Our client faced an Airdrie dangerous driving charge after driving at 68mph in a 30mph limit.
An alternative charge of speeding also appeared on the complaint.
There is no doubt that driving at 68mph in a 30mph limit can amount to dangerous driving but it is not necessarily the case. There are 30mph limits and there are 30mph limits. The precise nature of the locus can be crucial, as can the level of vehicular and pedestrian traffic. For example, if you are driving through a busy city centre street with shops, pedestrian crossings, parked cars, other traffic and numerous people milling about, a dangerous driving charge will be fully merited and very difficult to defend.
But the circumstances in this Airdrie dangerous driving charge were quite different from that. During the course of the case, we approached the prosecution and offered a Guilty plea to the alternative charge of speeding. The Procurator Fiscal agreed to accept this plea which was already a huge step forward.
We still faced a significant challenge, however. Speeding charges can result in discretionary disqualification. Such an outcome would have been disastrous for our client given the nature of his profession. In the course of our mitigation, we referrred the sheriff to relevant case law to illustrate that disqualification need not be inevitable in the circumstances. After careful consideration, the sheriff agreed that the case could be dealt with by 6 penalty points.
Case defended by Steven Farmer at Airdrie Sheriff Court, 2 November 2023