Driving without due care and attention

[OBull]

Good evening, 

 

Today I was rather aggressively pulled over by a traffic officer… his original suspicion was that my vehicle was stolen purely based on it being a fancy car (it wasn’t stolen).

 

After ownership was established the officer accused me of driving without due care and attention, consequently I am now expecting a court summons.

 

The situation is as follows:

I had just taken a turn after a set of traffic lights, the stretch of road in question is two lanes which merge after 100m or so, the merging lane is the left hand lane and the right hand lane carries on forward. The speed limit is 30mph.

I was in the left Lane and passed two slow moving cars, without breaking the speed limit, and merged ahead of them as the lanes connected - next thing I knew i was boxed in by a police car.

 

His series of events is that he witnessed me undertaking two cars, no other factors are in question, and as such I am charged with driving without due care and attention. 
 

My understanding of mergers such as this is that both lanes should be used so cars merge at the point of lane closure. Ordinarily, merging lanes end on the right lane and move into the left, as this road layout is reversed it conflicts the rules of mergers and under/overtaking. I am unsure as to whether the move I made was right or wrong and additionally as to whether this will amount to driving without due care and attention.

 

Any advise is greatly appreciated,
thank you all

[dx100uk]

would this not be down to the type of white line marking between the lanes,  be it dashed or solid, regardless to which ends as the primary lane.?

[OBull]

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/587115810
 

here is a video of the merger, I hope this helps explain. Thanks!

[BankFodder]

My recollection is that generally speaking you only overtake on the left on a one-way street, on a roundabout (which is a one-way street) or where the car you are overtaking is signalling to turn right.

In queueing traffic where the left hand lane is moving less slowly than the right-hand lane.
Not much else.

It seems to me here that you are on the left hand lane and you are being directed by arrows to move into the right-hand lane but that is subject to deferring to traffic which is already on that lane and moving in behind them and not in front of them.

I can imagine that they have charged you with due care and attention because that is generally speaking a much easier thing to prove whereas the more serious offence of dangerous driving they would have to be at least recklessness .
The fact that you were within the speed limit is not relevant.

You have told us that your manoeuvre was intentional so technically speaking that could amount to dangerous driving.

I should go quietly if I were you.

 

[Man in the middle]

The definition (according to the Road Traffic Act) of careless driving is when "...the way he drives falls below what would be expected of a competent and careful driver." And that's it. Nothing about white lines; nothing about undertaking; nothing about merging. Nothing about anything, in fact.

 

So with that in mind, it is impossible for anybody on here to give you a definitive answer as to whether your driving fell below standard. From your brief description it seems to me you undertook some vehicles and then cut in to merge with those in the outside lane. But that's only my opinion, based on what you have said and it counts for nothing.

 

Since 2013 (IIRC) low level careless driving has been dealt with by way of the offer of a fixed penalty (£100 and 3 points). The police also have the option of offering a course (cost £100 but no points) so you may be offered one of those. If you want to accept neither, or the police think the matter is serious enough to go to court you will have the option to plead not guilty. The police will serve you with the evidence they intend to use to convict you along with a "Single Justice Procedure Notice" (a summons is no longer used). They have six months to take court action and in many areas they take all of that. Careless Driving carries a maximum penalty of an unlimited fine (though in practice it will be income based and limited to around a week's net income) and either between 3 and 9 points or a disqualification.

[The GodMother]

Is that your Dash cam footage or a general footage.