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Careless driving conviction
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Hey everyone, I was recently involved in quite a serious accident where I was overtaking a vehicle and and my car skidded when i went back into my lane. I landed in a farmers field with my car a wreck and me quite lucky to be alive.
The police phoned me recently to give me a head's up that I could be charged with careless drving as there were many witnesses to the accident.
I'v never been involved in a legal affair before and am unsure what to plea or say to the police. I suffered concussion from the accident and to be honest i really cant remember the speed that I was going when i crashed.
The police phoned me recently to give me a head's up that I could be charged with careless drving as there were many witnesses to the accident.
I'v never been involved in a legal affair before and am unsure what to plea or say to the police. I suffered concussion from the accident and to be honest i really cant remember the speed that I was going when i crashed.
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Comments
Was it a dual carriageway?
These type of charges are rarely saw through properly if you get a decent defense.
Overtaking isn't illegal mate so remember that, we all make mistakes.
I've overtaken countless times, the only people who come unstuck are the ones who were driving dangerously.
You don't skid during an overtake unless
The road is wet, (you should't be doing it)
You were going too fast
Your vehicle hasn't been maintained.
E.t.c.
get a solicitor by all means, but it'll end up costing you in the long run, when a guilty plea will be cheaper.
It may well be biased but it is largely based in truth. If you undertake something in your vehicle which leads to you losing control then it's not a great leap to say that what you did was "careless".
A solicitor of course may give you a legal opinion for free, if you can find such a chap.
Exactly. Get proper advice. :yes:
My mates sister, had a crash in really bad weather, not long after she passed her test. Afterwards, the police came round....and around .....and around claiming she will get done for careless (dangeroun?..cant remember) so she will be better admitting it and taking the 6 points. (which would have meant she'd had to redo her test back then).
She fought it and won.
A lot of the time the police seem to want to do anything for an easy life.
It may well be biased, but it's good advice. People don't skid during an overtake unless there is an external factor, or that person overtaking is driving dangerously.
And I distinctly remember telling them to get legal advice, just that it'll end up costing a lot of money if they lose.
Your advice was awful. 'Plead guilty' after reading 2 or 3 sentences about the incident? That is really, really bad advice and shouldn't be allowed on these boards as it is potentially very damaging. As Katralla says - you're a community support officer, not a lawyer / barrister / judge etc - therefore you are completely unqualified to give somebody advice on what plea to make in a court case. Your job is to help the police enforce the law, not work on securing convictions. Sort it out.
:yes:
Right, firstly I think personally think advising someone to plead not guilty, without thought and fighting the police for the sake of it is equally bad advice. I personally couldn't care less how she pleads, not my force, not my job or responsibility.
She hasn't told us ANYTHING useful about the crash. What sort of road is it, how fast was she going, was it raining, was it dark, is her car in good condition e.t.c.
The only thing we know for sure is that it was probably a rural road (the field) and that the roads are normally windy. If she overtook, on a clear day in a good car and at a safe speed, she would not have skidded. If all of the above are true, (it's a clear day, good car) and she skidded it's because speed or carelessness was a factor.
If the road was wet, the other car did something unexpected or something else unexpected happened then fine, fight it out.
Fight it out. Why admit guilt to something your not sure your guilty of? Any advice to the contrary seems stupid to me.
It's not, and I never said I was. But overtaking in the wet, on a windy country road at excessive speed is careless, and people quite rightly get prosecuted for it. Romance was lucky, she damaged her car and a hedge.
Last year I came across an accident when a young girl had done exactly the same thing, spun out into a electric pylon and almost broken her spine. She not only put her life at risk, but ours at well. Trying to administer first aid to someone with a potentially broken spine, whilst being careful not to step on a 50,000 volt feed in the dark, is not pleasant.
So yes, overtaking in the wet isn't illegal. It IS bloody stupid, and despite what you might think about me, or PCSO's in general, you haven't pulled someone out of a car in the middle of nowhere and kept them alive, all because some stupid girl got impatient and performed a manouver that was too much for her.
Like I said before, if there was external factors then Romance needs to get legal advice regardless. Saying she isn't guilty, JUST for the sake of getting one over the law isn't good advice.
Which is what ive said. We don't know the facts, if something happened beyond her control then fight it at court. If she crashed through negligence/carelessness than fighting it for the sake of it is going to end up costing more in the long run.
A plea of not guilty can be changed to guilty at a later stage. If s/he had pleaded guilty on your advice, and the evidence had turned out to be poor or non existant, well that'd be on your shoulders.
How can a PCSO be a substitute for good, solid legal advice? I'm afraid I'm just not seeing it.
Why aren't people actually reading what i'm typing? I haven't said plead guilty regardless, but based on the few snippets of information she has given us you guys saying "plead not guilty, don't let the police win" e.t.c. is just as irresponsible.
That is bad advice mate.
Aye, but it's normally what the gavers tell you when you're down the station.
Easy conviction for their stats, which is what it's all about at the end of the day.
Do not EVER admit to doing anything, even scratching your arse in public, without seeking professional legal advice first. You may have to pay for your legal advice (legal aid is usually only available to those who are in danger of being sent down) but most solicitors worth their salt will give you a little chat for nowt before explaining their fees.
You should also be aware that if you plead guilty to careless driving your insurance company may use that as an excuse not to pay out. Insurance companies tend to be cunts like that.
That depends on your opinion of the law, I think most in this country would say it's in a complete fucking mess
Whilst you didn't actually agree or disagree with anybody - which is entirely fair enough - I'd like to agree with this post and point out that it affirms the point of my post.