Islington Solicitors

Road Traffic FAQs  – Islington traffic offence lawyers

What should I do in the event that I am caught speeding?

If you are caught speeding by a speed camera, you will be required to notify your driver details.  You will either have to confirm that you were driving the car; provide the details of the driver if someone else was driving the car at the time of the offence or give reasons as to why driver details cannot be supplied.  You should bear in mind that it is an offence in itself not to provide driver details, so it is important to get legal advice as soon as possible if you intend to fight the charge against you.

If you were genuinely not driving the car at the time of the offence or you believe you were not speeding at all (bear in mind that speeding is a strict liability offence where ignorance of the speed in the area is an unacceptable argument), it will pay to get in touch with a solicitor to defend you.  With a road traffic solicitor, you may be able to build up a strong defence.  You could, for example, raise issues regarding the calibration of the speed camera.

I am about to get another three points on my license and I have already accumulated nine points.  Will I lose my license?

If you have accumulated twelve points within a three year time-frame, then you can expect to lose your license unless you can prove that losing your license would cause “exceptional hardship”.  If, for example, you were to lose your job due to losing your license, it is possible that this could qualify as a case of exceptional hardship.  In any case, it is advisable to seek the advice of an expert road traffic solicitor so that any argument for exceptional hardship grounds is drafted in the best way possible.

I was involved in a road traffic accident.  Can I claim compensation?

Yes, it is possible to claim compensation for the loss you have suffered, which could include compensation for the injury itself, medical costs, loss of earnings, expenses and any damage that has been sustained to your property.

Road traffic accident compensation claims are governed by the law of negligence, which makes the claim civil rather than criminal in nature.  Under the law of negligence someone is liable to pay compensation if it can be shown that a duty of care existed between respective drivers; there was a breach of that duty and it is “fair, just and reasonable” to impose a duty of care in the circumstance.  The standards of a duty of care are determined by using “the reasonable man test”, which for the purpose of this answer we shall call “the reasonable driver test”.  The test asks what the reasonable driver in the defendant’s situation could have been expected to do in the circumstances.  It could be the case that the defendant driver pulled out without looking over his shoulder.  The reasonable driver might be expected to look over his shoulder in these circumstances and there will be a breach of a duty of care if the defendant failed to do this.