Richy - to expand on my earlier comment about appearing out of nowhere, the point is that unless he's a wizard it's extremely unlikely that he actually did appear out of nowhere. So there seem to be 3 possibilities:

(1) He did something you couldn't have anticipated - like going through a red light, a silly overtake, or shooting through at great speed

(2) You were unsighted by the road layout, other traffic, low sun etc.

(3) You just didn't look properly - most of us have been guilty of that at some point and got away with it; it's extremely unfortunate that in your case it led to such an awful accident

 

If it was (1) or (2) then you need to be able to say where he came from and why you couldn't have been expected to see him rather than just say "he appeared from nowhere". If it was (3) you'd be better off saying "I realise that my observation was not as good as it should have been. I'm devastated that my moment of inattention has had such terrible consequences" than trying to avoid the blame.

[sailor sam]

I agree with Aretnap. This is a potentially a serious matter for the OP so unqualified opinions or 'advice' won't really help. My take is that the OP may or may not be assisted if there were any witnesses who could confirm what happened but no doubt the police have asked for them to come forward. If it was me, I would consider placing my own ad in the local rag appealing for witnesses.

 

But in any event, the OP needs specialist face to face advice here.

 

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.