Some questions answered
I’ve been reported for dangerous driving. Help...
What generally happens is that if someone reports you for dangerous driving the police will eventually make contact with you.
If someone reports you for dangerous driving they will be asked by the police whether they intend making a statement for the purposes of court or not. If they don’t wish to give evidence in some future court appearance, then that is very likely the end of the matter. Why?
Because in order to substantiate a prosecution against you there has to be some witness who is willing to give evidence in court. After all, we live in a democracy. You’re entitled to test the evidence of your accuser.
"Summonses are allegations.
Here the State are alleging that you drove dangerously.
This is what they’re suggesting to the court.
Whether you actually drove dangerously or not, is up to the Judge to decide"
Just say that person does make a statement against you. What should happen then is that the police will approach you, advise you that a complaint in writing has been made against you and ask (the technical term is ‘invite’) you to make a statement in response.
Of course you don’t have to make a statement. Nobody ever has to make a statement but because prosecutions are based on the ‘weight of evidence’ if one person makes a statement against you and you refuse to make a statement to deal with this, you’ll very likely face a prosecution. This is because the State only have ‘one side of the story’.
Sometimes its good to talk.
What is the penalty for dangerous driving?
Driving offences are generally graded into two zones: careless driving and dangerous driving.
There are some minor charges beneath these two, but in general careless and dangerous driving are the main two ‘bad driving’ charges that come to court across the country.
There’s no clear definition of either but the thing that distinguishes careless driving from dangerous driving is the presence of ‘danger’ or ‘risk’ to the public.
Careless driving is bad driving.
Dangerous driving is very bad driving.
Often, dangerous driving is best understood as involving an accident or risk of an accident.
Other factors include the kind of vehicle you’re driving (whether its defective), the time of the day, the weather conditions etc.
If a person is convicted, then the penalty is a 2-year disqualification from driving.
Court summons for dangerous driving
If the State decide that you ‘have a case to answer’ relative to dangerous driving, you will either be charged, or you will receive a summons.
Summonses are allegations. Here the State are alleging that you drove dangerously. This is what they’re suggesting to the court.
Whether you actually drove dangerously or not, is up to the Judge to decide.
Dangerous driving speeding
Can speeding alone be regarded as dangerous driving? Isn’t it just speeding?
Not quite.
There is no clear definition of what dangerous driving is, but the law does specify that it can include speed on its own.
What speed?
Like everything else in law, it is context specific.
For instance, imagine you’re driving down the main street of your local town at 4am on a Sunday morning and you pass a school at 60kph. The speed limit is 40kph. You’re clearly speeding. But is it dangerous driving?
Unlikely.
"There is no clear definition of
what dangerous driving is,
but the law does specify that
it can include speed on its own.
What speed?
Like everything else in law,
it is context specific"
This is because dangerous driving is ‘context-specific’. At 4am the main street of your local town is probably very quiet and there are certainly no school children around. It is unlikely that the State can argue that your driving posed a danger or ‘immediate risk of peril’ (classic definition) to other road users or pedestrians in the area.
This is because there was nobody present.
But just say you drive down that same street at that same speed at 4pm on a Monday afternoon.
There are plenty of cars about and kids are leaving school. The facts are exactly the same, you’re driving on the same street, at the same speed.
The only thing that’s different is the context.
In one scenario you’re driving at a time and a day when there is nobody around. In the other the reverse is the case.
And because of that, one instance is likely regarded as a speeding offence on its own, while the other might be regarded as dangerous driving, possibly meriting a 2-year disqualification from driving.
In law, as in life, context is everything.
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