Safe Speed Forums

My mother was recently in an accident when someone pulled out in front of her.

Could anyone tell me whether points/fines etc. are routinely given if someone has clearly caused an accident when speeding was not involved?

Thank you

I hope your mother is OK.

This sound like careless driving by the person who pulled out. If there is sound legal evidence of careless driving - and that usually means an impartial witness - then the police could well charge the other driver with careless driving. Careless driving carries 3 to 9 penalty points.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

She's fine thank you, it was just a minor bump. I just hadn't thought about penalties for speeding versus penalties for actually causing an accident before. Although I wouldn't want to see an increase in unecessary penalties I wondered whether it might be more appropriate to issue penalties automatically for causing an accident than for speeding. Can the police or the CRPs justify giving automatic penalties for speeding, and not for causing accidents, on safety grounds or just because it's easier to detect, prove and automate?

Yes, I think you have it there. But let's be fair - we all want a legal system where the guilty are proven to be guilty. Careless driving can be hard to prove to the satisfaction of the court, and probably rightly so - it's a subtle value judgement.

One of my gripes is that although it is easy to prove that someone is technically guilty of exceeding a speed limit, I do not believe that this is enough to justify licence points. Licence points should be given when someone is guilty of a safety violation, not when the violation is purely technical. This risks bring back the complex arguments and detailed evidence required for a careless driving conviction. Fortunately, I think I have a reasonable solution.

http://www.safespeed.org.uk/speeding.html

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Errr , yes you can get points for careless driving while under the speed limit.

I did, over 12 years ago.

True - stackmonkey!

Did your Mum have any witnesses? Charges would usually ensue with evidence - else your word against the numpty!

Cannot really comment - until I get further detail!

The police don't usually take an interest in a damage-only accident.