Motoring Offences

If you are arrested ask for GT Stewart Solicitors at the police station. This service is free-of-charge to you and our expert motoring solicitors will be able to give you expert advice and represent you when you are interviewed.

If you are asked to attend for a police voluntary interview, to discuss a driving matter or in fact any offence, call GT Stewart on 0113 467 7360 and we will be able to represent you at the interview and provide you with the right legal advice. This service is free-of-charge to you. We will contact the police on your behalf. You need to do this before you attend the police station as the police interview is often the most crucial stage in the process.

If you receive a Notice of Intended Prosecution contact GT Stewart on 0113 467 7360 as soon as possible. Our team of experts will offer you advice on whether to complete the form, if so, how to complete it, and to ensure that it complies with current legal requirements. We will ensure that everything you do is in your best interest.

A notice must be served on the keeper of the vehicle within 14 days for most types of motoring offences. If you did not receive the notice within this period, call GT Stewart on 0113 467 7360

Notice of Intended Prosecution – s.1 Road Traffic Offenders’ Act 1988

A Notice of Intended Prosecution (NiP) is a notification that the driver may be facing prosecution.

The NiP (or a court summons) must be sent to either the driver or the register keeper of the vehicle within 14 days of the alleged offence. The police do not have to show it was received but that it was sent.

If you receive a NiP that was sent more than 14 days after the alleged offence you should notify the police that it was sent out of time. If it was sent within 14 days you then have 28 days to complete and return the form as failure to do so is an offence under s.172 of the Road Traffic Act.

Exception to a Notice of Intended Prosecution

• If at the time the defendant was knowingly involved in an accident
• A provisional fixed penalty notice has been given or fixed
• The police could not with due diligence ascertain the name and address of the defendant within the 14 day time limit

The police have six months in which to prosecute a summary only road traffic offence.

If you are an individual, the Road Traffic Act 1988 imposes an obligation on you to take all reasonable steps to establish who was driving. If the registered keeper of the vehicle is a company employee, the Road Traffic Act 1988 imposes an obligation on the company to keep records of who is driving the vehicle unless it is unreasonable to do so. Call GT Stewart on 0113 467 7360 as soon as possible in order to gather and present relevant admissible evidence which may be vital to the success of your case.

If you plead guilty or are found guilty of driving with excess alcohol (drink driving) or dangerous driving you will be disqualified for a minimum of 12 months and in the case of dangerous driving, an extended re-test must be passed at the end of that period.

The court has the discretionary power to disqualify for other offences for example a driver who drives at more than 30mph above the speed limit. The court will take into account the circumstances of the case (“aggravating features”) and mitigating factors relating to the driver, with reference to any previous convictions and other information which may assist the court when deciding on a sentence to disqualify.

If you have 12 points on your licence within a three year period, the court has the power to disqualify you under the “totting up” provisions for a period of 6 months. It is possible to persuade the court not to disqualify you if disqualification will result in you suffering exceptional hardship. Call GT Stewart on 0113 467 7360 as soon as possible so that we can provide the court with all relevant information to assist in persuading them not to disqualify you.

Our fee ranges are exclusive of vat which is charged at 20% or fees for expert reports:

We are pleased to offer all of our clients:

• An early meeting to discuss your case and take your detailed instructions.
• Drafting all required court documents
• Advising you on the court process
• Legal advice and representation at court.

Please note the above fees will depend on the location of the court and complexity of the case. We add a further charge of 20% to the above prices where cases are conducted by our London City Team – this is due to the increased costs of our overheads at that office.

For guilty pleas they are based on one attendance at court and not guilty pleas being dealt with at the first trial listing.