Careless driving (??

[jor]

I wonder just how bad your driving has to be to actually get charged with dangerous driving?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/new...t-bank-M1.html
You might remember the one in Kent where a bloke got caught on a following car's dashcam pushing a car into the central reservation so as to be able to overtake a lorry and the initial police response was ...... to do nothing.
On similar lines this lorry in lane one can hardly fail to see the white car in lane two as he goes to move out (as it's in front of him) unless he has his eyes closed. Pleaded guilty to careless driving and got a year ban.
The bar for being found guilty of dangerous driving must be incredibly high and involve much effort and expense on the part of the judicial apparatus, better spent on other things e.g. salaries

jor

[Dippydog]

The police do the investigating and arrest "on suspicion of" evidence is then passed to Crown Prosecution service who decide what if any charges are ultimately laid.One thing they will look at is the probability of a successful prosecution and I'd imagine[although I've no experience/expertise in the matter]it will be statistically easier to obtain a conviction on a lesser charge.

[jamena]

Originally Posted by jor

I wonder just how bad your driving has to be to actually get charged with dangerous driving?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/new...t-bank-M1.html
You might remember the one in Kent where a bloke got caught on a following car's dashcam pushing a car into the central reservation so as to be able to overtake a lorry and the initial police response was ...... to do nothing.
On similar lines this lorry in lane one can hardly fail to see the white car in lane two as he goes to move out (as it's in front of him) unless he has his eyes closed. Pleaded guilty to careless driving and got a year ban.
The bar for being found guilty of dangerous driving must be incredibly high and involve much effort and expense on the part of the judicial apparatus, better spent on other things e.g. salaries

jor

I believe that if you have an accident where you are careless it is careless driving or driving without due care and attention. If you had the said accident and someone is seriously injured or even killed it is dangerous driving or causing death by dangerous driving. To which you could go to prison for, James

[T5R92011]

Looks like the scirocco was in that blindspot area.

Left hand drive lorry?

The only time you'd ever catch me sitting inline with the cab of a lorry, on a motorway, is in gridlock crawling traffic whereby i have no choice.

Even then, I would drop back a couple of meters to be 100% visible in the lorry's side mirror.

You cannot account for other road user's actions, so if you want to stay safe make yourself as visibile as possible to other road users.

[The Thong]

I passed the aftermath of that accident, there wasn’t much left if the car. I’m glad the occupants of the white car got out, I thought it looked like a fatality job.

TT

[Ian21401]

Dippydog has hit the nail on the head.
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decide on the precise charge. They may have decided to charge with dangerous but were happy to reduce it in court to careless as the offender was pleading guilty to the lesser charge, which saves money and time.
The CPS was inaugurated whilst I was a serving officer. I don’t think many of us thought it to be a good idea. I trained before CPS. We were taught that it was our job to gather all lthe evidence, charge with the appropriate charge depending upon the evidence and let the court decide the outcome. Obviously whilst gathering the evidence we formed an idea of what offence may have been committed. The subsequent charge was decided between the officer and the custody sergeant, who had to accept the charge. An inspector may then have given his agreement, or otherwise.
My understanding is that now the CPS are consulted about the appropriate charge before any charges are laid, and even at that early stage they are likely
to lean towards whichever charge is most likely to succeed and cost the least amount of the public purse.

[DaveNP]

Originally Posted by jor

...
On similar lines this lorry in lane one can hardly fail to see the white car in lane two as he goes to move out (as it's in front of him) unless he has his eyes closed. ...
jor

Can you enlighten us on what experience you base that statement? As a skilled observant driver you don't seem to have noticed that the trailer is not from a UK firm so the unit is almost certainly not UK either so will be left hand drive. If you know about driving a truck you'll know about the blind spots that exist around one. Driving a left hand drive vehicle on UK roads is trickier than driving a regular UK vehicle, just as driving a UK vehicle on European roads is more challenging.

The difference between dangerous and careless driving is in the amount by which the driving falls below standard, not the level of damage that appears to happen in a dashcam video, the impressive consequence in that video does not make the driving dangerous, similarly one could be convicted of dangerous driving even if no accident occurred. Given that the truck did not swerve violently or erratically careless driving is probably about right for that incident.

Moral of the story, use your superior driving and observation skills to keep yourself out of trouble, and the blind spot of a foreign truck is a bad place to be.

[Nine40]

Thats not correct, ive lost count of the times ive gone to overtake lorrys with foreign plates on only to find its being towed by a uk registered teactor unit or the tractor unit is rhd as it spends most of its time in the uk..

[inchindown]

I think money saving is a lot to with what charge is laid.

Quite a lot of people will plead not guilty to Dangerous Driving but will plead guilty to the lesser charge of Careless Driving.

The prosecuting authorities seem all too keen to get the lesser conviction than go through a trial for the more serious charge.

I spent 18 months in hospital after being knocked off my motor bike by a woman in a Ford Anglia. She was charged with careless driving and fined £25.

Maybe they could find a way to take into account the consequences of an accident when deciding which offence to use.

[john.wigley]

'T5R92011' and 'DaveNP' are both absolutely right in stressing the importance of good observation skills. 'Dippydog', 'Ian21401' and 'inchindown' are also right in saying that cost to the public purse is too often the main criteria upon which charge is brought. Collectively, we get the justice that we are prepared to pay for.

While I sympathise with 'inchindown's predicament, I feel it would be a mistake to link consequences to charge. If I were to take up a weapon and assault you, then yes. A vehicle can be considered a weapon, but not used as such, yet still cause dreadful consequences. I recently saw a cyclist killed by a tractor attempting an ill-judged overtaking manoeuvre. The driver did not set out that day to kill another, and no charge nor penalty could bring back the husband and father who died in the accident - a point that his widow graciously made in court.

Regards, John.