Dangerous driving and careless driving are serious offences in Irish road traffic law. A less serious charge is driving without reasonable consideration as set out in section 51A(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1961.
There is no definition in law of “driving without reasonable consideration” but it is generally considered to be acting like a nuisance on the roads.
This offence attracts 2 penalty points and a small fixed penalty fine.
Careless driving
Careless driving is covered by Section 52(1) of the 1961 Road Traffic Act and involves driving in public place “without due care and attention”. Again, there is no statutory definition of due care and attention but generally it is the standard of care that a reasonably prudent driver should exercise while driving.
There are generally 3 defences:
1. Automatism
2. Duress
3. Mechanical defect.
Penalties can run up to a fine of £2000 and 3 months imprisonment, 5 penalty points and a possible disqualification which is discretionary on the first offence and mandatory on second or subsequent offences.
Dangerous driving
This is covered by Section 53(1) of the Road Traffic Act, 1961 and involves driving in a manner which a prudent person would recognise as involving an unjustifiable risk of harm to the public.
Defences to this offence are the same ones set out above for careless driving.
Penalties
Penalties for dangerous driving will depend on whether bodily harm or death has arisen as a result of the driving. If this is the case the offence will be prosecuted on indictment in the higher courts.
If not, it will be prosecuted in the District Court.
Penalties depend on the seriousness of the case and circumstances and so on and can range up to a £20,000 fine, up to 10 years imprisonment on indictment (6 months in District Court), endorsement on your licence and disqualification from driving.
For a first offence in the District Court you will be disqualified for 2 years; a first offence on indictment will lead to automatic disqualification for at least 4 years.
This is part of the road traffic offences series on this site.
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