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chrissa1 | 20:44 Sat 14th Sep 2019 | Law
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A friend of mine was pulled over by the police back in December for cutting a car up on to a slip road. She had had her car written off the day before by someone pulling out right into her path and had sustained injuries to her arms.
The policeman was very brusque with her and told her to get out of the car as he was finished with her. She had to explain that she couldn’t open the door by herself because of her sore arm.

The next day she moved out of her house to live with her partner and didn’t go back to her address again. She didn’t know that she’d been summoned to court and time passed.

Fast forward to yesterday, when she was pulled over by a policeman’s ANPR that told him she was a disqualified driver and therefore was not insured. Her car was taken off her and she has been told that she has lost her license.

She hadn’t changed her address on her driving licence and therefore the DVLA didn’t know where to find her.

She is going to appeal because she had no idea she was in this much trouble. She needs her car for her livelihood.

What are her chances of her appeal being successful? Thanks.
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Dunno, but she didn't keep her records up to date so maybe a plea in mitigation but still, her fault.

She may be the nicest person in the world but the courts hear about those people every day.
I'm not clear whether there was one accident or two. Did the police pull her up a day after the original accident in order to question her about the previous day or because of a second incident?
I know quite a few people who have been caught out with a fine for failing to notify DVLA of an address change- it's easy to forget when so much is going on but it's not seen as an excuse
it seems like an odd story. sorry i dont kow the answer but i am quite intrigued to know how she planned to get out of the car at her destination! and how she was driving if she couldnt use her arm to open the door!
That puzzled me, bednobs. That's why I wondered whether chrissa had misdescribed the sequence of events
Jeez bednobs, the butler would open the door on arrival of course.
She doesn't need to appeal. She needs to perform a "statutory declaration" (SD). She does this to swear that she did not know about the proceedings against her. Once her declaration is accepted the conviction(s) are set aside and it is up to the prosecution to resurrect the charges.

she can make her SD either at her local Magistrates' Court (free of charge) or before a solicitor (who may make a small charge of £5 - £10). She needs to find out what she was convicted of, he date of her conviction and which court her case was heard. My advice would be to make the SD at a solicitors. It is common now when making an SD for the court to ask for a plea to be entered immediately afterwards and she may want to have the chance to consider the charges against her. She must make her SD within 21 days of learning about her conviction.

There are two things I don't understand. Firstly:

//A friend of mine was pulled over by the police back in December for cutting a car up on to a slip road. She had had her car written off the day before by someone pulling out right into her path and had sustained injuries to her arms.

How was she driving her car if it had been written off the day before?

Secondly, it is most unusual to be disqualified for, from your description, sounds like a minor case of careless driving. Is there anything she's not telling you (or you're not telling us)?

She should not drive until she has confirmation that her conviction has been set aside.

I am afraid I can't answer your question, but there is a fine of £1000 for not advising a change of address on a driving license.(if you are caught) So the fly in the ointment here is that she may get into more trouble by trying to use that in mitigation.
To avoid any further problems she should get that done immediately.
The policeman was very brusque with her and told her to get out of the car as he was finished with her....................
What had he said to her, and did he tell her that she may be prosecuted - it would seem strange if it was thought that she was at fault when another vehicle had driven into her path.
Very confusing, and difficult to advise on due to lack of knowledge as to just what happened.
We might need New Judge's expertise here for a definitive answer but admitting to one criminal offence doesn't seem like the basis of a good defence for another one to me. (Failing to notify DVLA of a change of address is a criminal offence under Section 99 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. Maximum penalty = £1000 fine).

However Section 14 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 might be relevant here:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/43/section/14

We don't know though exactly why your friend's licence was lost. i.e. what was she actually charged with? 'Cutting someone up' wouldn't normally result in a driving ban unless, possibly, the 'totting up' rules came into play. That's because it would normally be seen as a momentary lapse ('Driving without due care and attention') rather than the far more serious charge of 'dangerous driving' (which always results in a ban).
Oops!

NJ's post wasn't there when I started typing!
//I am afraid I can't answer your question, but there is a fine of £1000 for not advising a change of address on a driving license.//

That is the maximum fine for the offence and in any case it is rarely prosecuted. If it is a fixed penalty of £100 is the usual outcome. It carries no endorsement and is small beer compared to being disqualified.
A slight aside I know but, if she moved out of her premises, surely she had taken measure to have her post redirected? You don't just up sticks and assume your past life will follow you around without actions being taken.
//You don't just up sticks and assume your past life will follow you around without actions being taken.//

Lots of people do, Captain.
^^^there is so much that we are not being told Captain.
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Thanks all for your input. The car she was driving at the time of the offence was a courtesy car provided by her insurance company.

The policeman at the first offence was quite stroppy with her which was confirmed by the policeman who stopped her yesterday. IE, the second policeman said to her that her could be, difficult.

That’s by the by. Thank you NJ. I’ll pass this on to my friend.

FF. she was pulled over yesterday because a cop car was following her with ANPR which told him she as a disqualified driver. A fact that she had no idea about.

Davemano- the cutting up incident happened a day after the accident that happened to her. Two separate incidents.
If the information given on the ANPR was that she was a disqualified driver, then there must have been some way of tracing her and connecting her to the original incident
There is no mention of her getting arrested, and this does not ring true as any Police Officer would arrest a disqualified driver.
Sorry Chrissa.
I'm totally confused.
You said "A friend of mine was pulled over by the police back in December for cutting a car up on to a slip road. She had had her car written off the day before by someone pulling out right into her path and had sustained injuries to her arms. " So that was too accidents.
Then she was pulled over yesterday for driving whilst disqualified (although she didn't know she was disqualified.

I was querying why she was pulled up in December the day after the previous accident
Makes no sense whatsoever.
^ too accidents should say two incidents

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