Driving without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration

[loopyloo111]

I was driving along and joined a dual carriageway at a give way junction without stopping ( I thought it was a filter road) I caused a car driving at 70 to swerve to avoid me, narrowly avoiding coming off the road, a van behind them also had to brake and swerve. A policecar was behind them. They pulled us both myself and the first car over and charged me with the above offence. I now have to wait for a court summons to arrive in the post. What can I expect to happen regarding points, fine or having my licence revoked? Should I go to court for the hearing and get a solicitor even if I intend on pleading guilty?
I have been driving for four years with no previous offences.

[R1Geezer]

no point hiring a solicitor, bang to rights as far as I can tell. Just go, look contrite and take what you get. Won't be too serious as you didn't actually cause an accident.

With dual carraigeway slip roads the art is to merge seamlessly, you should not stop unlkess abolutely necessary, that'll get you a due care too, but you should match your speed with traffic on the main carraigeway and sort of drift into a gap at the same speed as the prevailing conditions. Those already on the carraigeway will (should) also apply the merge technique when they see you are "playing the game".

It's a pity that this sort of thing is never taught prior to the test, bikers learn this and all sorts of other road craft.

[R1Geezer]

I reckon 3-4 points and £100-150 fine

[karenmac60]

R1, its a pity you never read the question. Loopyloo quite clearly states the she(or he) thought it was a slipway and didn't stop - however, it was a giveway junction and she(he) should have. There's no point giving lessons on how to join at a slipway and slagging of drivers as opposed to bikers, when that wasn't an issue in the first place.

[R1Geezer]

There is no such thing as a slipway, karen, I was trying not to nit pick, unlike you it seems. All slip roads to dual carraigeways/motorways are give way they have give way lines painted at the end, in practice you should not usually have to stop but it is possible. I wasn't slagging off anyone, I was attempting to be helpful. Perhaps you should go back to driving school and learn a few things yourself. It is a commonly accepted fact, even by car drivers that motorcyclists are higher trained generally.

[Avatar]

Agree with R1 on this.

One basic rule that covers a lot of driving that I try to follow is this; if your action in the car would cause another driver to have to brake or swerve then don't do it.

Not that I'm 100% perfect far from it.

Take the fine and the points, learn from it and move on.

[loopyloo111]

Thanks for the replies, my main concern is that I could lose my licence as I need my car for work, the points I can live with and learn from, thanks

[Avatar]

If you've no points so far on your licence you should be ok.

[New Judge]

From your description of events I would suggest that a conviction is almost inevitable and I would recommend you plead guilty.

Careless driving carries a maximum penalty of a fine of £5,000, and either penalty points (3 to 9) or a disqualification.

The minimum penalty is half a week’s net income (reduced by a third if you plead guilty) and three points. However, looking at the magistrates’ sentencing guidelines the bench could see this as slightly above the bottom of the seriousness scale (because of the nature of the location and the fairly high speeds involved) and award a fine of one week’s net income (again reduced by a third for a guilty plea) and 5 or six points. You will also have to pay a contribution towards prosecution costs (about £60 if you plead guilty) and a "Victim Surcharge" of £15.

You should attend court. Apart from giving you the opportunity to demonstrate your contrition, it shows the Bench that you have taken the matter seriously. I do not believe you will gain anything by employing a solicitor. There is nothing he can say that you cannot and the outcome will be much the same anyway. In any case, you will not be entitled to Legal Aid, and any small reduction he may achieve in the fine will be more than swallowed by his fee.