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Careless Driving - Need Help

2

Comments

  • BoGoF
    BoGoF Posts: 7,098 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Driving into a parked car, nightime or not, is careless driving by mosts peoples definition. Either your son's eyesight is so poor he shouldn't be driving or he wasn't looking where he was going.

    Take it on the chin and plead guilty...any fine may be reduced with a guilty plea.
  • Car_54
    Car_54 Posts: 9,054 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    BoGoF wrote: »
    Driving into a parked car, nightime or not, is careless driving by mosts peoples definition. Either your son's eyesight is so poor he shouldn't be driving or he wasn't looking where he was going.

    Take it on the chin and plead guilty...any fine may be reduced with a guilty plea.
    Points should also be discounted (only in Scotland).
  • a.turner
    a.turner Posts: 655 Forumite
    500 Posts
    edited 19 December 2025 at 8:30PM
    [quote=[Deleted User];75795651]Points should also be discounted (only in Scotland).[/QUOTE]

    Can you discount three points?
  • Aretnap
    Aretnap Posts: 6,067 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    a.turner wrote: »
    Can you discount three points?
    No - the discount can't take you below the minimum number for the offence. But there's no guarantee that the court would take 3 points as a starting point -. regardless of what the officer said at the roadside.
  • soolin
    soolin Posts: 74,812 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Threads now merged for clarity.
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the eBay, Auctions, Car Boot & Jumble Sales, Boost Your Income, Praise, Vents & Warnings, Overseas Holidays & Travel Planning , UK Holidays, Days Out & Entertainments boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know.. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,129 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Your proposed defence is ludicrous. It will just be considered to be wasting the court's time and result in a bigger penalty.
    If you have legal cover, no sane lawyer is going to defend your son on that basis.
    Has he already admitted liability regarding the insurance claim?
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • a.turner
    a.turner Posts: 655 Forumite
    500 Posts
    Aretnap wrote: »
    No - the discount can't take you below the minimum number for the offence. But there's no guarantee that the court would take 3 points as a starting point -. regardless of what the officer said at the roadside.

    Doesn't seem a very good system if lower end careless is punished more harshly than the most serious.
  • Ionic11
    Ionic11 Posts: 6 Forumite
    Hi again, just checked with insurance company. The other driver claimed injuries and that was paid out. Can he come after son through court for further injuries claim? On the the writ it says - ''you drove without due care and attention and caused injury to X X.''
    Fed up with it all. Got images of 'can't pay, we'll take it away' in my mind.
  • Aretnap
    Aretnap Posts: 6,067 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Ionic11 wrote: »
    Hi again, just checked with insurance company. The other driver claimed injuries and that was paid out. Can he come after son through court for further injuries claim? On the the writ it says - ''you drove without due care and attention and caused injury to X X.''
    Fed up with it all. Got images of 'can't pay, we'll take it away' in my mind.
    No. Firstly because the compensation he's entitled to is determined by the extent of his injuries, not by precisely how bad your son's driving was. And secondly because your son's liabilities are covered by his insurance in any event - that's the point of having insurance. If he does receive any correspondence from the other driver or a solicitor relating to the accident he should pass it on to his insurer immediately.
  • a.turner
    a.turner Posts: 655 Forumite
    500 Posts
    Ionic11 wrote: »
    Hi again, just checked with insurance company. The other driver claimed injuries and that was paid out. Can he come after son through court for further injuries claim? On the the writ it says - ''you drove without due care and attention and caused injury to X X.''
    Fed up with it all. Got images of 'can't pay, we'll take it away' in my mind.

    So he hit a stationary vehicle rather than a parked and unattended one. Wonder why it had stopped.
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