Careless Driving Charge Advice

johnnyrah

Hi all, looking for some advice.

I am due to appear at Dublin District Court Parkgate Street for 5 Road Traffic charges (all one incident).

- No Licence (user)
- Failure to produce licence\learning permit after 10 days
- No insurance (user)
- Failure to produce insurance certificate
- Careless driving contrary to section 52(1)

The conditions of the charges are as follows:
In April 2016 I rear-ended a taxi whilst driving with a clean full license and fully insured. Garda appeared on the scene interviewed taxi driver, passengers and witnesses. The driver/passengers then went off in an ambulance. I have been informed of a personal injury case since.

I dispute 4 of the 5 charges that relate to no licence and insurance as I am, and was insured at the time.

A Garda (none of which whom were at the scene) asked me to come in to give a statement in September, which I did, and I provided an account of what happened. At which time he cautioned me. He told me that the charge/penalty would probably be something like 2 penalty points and a small fine as i was cooperative. There was no mention of careless driving and he said it would be up to the superintendent to decide whether or not to press charges. I read the statement back and had me sign it.

Then in November I received the 5 charges to my surprise.

The issue is that I am unable to attend court on the required date due to needing to travel for work. I wrote to the court clerk and provided travel details and she responded telling me she has recorded the info with the case file and it will be shown to the judge on the day of the hearing.

So given that I dispute 4 of the 5 charges and cannot attend in person, I was hoping for your advice on what my options are, and should I get a solicitor to represent me. I have heard that judges tend to be annoyed when the accused does not turn up.

Also, regarding a conviction in this situation, what are the implications regarding my current employer, future employers, travelling for work and any other relevant drawbacks to a conviction.

Denny_Crane

Get a solicitor, be there if you can, if you can't then the solicitor will explain this. Try and get someone local and known to the court. Around there it shouldn't be an issue.

In regards to co-operating with the guards under caution without consulting a solicitor, you and hopefully others won't do that again.

dev100

Get yourself a good solicitor and appear yourself also something as important as that you should go and turn up to , I'd be going no matter what. No one cares about your problems as much as you do. If you are there you can put your point across .

How did you get to 5 charges ? Only a few things are 2 most have gone to 3 points if I'm not mistaken

You have a full license and valid insurance ? How did put that charge on you if you have these ? Everyone has a tip unfortunately for the careless driving charge what was his/her motivation ? Did you drive thru a red light or driving like a loony . I'd be disputing that also

Denny_Crane

TBH if you go into the back of someone surely that's careless by it's very definition.

Hanwellian

Surely at some point, you were asked to provide your tax and insurance, if you were and you didn't, hence the charges.

If you did, what's the problem there?

Sounds like there's more to this than it reads.

05eaftqbrs9jlh

<<Mod; abusive post deleted. If posting here again pls keep it civil>>I

1st dalkey dalkey

The Guard who arrived at the scene of the accident would usually ask for your licence and insurance details. If you don't have them he will get you to produce them in your local station. He/she would likely be from the station local to where the accident happened.

The Guard who called to you for the statement would be from your local station, briefed by a report from the Guard at the scene.

You don't mention whether either of the Guards asked for your documents. They normally would. If you fail to produce them they would issue charges for not having them. That would cover 4 of the 5 charges.

The other one can really only be argued if there was some particular circumstance to your case. Running into the rear of someone shouldn't really happen if you are paying attention. But circumstances can sometimes convince a judge to go easy.

If you don't turn up, well, what is the judge supposed to think?

Denny_Crane

Mod
Absov

Kamari Tinkling Quartet wrote: »

Hanwellian

None of it adds up, too be honest , you'd move hell and high water to attend the hearing if you were so concerned.
The Gardai will be there and they weren't even directly involved.

pablo128

Kamari Tinkling Quartet wrote: »

I think it's pretty f*cked that people here are being so forgiving with this guy who sent people to hospital and I got absolutely castigated here for asking for advice after accidentally taking an illegal right turn after having the oncoming driver let me go.

There is obviously more to this. Why would that Garda have it in for the op and risk his career and create a load of work for himself by making this up. The op would have proof of insurance. Reeks of BS.

Thats bollocks now. I got 11 separate summons after being stopped without tax. Including 1 for each of the 4 supposed bald tyres, and along with no licence, insurance etc. This was after producing.

I argued it in court and the Garda muttered something about mixing me up with someone else. He certainly didn't get into trouble over it.

boardsuser1

Only speaking from experience here,

Was convicted of careless driving in 2008.

Convicted,fined,5 points, no ban.
I also lost my ncb as i T-boned another car.

2 years ago someone rear ended me.
Left the scene and even though I got their reg it was only when i went to court did I get their details.

They were convicted,5 points, and a fine,no ban, P.I claim pending for the O/H who was pregnant at the time.

In both cases there were no previous convictions.

jelutong

It seems the op isn't disputing the careless driving charge.

dev100

Kamari Tinkling Quartet wrote: »

I think it's pretty f*cked that people here are being so forgiving with this guy who sent people to hospital and I got absolutely castigated here for asking for advice after accidentally taking an illegal right turn after having the oncoming driver let me go.

There is obviously more to this. Why would that Garda have it in for the op and risk his career and create a load of work for himself by making this up. The op would have proof of insurance. Reeks of BS.

As crazy as it sounds some cops are down right stupid and lazy and are people like the general population they can and will make mistakes unfortunately it's to the detriment of the public the only difference is that they have the full weight of law on their side and can get away with it . Always dot your i s and cross your T s when dealing with them.

It wouldn't surprise me the Op handing in all his/her info and still getting a summons.

johnnyrah

Thanks all for the advice.

I was asked to show licence at the scene, which I did. The Garda checked my insurance disc and asked me to provide the actual insurance disk at a Garda station of my choice with in 10 days, which I did. The only thing about the insurance cert was that I couldn't find the original and presented the replacement.

Hanwellian

Did you take the name of the guard you spoke to/saw? I assume this would have been logged at the station or on the computer system.

Denny_Crane

The problem with you not being there with all of this is you're the only witness that is going to put yourside forward. This is a seperate issue to being there as the defendant.

05eaftqbrs9jlh

Denny_Crane wrote:

People are bing pretty neutral tbh. I'm sure the high horses will be along presently.

I think my fatal mistake was putting it in the driving forum instead of the legal discussion one, it attracted a lot of "highly expert" drivers who are impervious to mistake-making by virtue of their incredible mad skillz.

The OP really aught to show up to that court date, if his appeal really does have the strength he claims. Fair enough to the dangerous driving, but the garda would have had to ask for the licence, so if he showed it on the day he has nothing to worry about in that respect. It's also easy to prove he was insured at that time by producing the relevant documentation.

Denny_Crane

Ah here, you didn't say that! The Motors Forum along with the Consumer Issues forum have a corps of people that simply can't be wrong. It's freakin' hilarious. Go ask a question about a roundabout and watch what happens! :pac:

harr

Get yourself a good solicitor it would be worth it in the long run if what you are saying is all correct then any solicitor with a bit of cop on should get you off at least 3 of the charges...you should definitely try to turn up on the day of the court case..probably going to be hard to get away with the dangerous driving charge considering its your word against a number of others and the fact somebody was injured... sounds like guard you produced your details to in station never entered them into the system...

nuac

Mod
As already advised you should consult a solicitor who practises in that court
This forum is not for legal advice
Closing thread.
Good luck