Dangerous Driving in Falkirk

Our client in this case was charged with dangerous driving, a contravention of section 2 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, in that he moved between motorway lanes when it was unsafe to do so and drove into the path of another car causing it to take evasive action to avoid a collision.

This case had potentially significant consequences, especially as the accused was in his mid-20s, had never been in trouble before and was employed by an IT firm under their graduate training programme working towards a career as a Business Analyst.  Conviction for this offence carries a minimum disqualification of 12 months with a compulsory order to sit and pass the extended driving test.

It became clear during our investigations that those complaining about our client’s driving were perhaps somewhat over-sensitive to a display of slight impatience on his part, in that he had moved past them on the inside before manoeuvring into their lane in front of them.  Suggestions of ‘evasive action’ and ‘unsafe’ movements were unfounded.

In summary, the driving spoken to in the prosecution evidence disclosed to us certainly wasn’t eloquent of the rather portentous tone of the libelled charge.  What it did amount to in law, however, was the lesser charge of careless driving.  The Crown also having been persuaded of this fact, a plea of guilty to that offence was eventually tendered and the far more reasonable endorsement of 5 penalty points imposed on his licence.  This was accompanied by a modest fine of £320.