With the RAC having found that over 70% of households in the UK own a car, this obviously also means that many motoring offences are prevalent on the UK’s roads. Whether it is a legal issue with the purchase of your car or perhaps legal support that you may need with an accident that you’ve had, it is always best to get the support of a specialised solicitor.
What to do if charged with a motoring offence
There are a number of reasons why you might be found to have committed a driving offence. If you are facing penalties or a driving disqualification, then road traffic solicitors may be able to assist you during your case. They can:
- Assist you at the police station
- Represent you at the Magistrates Courts
- Represent you at the Crown Courts
- Make an application for Legal Aid to cover the costs of the defence
Specialist motoring offence solicitors will be able to help you with:
- Disqualification
- Speeding offences
- Drink or drug driving
- Driving without insurance
- Driving without a driving licence
- Dangerous driving
- Driving without due care and attention
Disqualification can be the result of a serious road traffic offence, but more often than not a person is disqualified for reaching 12 penalty points within a three year period. This is called a ‘totting-up’ disqualification. However, you can usually argue against a disqualification if you can persuade the Court that you or someone else may suffer ‘Exceptional hardship’.
There are unfortunately many ways in which you can receive points on your licence and ultimately face the loss of your driver’s licence. These include:
- Failing to stop after an accident
- Driving while disqualified by order of court
- Driving without due care and attention
- Failing to provide a specimen for breath tests
- Using a vehicle uninsured against third party risks
- Failure to provide identification
- Racing or exceeding the speed limit
- Failing to comply with traffic light signals and/or traffic signs
What to do if you’re involved in a road traffic accident
Road traffic accidents are unfortunately still quite common in the UK. The road traffic accident claims process can seem complicated, but the right legal help is always invaluable in helping you. You can claim for an accident even if you weren’t driving a car. It doesn’t matter if you were a passenger, pedestrian or cyclist at the time of the incident – if you were injured unfairly, you deserve compensation. The process of claiming compensation for a road traffic accident includes:
- Attending a free consultation
- Gathering information to build your case
- Rehabilitation
- Calculating compensation
Getting started sooner than later will make things easier.
What to do if you’ve bought a car with outstanding finance
Sometimes you may end up on the wrong side of motoring law without even realising it. If you have accidentally bought a car that has outstanding finance, then you will need to be made aware of your rights. Issuing proceedings to start a court case claiming your consumer rights is a complex process that can quickly drain your time, energy and finances. However, with the right legal assistance at hand, the process can be managed swiftly and without much cost or hassle. The hire purchase agreement meaning can be explained best by a trained solicitor. HPI stands for Hire Purchase Inspection, though the ‘I’ is sometimes mistaken for ‘Index’, ‘Investigation’ or ‘Information’. A Hire Purchase Agreement allows the driver to pay either nothing or a relatively low deposit to start driving the vehicle. They will then continue to pay the finance company a fixed fee on a monthly basis until the hire purchase agreement ends.
