Driving without due care / dangerous driving / causing death by driving.

Careless, and inconsiderate, driving.
¢If 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, he is guilty of an offence¢ (Road Traffic Act 1988 s3.)

The offence is therefore based upon the standard of the defendants driving. The test applied by the court is has the defendant¢s standard driving departed from that of a reasonable, competent and prudent driver in all the circumstances of the case. The prosecutor must prove this beyond reasonable doubt. In short the prosecution need to prove the defendant was at fault.

The offence carries a fine and discretionary disqualification or between 3 and 9 mandatory penalty points.

If convicted and disqualification is avoided then the court MUST impose points unless special reasonsexist.

Dangerous Driving
¢A person is to be regarded as driving dangerously if the way he drives falls far below what would be expected of a competent and careful driver and it would be obvious to a competent and careful driver that driving in that way would be dangerous¢ (Road Traffic Act 1988 s1.)

Again the offence is based upon the standard of the defendant¢s driving but here the prosecution must prove that it fell far below that of a reasonable driver. Dangerous driving is therefore more difficult to prove than careless driving and is usually restricted to very serious cases involving police pursuit, very high speed or erratic driving, racing or serious accident.

Dangerous driving is an imprisonable offence and carries up to 2years at the Crown Court or 6 months if dealt with at the Magistrates¢ Court. It caries a mandatory minimum 12months disqualification with obligatory retest (unless special reasons are found).


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