Charged with dangerous driving

[jwall]

I was driving on a straight road at night and approached at purple ford focus in the outside lane. I was 2 - 3 meters behind the focus when it slammed on the brakes and started doing 20 in a 30 I thought the focus was being obnoxious so under took. Only further down the road to be charged with dangerous driving and to be told I would lose my license.

Where do I stand if I contest this in court?

[ojread2]

You;re not telling us everything if you've been charged with dangerous driving
http://www.cps.gov.uk...ts/dangerous_driving/

[beso]

Aside from the undertake, if you were 2-3 metres behind the Focus before it rapidly decelerated to 20 -30 then you were travelling much too close.

[rojash]

You haven't said what speed you were doing initially, but if you were only 2-3 metres behind, even at 30 mph, a distance of only 2-3 metres is tailgating.

[rojash]

Sorry beso, your post wan't there when I started typing :-)

[boxtops]

Undertaking is illegal, whether he was a slowcoach or not.

[EDDIE51]

There has to be more to this. How were you charged, did the police stop you?
Was this a dual carrige way , you say outside lane, yet it was a 30 limit ?
There has to be a lot more you are not telling us .

[Electrochem]

In the witness box or dock.

[jackthehat]

From here, it seems that the Ford Focus was an unmarked Police Car.

http://www.theanswerb...w/Question579473.html

[New Judge]

From what you tell us, if you contested this in court (i.e. pleaded not guilty) you would almost certainly be convicted.

I note that from your response to the 2008 question you consider the charge to be “ridiculous”. (“Literally same ridiculous charge for me undertook an un marked police car and they want to ban me for 12 months.). Why do you consider it so? From your brief description of events, to be two to three metres behind a car travelling at 30mph is dangerous in itself. The minimum stopping distance from that speed is quoted at 23 metres – quite a difference. The braking distance alone is 14 metres without any “thinking time”.

If you are convicted of Dangerous Driving then my answer to the 2008 question is the same:

“There is a minimum mandatory disqualification of 12 months for dangerous driving. In addition an extended re-test must be ordered. The starting point for sentencing is a custodial sentence.” (There may be a possibility that this is considered at a lower level of seriousness where a Community Order could be considered).

My recommendation to you would be to plead guilty at the earliest opportunity (and so qualify for maximum discount on your sentence) and hope the Magistrates decide to retain jurisdiction (avoiding the need for you to go to Crown Court for sentencing). You can then use your 12 months off driving to start saving for the considerably increased insurance premiums you will face for a few years. Of course you could plead Not Guilty and try to persuade the CPS to reduce the charge to one of Careless Driving, but I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one if I were you.

[DTCwordfan]

Take heed of NJ's advice - that was a petty numpty thing to do. Sorry to be blunt but you need to take the recommended action.

[dzug2]

If you didn't learn from your previous error maybe you shouldn't be on the road at all. You sound too impatient to be a safe driver

[Baldric]

Welcome to AB

[ChuckFickens]

What previous error? the OP hasn't mentioned anything about a previous error.

[shoota]

You wouldn't be charged with dangerous driving at the roadside, you would be told you would be reported for the question to be considered of prosecuting you for that offence.
Have you received a summons yet?
Often you can be 'stuck on' for one thing but when the admin consider the evidence you are actually summonsed for something else.

[grffindoor2011]

I'm sure there is more to this. I certainly don't agree with losing a license based on what happened. 3 points at most with a fine. I do agree with the dangerous driving part though.....just not the punishment.

[joko]

You were tailgating... many people respond to tailgaters by slowing down - you were the one being obnoxious

I think you deserve to be banned if you think that behaviour is ok, and then in your impatient anger you did an ilegal move!

[woofgang]

you stand in a pile of poo and sinking fast.

[New Judge]

Points are not an option if the charge remains at Dangerous Driving, grffindoor2011.

Dangerous Driving is a serious offence which carries a mandatory minimum disqualification of 12 months, a mandatory extended re-test and a maximum of two years custody.

[MichaelZZ]

Why not write to your local chief constable and report the driver of the unmarked car. You could say something along the lines of "deliberately slowed down to below the speed limit just to annoy me", "barely left me enough room to pass on the inside", "made threats about me losing my licence". You could then ask for confirmation that the copper concerned would be moved from Traffic duties, to which he is so clearly unsuited, into a job in which he would be employed catching proper criminals. That should make your point clearly.