Careless and Inconsiderate Driving Flashcards
Q: What is the offence of careless and inconsiderate driving?
S3 RTA 1988
If a person drives a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road or other public place without due care and attention, or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road or place, he is guilty of an offence
Q: What type of offence is it?
Summary offence.
Fine
Discretionary disqualification
Q: What are the basic elements of this offence?
1: MPV
2: Road or public place
Q: What are the 2 driving offences under s3?
1: Driving without due care and attention (also known as careless driving)
2: Driving without reasonable consideration for others (also known as inconsiderate driving)
Q: What is ‘due care and attention’?
A person is to be regarded as driving without due care and attention if (and only if) the way he/she drives falls below what would be expected of a competent and careful driver (s. 3ZA(2)).
Q: What is the test of whether the standard of driving has fallen below?
The test of whether the standard of driving has fallen below the required standard is objective.
It applies both when the manner of driving in question is deliberate and when it occurs because of incompetence, inadvertence or inexperience.
The test is entirely objective and focuses on the manner of driving, rather than D’ state of mind
Q: What is the difference between dangerous driving and careless driving?
The element that distinguishes dangerous driving from careless driving is that the dangerous driver falls far below the required standard, while the careless driver merely falls below the required standard
Q: What is the standard for learner drivers?
There is one objective standard of driving which is expected of all drivers, including learner drivers.
Q: Does the driver’s actions need to be voluntary?
Yes- once you have proved that a defendant departed from that standard of driving, and that the defendant’s actions were ‘voluntary’, the offence is complete.
There is no need to prove any knowledge or awareness by the defendant that his/her driving fell below that standard
Q: What needs to be considered in determining what is to be expected of a competent and careful driver?
In determining what is to be expected of a competent and careful driver, the following factors need to be considered:
- the circumstances of which the driver could be expected to be aware;
- any circumstances shown to have been within the driver’s knowledge.
Q: What examples does CPS give as to the driving courts will regard as careless or inconsiderate?
- Overtaking on the inside
- Driving inappropriately close to another vehicle
- Inadvertently driving through a red light
- Emerging from a side road into the path of another vehicle
- Tuning a car radio (when the driver was avoidably distracted by this action)
- Using a hand-held mobile phone or other hand-held electronic equipment when the driver was avoidably distracted by that use;
- Falling asleep at the wheel- would need independent witness evidence
Q: What if a constable suspects a vehicle has or is being driven with intention (or likely) to cause alarm or distress?
S59 Police Reform Act 2002
Constable can issue a s59 warning where a constable in uniform has reasonable grounds for believing that a mechanically propelled vehicle is being used or has been used on any occasion in a manner which contravenes s. 3 or 34 (off-road driving) and is causing (or is likely to cause) alarm, distress or annoyance to members of the public
Q: Can evidence of prior incidents involving careless driving be used?
Evidence of earlier incidents involving careless or inconsiderate driving around the same time as the offence charged may be admissible to support that charge under some circumstances as it may if the offence is charged as one continuing offence
Q: What if a witness reports a driver of an unidentified vehicle as having committed a driving of-fence?
If a witness reports the driver of an unidentified vehicle as having committed a driving offence, it is critical that the witness provides direct evidence of what he/she actually saw. It would not be enough to produce evidence from the police to show that they had received details of the vehicle which they subsequently traced back to the driver.
Q: What if a driver is responding to an emergency situation?
If a motorist takes action in response to an emergency situation, his/her actions are to be judged against what was a ‘reasonable’ course of action in those circumstances in assessing whether or not the driving amounted to an offence.
