Pay to do driver improvement course or go to court?

kmeast

Advise greatfully received ...

I had an accident last month - I lost control of the car (suspect that tyre went but happened so fast I'm not sure) and the car went off the road & rolled down an embankment. The car is a write off - luckily I got away with minor cuts & bruises.

When taking a statement the policeman suggested I may be 'invited' to attend a driver improvement course.

I have now received a letter basically telling me to pay £165 to take this course (1 and 1/2 days in a classroom) or face going to court for driving without due care & attention.

In 20 years of driving I have never had an accident before & have never had any points on my licence. I do not consider I was speeding at the time - in fact I was never asked what speed I was going at.

I'm unsure which route to take - basically £165 is more than a weeks wages for me (I am a single parent) and I will have to pay extra nursery fees for my child to be looked after too.

Do all cases make it to court - or is there a chance it could be dismissed?

kmeast

Thanks. The car pulled me strongly to the right and as I tried to pull it back it just snaked until it hit the kerb and then rolled as it mounted the kerb. The road surface was wet at the time which may be a factor and I was going round a bend. It all happened so fast I couldn't really take in what was happening.

Both the police & an ambulance attended and I was taken to hospital to be x rayed to make sure no broken neck as it was sore. The policeman came to my house to take a statement about 5 days later, but I thought that would be the end of it. No mention of any possible charges.

McKneff

Whichever route you take its going to cost you money.

Plead not guilty - solicitors costs

Be found guilty - Fine, solicitors costs, points on your licence, more insurance costs.

Pay for a day and a halfs course, which will be of benefit to you.
ie an improvement course would teach you among other things how to deal with a blow out to avoid crashing your car if you ever had another one,


Its a no brainer.

redux

My father was offered a course or the prospect of a fine for speeding, his only offence in over 30 years.

The course was 70 miles away from home. He paid the fine.

In your case, it sounds like a lot is going to turn on the policeman's report.

But I think it would go to court, it's unlikely they'd try to bluff you into the course then drop the case.

So you'd have the prospect of having to spend up to a day at court (no guarantee you get heard early, about 10 years ago I turned up at 9.15 and mine was the last of 37 cases) and the risk of paying a fine and costs, versus the time and cost of this course.

And the risk of conviction? Well, it depends on the magistrates, but some would bring back hanging if they could. They convicted and disqualified all 37 cases the day I was there, including a cleric who visited terminal cases in a cancer hospice at any time of day or night. I asked my solicitor what proportion of people who plead not guilty are convicted. About 98%, he said.

If you did decide on court, you might choose to get legal advice, which might either cost you or come on legal aid, and there's the time and aggro to organise yourself for that too.

Even if your tyre did go, it might be suggested against you that you still ought to have been able to retain control. If the tyres were knackered in the wreckage, that could have happened when hitting something afterwards.

I think if I were you I'd be tempted by the course, and try to think of it as an interesting opportunity

biscuitdunker

I think it's amazing that people even think about not doing the course when offered. I wish I'd been offered the course when I got caught last year. Think about how much your insurance premiums will go up when you have those points on your licence.

kmeast

The course is seeming to be the better option - it's more a case of finding the money & trying to arrange childcare as I have found out that the course is on fri/sat so nursery not an option for the saturday.

Thanks for all your advice so far x

pendulum

If you are not guilty of careless driving then plead not guilty. It's for them to prove it. I actually don't think it will go to court. Don't forget the police are not the ones who decide alone whether to take you to court or not. It has to get past the CPS and if the standard of evidence isn't high enough it will be blocked. I can't see their standard of evidence meeting the necessary level if there were no witnesses and if they did not take away the car for mechanical inspection. There's many reasons why you could have lost control without being careless. A little oil on the road maybe, a little mud or grease, a tyre failure (which you believe may have genuinely occured). Don't forget its for them to prove your guilt, not for you to prove your innocence.

rev_henry

pendulum wrote: »

If you are not guilty of careless driving then plead not guilty. It's for them to prove it. I actually don't think it will go to court. Don't forget the police are not the ones who decide alone whether to take you to court or not. It has to get past the CPS and if the standard of evidence isn't high enough it will be blocked. I can't see their standard of evidence meeting the necessary level if there were no witnesses and if they did not take away the car for mechanical inspection. There's many reasons why you could have lost control without being careless. A little oil on the road maybe, a little mud or grease, a tyre failure (which you believe may have genuinely occured). Don't forget its for them to prove your guilt, not for you to prove your innocence.

I think I'd cautiously agree with you there. Maybe the OP could take advantage of a local solicitor's free clinic sessions which most run?

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

kmeast wrote: »

Thanks. The car pulled me strongly to the right and as I tried to pull it back it just snaked until it hit the kerb and then rolled as it mounted the kerb. The road surface was wet at the time which may be a factor and I was going round a bend. It all happened so fast I couldn't really take in what was happening.

Sounds more like understeer to me.

ses6jwg

i bumped a woman up the !!!! at a roundabout and got the same choice, face court for care and attention or £150 for the course.

I did the course.

Half the day spent in a classroom basically doing theory then the afternoon out driving around with an instructor

its basically like a pass plus course.

computershack

DWDCA absolutely hammers your insurance renewals.