Good Result for Lorry Driver Prosecuted for Careless Driving

This lorry driver had been involved in a road traffic collision on a major UK motorway. Whilst driving his HGV, he had failed to notice another car which had merged on to the motorway into his blindspot. This resulted in a collision between the two vehicles, and the prosecution of the HGV driver for careless driving. CCTV evidence had been obtained by the police.

The HGV driver pleaded guilty to the offence and the prosecution withdrew two further criminal charges. Mitigating on behalf of the HGV driver, the advocate was able to place this incident of careless driving in the wider context of over 40 years of professional driving with no previous convictions.

The Magistrates imposed 4 penalty points and a fine. This was a positive result – the offence of careless driving can carry a discretionary disqualification and up to 9 penalty points.