Archive for August, 2013

Why Advocacy Isn’t Enough

Posted on: August 23rd, 2013 by steve

A motoring lawyer who will truly care about your case is a rare breed.

The prosecution service quite freely admit that they consider motoring matters to be minor cases that take up time they should be devoting to the real work such as assault and burglary cases. The Courts themselves often don’t quite understand or appreciate motoring cases.

And many criminal legal aid solicitors will actually turn away motoring work as being too complex.

As a client with a motoring matter, be prepared to enter a world where most people do not realise just how serious your case is, and where the organisations involved can be sluggish, uncooperative and unsympathetic.

As you navigate this new legal territory, you will require much more than a good advocate.

You will require support, empathy and understanding.

It is essential that you only trust your motoring case to a team of specialists, who will take the time needed to get to truly understand you and the matter you are facing.

For free advice give our dedicated team a call on 01623 397200.

Forrest Williams motoring law specialists

Driving Whilst Using A Mobile Phone To Become A Taboo

Posted on: August 14th, 2013 by steve

A police inspector has predicted that driving whilst using a mobile phone will become a taboo, following an announcement that the number of penalty notices given to drivers in Kent for this offence was the lowest it has been for 5 years.

Inspector Paul Sellwood said:

“I think mobile phone use will […] become taboo in time but we’ve got to keep pushing the message out. There are still a sizeable number of motorists that will use their phones.”

The announcement revealed that a high of almost 6,000 fixed penalty fines for driving whilst using a mobile phone were handed out in 2010-2011, compared with just over 2,700 in 2012-2013.

The announcement comes at an interesting time, with researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the London School of Economics analysing over eight million car crash incidents and all road fatalities in eight US states over a 3-year period.

Their results have shown no correlation between the number of calls being made by drivers and the number of accidents recorded, although the research only included phone calls and not text message sending or internet browsing.

Dr Vikram Pathania from the LSE has advised further study to look into the effects of mobile phone use generally whilst driving.

While it is legal to make calls using a hands-free kit, drivers should be warned that they can still be penalised if they seem to be distracted from driving because of phone use.

New Careless Driving Fines To Be Introduced This Week

Posted on: August 13th, 2013 by steve

Further to the Government’s announcement in June to make it easier for police to penalise lane-hogging and other minor driving behaviours, on-the-spot fines for careless driving will come into force from Friday, 16 August 2013.

The penalty will see drivers facing a £100 fine and three penalty points on their licence for a range of new offences classed as ‘careless driving’.

The plans have been criticised, however, due to a lack of publicising the specific behaviours that will be penalised. The most widely reported has been middle-lane hogging, which has caused a lively debate, but there is little awareness of the full range of behaviours that will be considered anti-social and will now be fined.

Police will be given powers to fine motorists found tailgating, failing to give way at junctions, using wrong lanes on roundabouts and queue jumping.

Forrest Williams conducted an online survey researching the standard to which people drive; and whether motorists felt that their driving standard was as good, better or worse than when they passed their test. Most people admitted that they have picked up bad habits during their driving lives and make minor errors when driving that may, now, see them with a conviction for careless driving.

What is your opinion about these new fines? Are they punishing genuine driving errors, or simply looking to ways to increase revenue through fines?

If you have been given a fixed penalty for careless driving and want to contest it call us on 01623 397200 for free and impartial advice.

Motoring Advice Blog

Archive for August, 2013

Why Advocacy Isn’t Enough

Driving Whilst Using A Mobile Phone To Become A Taboo

New Careless Driving Fines To Be Introduced This Week

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