The Law
Under Section 1A of the Road Traffic Act 1988, a person who causes serious injury to another person by driving a mechanically propelled vehicle dangerously on a road or other public place is guilty of an offence.
Serious injury means in England and Wales, physical harm which amounts to grievous bodily harm for the purposes of the Offences against the Person Act 1861, and in Scotland, severe physical injury.
Dangerous Driving
According to section 2A of the Road Traffic Act 1988, dangerous driving is committed when the defendant's driving falls far below the standard expected of a competent and careful driver and it would be obvious that driving in that way would be dangerous.
There is no definite list of what constitutes dangerous driving, recognised examples can include:
• Driving aggressively or racing;• Overtaking in an unsafe manner – particularly undertaking;• Knowingly driving an unsafe vehicle;• Being distracted whilst driving e.g. reading a map, smoking, eating, drinking, driving while using a mobile phone or an mp3 player; and,• Ignoring traffic signs and signals
Hi Lucinda - I wanted to thank you for your support during my case. You put my mind at rest and made the whole process not only painless but also stress free, so thank you.
Dear Lucinda, I wanted to say thanks to you once again. you have done the amazing work for me.
WHAT IS THE SENTENCE/PENALTY FOR DRIVING OFFENCES INVOLVING SERIOUS INJURY?
Each case is different and dealt with according to its own circumstances. Our solicitors have been representing clients for over 20 years for serious injury by dangerous driving related offences so will be able to advise you of your likely sentence. We will assess the prosecution evidence and take your full instructions on the matter to help us clearly advise you so that you are fully prepared and do not have the anxious wait for the unknown at court.
When deciding on a sentence, the level of culpability and harm determine are taken into consideration to determine the offence category.Culpability can be high, medium or lesser.
Factors such as previous related convictions – particularly prolonged/persistent and deliberate course of dangerous driving, driving heavy and large goods vehicles or lorries, blame wrongly placed on others, injuring children passengers, harming a vulnerable road user - pedestrian, cyclist and horse riders, deliberate decision to ignore the rules of the road and disregard for the risk of danger to others, consumption of substantial amounts of alcohol or drugs leaning to gross impairment, offences committed in course of police pursuit, racing or competitive racing against other vehicle and speed greatly in excess of speed limit will increase the severity of the sentence. But also, some factors such as no previous convictions and impeccable driving licence, the standard of driving was over threshold for dangerous driving, actions of the victim or third party contributed significantly to collision or injury, genuine emergency or serious medical condition requiring urgent, intensive or long-term treatment, can decrease the severity of the sentence.
Harm is indicative of the level of injury caused. Particularly grave and/or life-threatening injury, physical or psychological harm resulting in lifelong dependency on third party care or medical treatment, and permanent, irreversible injury or condition which as a substantial and long-term effect on the victim’s ability to carry out normal day to day activities or on their ability to work fall under category 1, which entails more severe sentences. Causing serious injury by dangerous driving is triable either way (this means that the case be heard in either the Magistrates or Crown Court). The penalty ranges between 26 weeks – 5 years’ imprisonment. There will also be a mandatory two year minimum period of disqualification. The law also requires an extended retest upon conviction.
Lucinda Dore Serious Injury Dangerous Driving Solicitors are highly experienced at mitigating a sentence for our clients – we will always strive to achieve the best outcome for you and our reputation proves our success at achieving this. We will advocate for you in court and robustly persuade the court to impose the most lenient sentence for you. In some circumstances we may be able to persuade the court to impose a non-custodial sentence or a suspended prison sentence (this means that you will not serve any time in prison provided you comply with court imposed conditions).
When the courts decide on the appropriate sentence they will have regard to these sentencing guidelines.
How can we help you?
If you are under investigation by the police for driving offences involving serious injury or have been charged, we strongly advise you to seek professional legal representation straight away. The implications of conviction can be severe and getting legal advice at an early stage can make a significant different to the way in which the matter progresses.
Our solicitors can help minimalize how the police or court deal with the matter. You do not need to face this alone; we pride ourselves with providing professional, robust legal representation whilst providing full support to our clients who are often anxious, embarrassed, or fearful of the potential implications.
If you have been asked to attend an interview under caution at the police station, we will be able to attend the police station with you – we may be able to provide robust early representation to avoid the matter proceeding further to court. If you have been charged with an offence and are due to attend court, we can book you in for a consultation with one of our specialist solicitors as soon as possible. Most clients request a virtual consultation to work around their working commitments which we can always offer.
Once you have booked in with us, we will start work on your case right away. We will request the prosecution evidence from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). If this is provided before your consultation we will be able to go through all this with you, we will be able to assess the evidence against you and advise whether it is in your best interests to plead Guilty or Not Guilty, but even if the evidence is yet available we can take your full instructions, advise you on the relevant law and procedure and prepare you for your court hearing.
If the evidence against you is strong, or you wish to plead guilty for a mistake made, we have a particularly outstanding reputation for providing expert court mitigation to get the best outcome at court for you. We can help you make an admission to the police or plead guilty at court to causing serious injury by dangerous driving if you accept full responsibility for the offence. Perhaps you have made a mistake and had a momentary lapse of concentration, whatever the reason, we can professionally advocate in court on your behalf to mitigate the offence to help you achieve the most lenient outcome possible.
If you do not accept the offence you are charged with, we can help you challenge the offence. We will help you to enter a Not Guilty Plea to the driving offence involving serious injury matter and represent you at trial - either one or our solicitors will represent you or we will instruct a barrister according to your personal budget. We offer bespoke criminal legal advice and representation, tailored to your own personal needs.
Defences for Causing Serious Injury by Dangerous Driving.
We will be able to advise you whether you have a defence in law to the allegation which you are facing.
The main defences for driving offences involving serious injury in law are:• The fault lay with the other road user or third party;• Your driving was not “dangerous” in accordance with the definition above;• The injury suffered was not sufficiently serious to meet the above definition;• Lack of credible witnesses for the Prosecution; and• Other contributory factors such as unknown defects on the vehicle in question.
Our solicitors will be able to assess the prosecution evidence against you and advise whether you have a case to legally defend the allegation.
Contact one of our specialist road traffic offences solicitors today for advice. Lucinda Dore can often fit clients in for a virtual consultation at short notice as we know that you will need urgent advice. We have a service available for all budgets so contact us today for a free no obligation discussion about how we can help you.