Motoring Lawyers in Birmingham

Funding A Motoring Prosecution

Public Funding (Legal Aid) is not available for most Driving prosecutions, therefore, most motoring crimes are funded on a private fee-paying basis. We have the best legal practitioners who can be instructed on an hourly rate basis, or alternatively on a fixed-fee arrangement. Our fixed fees for a motoring defence listed before Birmingham Magistrates’ Court start from £1,000+VAT. This fee will usually cover a full assessment of your case, consider the evidence in your case, one meeting (in person or via telephone) legal advice, a case strategy and representation at one Magistrates’ Court Hearing or Voluntary Interview Under Caution (PACE Interview).

The Fixed Fee for each case is set on an individual case basis and is determined upon:

• The number of offences on the Charge Sheet / Postal Requisition
• The seriousness of the offence
• The complexity of the case
• The Court your case is listed before
• The amount of time we have to prepare your case

If you would like to know the exact fixed fee for your case, please call one of our experienced motoring lawyers and we can provide you with a tailored to your individual account price.

Speeding Offence Lawyers

Our specialist Speeding Offence Solicitors and Barristers have obtained excellent results at defending motorists at the Magistrates’ Court that have received a postal requisition or summons to attend Birmingham Magistrates’ Court. If you are being investigated or are potentially facing a driving prosecution for speeding, call our specialist solicitors on 0345 222 9955 or send us a message via our Contact Form at the bottom of this page for a Initial Telephone Assessment regarding your alleged speeding offence.

Drivers that do not obtain legal advice for a speeding offence could receive unnecessary penalty points on their driving licence and in certain situations a driving ban, either due to the high speed or the accumulation of 12 or more penalty points. If a motorist is facing a prosecution for significantly exceeding the speed limit, they may also face a prosecution for dangerous driving.

Totting-Up Offence

If you face the possibility of a totting up driving ban (Penalty Points Disqualification), our expert driving offence solicitors are available to offer you the right legal advice. You need to try and avoid a driving disqualification. Our solicitors have many years of experience in representing clients for totting-up and can advance Exceptional Hardship Arguments to avoid you receiving a lengthy driving disqualification.

Totting-Up occurs when a motorist accumulates (or will accumulate) 12 or more active penalty points on their driving licence within a period of 3 years. Once the Court becomes aware that a motorist will reach 12 or more active penalty points as a result of a new motoring offence, the Court will Summons the driver to attend a Court Hearing to impose a driving ban of at least 6 months.

An example of this would be a motorist that already has 9 penalty points on their driving licence and then receives a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) for a further motoring offence such as speeding. In such circumstances the motorist would be called upon to attend Court for a driving disqualification, because the new offence of speeding will result in a total of 12 or more active penalty points.

If a motorist has previously been disqualified from driving for more than 56 days within the past three years, the Court will impose a driving ban of at least 12 months.

In cases of Totting-Up a motorist is open to make an ‘Exceptional Hardship’ application to avoid a driving ban.

Failing to Provide A Specimen for Analysis

If the Police suspect that a person is driving or in charge of a vehicle whilst under the influence of alcohol or drugs, that person can be lawfully required to provide a specimen of blood, breath or urine during a Police investigation. This is to determine whether that person has committed an offence under Section 4 or Section 5 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (Drink Driving / Drunk in Charge)

The offence of Failing to Provide a Specimen for Analysis is committed if that person, without reasonable excuse, fails to provide a specimen when required to do so in accordance with Section 7 Road Traffic Act 1988.

This driving offence is only committed if a person fails or refuses ‘without reasonable excuse’. If a person is being prosecuted for Failing to Provide a Specimen, there could be a defence of ‘Reasonable Excuse’. If this defence is raised, it is for the prosecution to disprove the ‘reasonable excuse’.

A reasonable excuse will usually be on the grounds of a medical reason however, there are potentially other reasons a person was unable to provide a specimen for analysis.

If a person pleads guilty to this driving offence or is found guilty following a trial, the Magistrates’ Court must disqualify for a minimum of 12 months. The Court also has the power to impose a custodial sentence (prison) for up to 6 months. In addition to the custodial sentence, the court has the power to impose a fine of an unlimited amount and a driving disqualification of up to 36 months on a first-time offender.

Driving Ban Solicitors

A significant number of motoring offences can carry a discretionary or mandatory Driving Ban, not just points and a fine. If you have received a Notice of Intended Prosecutions (NIP) for an offence such as Careless Driving, using a Mobile Phone Whilst Driving or Failing to Provide Driver Details, we highly recommend you seek advice as soon as possible by contacting one of our highly experienced motoring law solicitors on 0345 222 9955.